Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk on Thursday, July 9, launched its once-weekly basal insulin injection, Awiqli, in India, as the country grapples with one of the world’s largest diabetes burdens.<\/p>\n
Awiqli, which Novo Nordisk describes as the world’s first once-weekly basal (background long-acting) insulin approved for clinical use, is indicated for the treatment of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in adults. The therapy is expected to compete with the daily basal insulin options currently available in the Indian market.<\/p>\n
\nThe company said more than 101 million people in India are living with diabetes, while another 136 million have prediabetes, underscoring the growing need for effective treatment options.
Designed to reduce treatment burden<\/p>\n
Unlike conventional basal insulin therapies that require a daily injection, Awiqli is designed to provide background insulin support for an entire week, reducing the number of injections from 365 per year to 52, Novo Nordisk said.<\/p>\n
The company added that insulin initiation in India is delayed by an average of seven to nine years, partly due to fear of injections, anticipated pain and cost concerns.<\/p>\n
\n“We believe Awiqli will reduce the psychological and physical barriers to insulin initiation,” said Vikrant Shrotriya, Managing Director, Novo Nordisk India.<\/p>\n
Competition in India’s insulin market<\/p>\n
India’s insulin market is projected to grow from $660.5 million in 2025 to $916.4 million by 2034, according to market research firm IMARC. The growth is being driven by rising diabetes prevalence, fuelled by sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy diets and genetic predisposition.<\/p>\n
Awiqli, generically known as insulin icodec, is administered through a pre-filled pen device. The drug received approval in the United States earlier this year and has also been approved in the European Union and several other countries.<\/p>\n
In India, the once-weekly insulin is expected to compete with established basal insulin brands such as Sanofi’s Lantus, as well as lower-cost insulin glargine products sold by domestic drugmakers including Biocon, Eris Lifesciences and Lupin.<\/p>\n
Expanding presence in obesity treatment<\/p>\n
Separately, Novo Nordisk is also competing with Eli Lilly and a growing number of Indian generic drugmakers in the country’s rapidly expanding obesity treatment market, as demand for weight-loss therapies continues to rise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk on Thursday, July 9, launched its once-weekly basal insulin injection, Awiqli, in India, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126104,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[271],"tags":[27733,27724,15786,61611,565,24640,272,61610,27736,41222,2142],"class_list":["post-126103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-novo-nordisk","tag-awiqli","tag-basal-insulin","tag-diabetes","tag-diabetes-medicine","tag-india","tag-insulin","tag-novo-nordisk","tag-novo-nordisk-awiqli-india-launch","tag-once-weekly","tag-type-1-diabetes","tag-type-2-diabetes"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116889523755788412","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}