Delhi High Court restrains Dr.Reddy’s, OneSource from domestic sale of weight loss drug amid patent dispute

Justice Amit Bansal, presiding over the matter, recorded the defendants’ undertaking that they would not sell the impugned drug in India until the next hearing, scheduled for August 19, 2025. The court also took note of Novo Nordisk’s contention that even the export of an infringing product constitutes patent infringement under Indian law.

Viswanath Pilla

June 01, 2025 / 17:29 IST

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The Delhi High Court has restrained Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and OneSource Specialty Pharma from selling or marketing of diabetes and anti-obesity drug semaglutide, sold by Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk globally under brand names Ozempic and Wegovy.

The court in its order on May 29, however, allowed the Indian drugmakers to continue manufacturing and exporting the product to countries where Novo Nordisk does not hold a patent.

Justice Amit Bansal, presiding over the matter, recorded the defendants’ undertaking that they would not sell the impugned drug in India until the next hearing, scheduled for August 19, 2025. The court also took note of Novo Nordisk’s contention that even the export of an infringing product constitutes patent infringement under Indian law.

The dispute centres around drug Novo's blockbuster drug semaglutide that Dr. Reddy’s began manufacturing in April 2025 under a license obtained in December 2024. While the company has not yet secured a license to sell the drug domestically, it has indicated plans to export it to non-patent jurisdictions.

Dr Reddy's told Moneycontrol here that the company has end-to-end capabilities to produce the copycat version of semaglutide, and the company aims to launch the drug in several countries including in India in 2026, when the drug is expected to lose patents in 2026. The company is banking on generic semaglutide to be major revenue generator from FY27 onwards.