By Alberto Alerigi
SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazilian drugmaker Hypera plans to launch next year a generic version of semaglutide, the active ingredient of Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss drug Ozempic, Hypera’s chief executive said on Friday.
The patent protection for semaglutide, which is also the key ingredient of injectable obesity treatment Wegovy and the oral diabetes drug Rybelsus, expires in Latin America’s largest country in March 2026, allowing companies there to produce their own versions.
“We are working to launch it as soon as the patent expires and we are very optimistic about this product from next year,” Hypera CEO Breno de Oliveira told analysts on a call after the company reported fourth-quarter results.
XP Investimentos analysts last month said the patent expiration would be positive for Hypera as the offering of a semaglutide drug would add a fast-growing segment to its portfolio, with volume growth helping offset a drop in prices.
Oliveira said Hypera believes prices for a generic semaglutide would not drop as dramatically as they have for other generic drugs, citing higher production costs and lower availability of injection pens used to deliver doses of the medicine.
“We do not expect such a large degradation of this category in the short term,” he said, noting that four companies had already submitted requests for registration of drugs based on semaglutide to regulator Anvisa.
Rival Biomm last year announced a licensing and supply agreement with India’s Biocon for generic Ozempic commercialization in Brazil.
Biomm at the time, citing data from consulting firm IQVIA, said Ozempic sales in the country had totaled 3.1 billion reais ($541.56 million) in 2023, implying a compound average growth rate of 39% from 2021 to 2023.
Hypera’s shares were up 7% on Friday, the biggest gainer on Brazil’s benchmark stock index Bovespa, which was flat.
($1 = 5.7242 reais)
(Reporting by Alberto Alerigi Jr.; Additional reporting and writing by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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