Eli Lilly’s diabetes and weight-loss drug Mounjaro receives Indian regulatory approval for its KwikPen device 

Vials of Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro, a tirzepatide injection drug used for treating type 2 diabetes and weight loss, are seen in a fridge at a health clinic in Hyderabad, April 14, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
ALMAAS MASOOD

Eli Lilly and Company (India) has received regulatory approval for its diabetes and weightloss drug Mounjaro (tirzepatide), in a KwikPen device.

The US-based company had launched its product in India, but in vials, about three months ago.

The latest development comes barely days after Novo Nordisk announced the launch of its weightloss product Wegovy (injectable semaglutide) in a four-dose, pen-like device (in five strengths) that helped people administer the product at home. Novo’s Wegovy, imported from Denmark, was to be available across India by later this month, Novo top-brass had said, earlier this week.

On Thursday, Eli Lilly said, its Kwikpen device had received the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation’s (CDSCO) marketing authorisation for Mounjaro, though price and other roll-out details were not disclosed.

While people living with obesity and or Type II diabetes will have more options now, experts caution against seeing it through a cosmetic lens, given the global celebrity endorsements of the weightloss drug. Obesity is a serious issue, and the right patients need to be selected for treatment, they said, though present prices of the drugs may be too high for some. (*see box)

Mounjaro is the first and only dual GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) and GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) receptor agonist, indicated for Type 2 diabetes and chronic weight management in adults with obesity (BMI ≥ 30) or overweight (BMI ≥ 27) with one weight-related comorbidity, the company said.

The Mounjaro KwikPen will also be available in a multi-dose, single-patient-use prefilled pen designed for once-weekly administration. Each pen delivers four fixed doses of 0.6 mL and has been approved in six dose strengths: 2.5 mg, 5 mg, 7.5 mg, 10 mg, 12.5 mg, and 15 mg, a note from Lilly said.

“With this approval, all six dosage options for Mounjaro (tirzepatide) will soon be available in India, supporting a more personalized approach to treatment and allowing healthcare professionals to tailor care based on individual patient needs and clinical goals,” Winselow Tucker, President and General Manager, Lilly India, said in a statement.

More options

There are standard guidelines by which people are selected for these medicines, said Dr Saptarshi Bhattacharya, Senior Consultant, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals (New Delhi), adding, there is a 10 -20 per cent weightloss benefit with these products. If a person is prone to gastric problems, the doctor is best placed to advise if the individual can tolerate the treatment, Bhattacharya told businessline. Globally, concerns have been flagged on the possible risk of vision loss, and concerns in those with a family history of a type of thyroid cancer.

For those with serious obesity problems, unable to afford the product, he said, there are other obesity drugs that are affordable. And, as semaglutide’s patent expires next year, more generic players will enter the segment, expand the reach of the molecule and bring prices down, he added.

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Published on June 26, 2025