What are GLP-1 drugs, why are they used for weight loss?
Credit: Getty Images
GLP-1 drugs mimic a natural hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1, which regulates blood sugar and appetite.
What are GLP-1 drugs?
These drugs were first developed to manage type 2 diabetes by helping the pancreas release insulin after meals.
Originally for diabetes
GLP-1 drugs slow down digestion, reduce hunger, and make people feel full faster, leading to reduced calorie intake.
How they aid weight loss
Popular names include Semaglutide (sold as Ozempic, Wegovy) and Tirzepatide (sold as Mounjaro, Zepbound).
Common GLP-1 brands
Most GLP-1 drugs are taken as weekly or daily injections, though oral versions like Rybelsus also exist.
How they're taken
Clinical trials show people can lose 10–20% of body weight when combined with diet and lifestyle changes.
Weight loss results
Common side effects include nausea, vomiting, constipation, and, in rare cases, pancreatitis or gallstones.
Side effects to know
GLP-1s are not advised for those with certain thyroid cancers or a family history of such conditions.
Not for everyone
Doctors emphasise these are not magic bullets—they work best with medical supervision, nutrition, and exercise.
Part of a bigger plan
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
6 hours ago
- Business Standard
Pharma Inc gears up for Day 1 launch of obesity drug in March 2026
As the global demand for next-generation diabetes and weight-loss therapies surge, Indian pharmaceutical companies are stepping up preparations to roll out generic versions of semaglutide—a blockbuster GLP-1 receptor agonist—once patent expires around March 2026. The generic launches will be significant, as the prices for the Indian consumer are expected to come down significantly from the current ₹17,000-26000 (monthly), thereby expanding the patient coverage. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (DRL), Cipla, Sun Pharma, and Mankind Pharma, and others are ramping up peptide manufacturing, forming device partnerships, and aligning regulatory strategies to capture a share of the global GLP-1 market, estimated to cross $150 billion by decade's end. Hyderabad-based DRL is planning Day 1 launches in India and Brazil, part of a 2026 global rollout across 87 countries. 'The semaglutide launch is very important to us,' said CEO Erez Israeli. The company aims to price its product below Novo Nordisk's current ₹17,000 monthly offering. DRL is also working on 26 GLP-1 therapies, backed by a ₹2,700 crore FY26 capex plan to scale peptide and biosimilar production. Cipla is targeting first-wave launches through a mix of in-house and partner filings. 'We see GLP-1 as one of the biggest therapy opportunities in the last five years,' said Umang Vohra, MD and global CEO at the post earnings call. The company is building parts of its GLP-1 supply chain internally while leveraging partnerships to ensure scalability. Cipla is also crafting an affordable strategy for India's price-sensitive market, betting that post-patent price erosion will be offset by volume growth. Mankind Pharma aims to launch both oral and injectable semaglutide generics and is advancing MKP10241, a novel oral obesity drug in Phase 2 trials in Australia. Sun Pharma, meanwhile, is progressing its investigational GLP-1 molecule Utreglutide, targeted for launch in four to five years. It has secured Phase III approval for semaglutide trials in India, even as it reports negligible impact of GLP-1 drugs on its existing diabetes portfolio. The race for a piece of India's ₹628 crore anti-obesity market, however, comes at a time when the Indian courts and drug regulator body are looking to monitor the unregulated use of weight loss drugs. According to sources, the Central Drug Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) has initiated work to form a panel after the Delhi High Court in July 2025 asked it to consult experts and relevant stakeholders to look into concerns arising out of approval for drug combinations being sold in the market for weight loss. The directive came in response to a public interest litigation filed by fitness entrepreneur Jitendra Chouksey, who had raised concerns about the marketing approval of drugs such as semaglutide, tirzepatide and liraglutide for weight management, despite limited safety data and the absence of India-specific clinical trials. While disposing of the petition, the court asked the drug regulator to respond to the petitioner within three months. At present, India has two officially available semaglutide brands: Rybelsus (oral) and Wegovy (injectable), both from Danish major Novo Nordisk. Rybelsus is approved for treating Type 2 diabetes, while Wegovy was launched in June 2025 for weight management. US-based Eli Lilly's tirzepatide drug, Mounjaro, is also available in India for obesity management. Analysts say the semaglutide opportunity is also fuelling India's peptide manufacturing ecosystem. 'Formulation is no longer enough—companies need full-stack execution,' said Nirali Shah, Pharma Analyst at Ashika Group, pointing to DRL, Cipla, and Sun Pharma's early moves to secure pen delivery partnerships. Contract development and manufacturing organisations (CDMOs) like Anthem Biosciences and Syngene are positioning themselves to capture a larger share of the growing peptide segment. Device manufacturers, too, are scaling up to meet rising demand for injection pens. India's peptide CDMO market, currently valued at $80 million, is growing at a CAGR of 14 per cent and could become a global supplier base for GLP-1 drugs, said Nilaya Varma, CEO of Primus Partners.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
8 hours ago
- Business Standard
Pharma Inc gear up for Day 1 launch of obesity drug in March 2026
As the global demand for next-generation diabetes and weight-loss therapies surge, Indian pharmaceutical companies are stepping up preparations to roll out generic versions of semaglutide—a blockbuster GLP-1 receptor agonist—once patent expires around March 2026. The generic launches will be significant, as the prices for the Indian consumer are expected to come down significantly from the current ₹17,000-26000 (monthly), thereby expanding the patient coverage. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (DRL), Cipla, Sun Pharma, and Mankind Pharma, and others are ramping up peptide manufacturing, forming device partnerships, and aligning regulatory strategies to capture a share of the global GLP-1 market, estimated to cross $150 billion by decade's end. Hyderabad-based DRL is planning Day 1 launches in India and Brazil, part of a 2026 global rollout across 87 countries. 'The semaglutide launch is very important to us,' said CEO Erez Israeli. The company aims to price its product below Novo Nordisk's current ₹17,000 monthly offering. DRL is also working on 26 GLP-1 therapies, backed by a ₹2,700 crore FY26 capex plan to scale peptide and biosimilar production. Cipla is targeting first-wave launches through a mix of in-house and partner filings. 'We see GLP-1 as one of the biggest therapy opportunities in the last five years,' said Umang Vohra, MD and global CEO at the post earnings call. The company is building parts of its GLP-1 supply chain internally while leveraging partnerships to ensure scalability. Cipla is also crafting an affordable strategy for India's price-sensitive market, betting that post-patent price erosion will be offset by volume growth. Mankind Pharma aims to launch both oral and injectable semaglutide generics and is advancing MKP10241, a novel oral obesity drug in Phase 2 trials in Australia. Sun Pharma, meanwhile, is progressing its investigational GLP-1 molecule Utreglutide, targeted for launch in four to five years. It has secured Phase III approval for semaglutide trials in India, even as it reports negligible impact of GLP-1 drugs on its existing diabetes portfolio. The race for a piece of India's ₹628 crore anti-obesity market, however, comes at a time when the Indian courts and drug regulator body are looking to monitor the unregulated use of weight loss drugs. According to sources, the Central Drug Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) has initiated work to form a panel after the Delhi High Court in July 2025 asked it to consult experts and relevant stakeholders to look into concerns arising out of approval for drug combinations being sold in the market for weight loss. The directive came in response to a public interest litigation filed by fitness entrepreneur Jitendra Chouksey, who had raised concerns about the marketing approval of drugs such as semaglutide, tirzepatide and liraglutide for weight management, despite limited safety data and the absence of India-specific clinical trials. While disposing of the petition, the court asked the drug regulator to respond to the petitioner within three months. At present, India has two officially available semaglutide brands: Rybelsus (oral) and Wegovy (injectable), both from Danish major Novo Nordisk. Rybelsus is approved for treating Type 2 diabetes, while Wegovy was launched in June 2025 for weight management. US-based Eli Lilly's tirzepatide drug, Mounjaro, is also available in India for obesity management. Analysts say the semaglutide opportunity is also fuelling India's peptide manufacturing ecosystem. 'Formulation is no longer enough—companies need full-stack execution,' said Nirali Shah, Pharma Analyst at Ashika Group, pointing to DRL, Cipla, and Sun Pharma's early moves to secure pen delivery partnerships. Contract development and manufacturing organisations (CDMOs) like Anthem Biosciences and Syngene are positioning themselves to capture a larger share of the growing peptide segment. Device manufacturers, too, are scaling up to meet rising demand for injection pens. India's peptide CDMO market, currently valued at $80 million, is growing at a CAGR of 14 per cent and could become a global supplier base for GLP-1 drugs, said Nilaya Varma, CEO of Primus Partners.
Indian Express
8 hours ago
- Indian Express
Rewriting diabetes: PGI study shows remission achievable
For decades, Type 2 diabetes has been viewed as a lifelong, irreversible condition, requiring daily medication, strict dietary control, and constant lifestyle management, but new hope is emerging from India's Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, where a clinical study has shown that remission may be possible through a carefully designed and practical strategy. Type 2 diabetes, which affects millions globally and has become a growing health concern in India, has long been seen as a chronic disease without a cure. Patients are often told they must manage it for life, with pills and blood sugar logs becoming permanent companions, but what if there is a chance to hit reset? Remission is the term scientists are now using, meaning a return to normal blood sugar levels with HbA1c of 6.5% without any diabetes medication for at least three months. However, a made-in-India approach with global promise led by Dr Rama Walia, a team of researchers at PGIMER, launched the DiaRem-1 study, aiming to explore whether tight blood sugar control using modern medicines, combined with lifestyle changes, could push the disease into remission. What makes their work stand out is that it does not rely on extreme weight loss diets or costly surgeries, which are often impractical for many patients. They selected adults diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in the past five years, whose blood sugar was still reasonably controlled. For three months, these participants were placed on a combination of proven diabetes medications and guided through diet and physical activity. After that, all medications were stopped, and for the following three months, researchers monitored whether their blood sugar levels could remain in the normal range, drug-free. What happened? The results were eye-opening: about one in three participants (31%) achieved diabetes remission, meeting the internationally defined benchmark of maintaining HbA1c below 6.5% without medication for at least three months. Surprisingly, both treatment groups, one using newer medications like liraglutide and dapagliflozin, and the other using more commonly available medicines like glimepiride and vildagliptin, saw similar remission rates. Weight loss helped, but wasn't everything The average weight loss was modest, 4.7 kg in the intervention group and 3 kg in controls. MRI scans in select participants showed dramatic declines in internal fat stores, a 51% drop in liver fat and 48% in pancreatic fat, which are crucial contributors to insulin resistance and worsening diabetes. The science behind the strategy Doctors now understand that two major culprits drive diabetes progression: glucotoxicity (too much sugar damaging beta cells) and lipotoxicity (fat accumulation impairing insulin action). By reversing these with medication and lifestyle therapy, the pancreas gets a much-needed break and, in some cases, begins to function more normally again. Those who achieved remission also had better beta-cell function (as measured by a 'disposition index') and lower levels of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) compared to those who didn't. Importantly, no single patient characteristic, age, weight, or the duration of diabetes could predict who would succeed, making this approach potentially applicable to a wide range of patients in early stages of diabetes. Side effects and safety: Well-tolerated treatment Minor side effects like nausea were seen, especially in those taking liraglutide, but there were no serious health risks noted. Notably, no patients in the intervention group experienced low blood sugar, a common concern with diabetes medications. A moment of change, not a cure Experts caution that remission is not the same as being cured. Blood sugar levels can rise again without ongoing lifestyle commitment, but the fact that normal levels can be sustained without medication, even temporarily, is a major breakthrough. What's Next? PGIMER's team is continuing research to test how long this remission lasts and whether longer treatment duration might improve outcomes further. But even now, this small but powerful trial offers a cost-effective and scalable strategy that can work in outpatient clinics across India and the world. 'With early, intensive treatment and continued support, many patients may no longer need diabetes medication. That's a powerful message of hope,' said Dr Walia, the lead investigator of the study. 'If you or someone you care about was recently diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, this study brings an encouraging message: your condition may not be permanent. With early action, close follow-up, and guided treatment, remission is possible, and potentially within reach for many.'
