India's Ozempic, Mounjaro Era: Healthify Leads The Weight Loss Shift

What connects Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, Kate Winslet and Kim Kardashian? The answer is Ozempic, and now Indian healthtech startups are entering the Ozempic and Mounjaro era.

The diabetes drug, which has quickly gained market share for its effectiveness in weight loss, is becoming a key part of healthtech stacks in India — with Bengaluru-based Healthify becoming the first player to formally introduce GLP-1 drugs for medically-assisted weight loss.

The startup, which raised has launched HealthifyRx, a companion programme built around the anti-obesity medication and is likely to launch it in the US as well as in India.

For those who have missed the Ozempic and Mounjaro mania, these are classes of drugs used to treat diabetes, and gained attention in the US as a relatively easier means of shedding weight in a short span.

Ozempic and Mounjaro are the marketing names for semaglutide and tirzepatide, which help in treating diabetes by targetting the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) hormone.

The hormone controls blood sugar and appetite, and naturally, this has fuelled Ozempic’s rise in particular over the past five years. Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs essentially stimulate insulin secretion and inhibit glucagon secretion, which together help lower blood sugar and slow down gastric emptying. As a bonus, it also suppresses appetite, which is the primary reason why the drugs are advertised as weight loss drugs.

Ozempic is marketed by pharma giant Novo Nordisk, while its rival company, Eli Lilly, markets Mounjaro, a tirzepatide injection. Thus far, only the more affluent Indians had access to these drugs and many Indians are said to have visited care centres in the US and other countries to get the treatment.

But with the patent window on these drugs now expiring, they are ready to take the Indian market by storm.

India’s anti-obesity drugs market is on course to reach $100 Bn by 2030, according to a estimate. A projected that an estimated 218 Mn men and 232 Mn women will be overweight or obese in India by 2050. This is a major market by any metric for drug makers and healthtech startups.

Diabetes management platforms were some of the first solutions to emerge from the healthtech space, and now with Ozempic, they have received a major shot in the arm.

Besides healthtech startups, Indian drug makers such as Sun Pharma, Cipla, Dr Reddy’s, and Mankind Pharma will begin to manufacture these drugs at home by mid-2026, according to . But even as these pharma biggies test the waters, new-age health brands and wellness startups have jumped on the GLP-1, Mounjaro and Ozempic bandwagon.

Healthify’s Mounjaro Bet

Healthify CEO and cofounder Tushar Vashisht likens the experience of HealthifyRx to riding an electric cycle — you are still pedalling, but the drug acts as an accelerator. He claimed that the programme is not just dependent on the drug, but combines their efficacy with aspects such as nutrition, physical training, and lifestyle changes.

The startup has partnered with Tata 1mg to source Mounjaro injections for its patients, with Healthify’s doctors evaluating potential patients.

“The evaluation is mostly done on the BMI and the basal metabolic rate, and then our team of doctors and nutritionists curate specific programmes for users and determine the dosage along with tailored meal plans, strength training exercises and some medications to mitigate potential side effects,” Vashisht told Inc42.

One of the fundamental pillars of HealthifyRx is that it’s a drug intervention and not a drug-based programme. The goal is that eventually users will come off the injections by building sustainable habits.

“We call it a companion programme because the usage of medicines is only a small part of the programme. There are crucial parameters as we align our meal plans and resistant training alongside the GLP-1 programming,” he claimed.

There are some concerns that weight lost through Mounjaro or Ozempic is likely to be gained back after the patients completely wean off GLP-1 medications.

Vashisht agreed that programmes that focus on medications alone might not be adequate. Instead, he sees startups building holistic programmes that also involve exercise and proper nutrition. He claimed there are off-ramp protocols to help patients taper off from the medication.

The Cash Grab In Weight Loss

Healthify is just the first out of the gate with its Mounjaro-based treatment. Although at a nascent stage in India, GLP-1 medications are expected to shake up the healthtech ecosystem, which includes the likes of Cult.fit, Fittr, Portea, beatO, Elevate Now, Sugar.fit among others.

India, which is home to the obese population, is expected to experience a US-like seminal moment in the GLP-1 space.

In the Indian context, a hybrid approach is likely to be preferred as healthtech companies continue to test the full range of efficacy Ozempic, Mounjaro and other GLP-1 drugs on the Indian population.

Experts argued that in the US, the pharma companies that adopted these early on were able to capitalise faster, whereas those that resisted the adoption of clinical weight loss programmes have trailed.

“We can see parallels in the US healthtech space where Hims, a publicly listed healthtech company’s Q1 2025 profits zoomed 111% on products around GLP-1. We also have another big company like Weightwatchers that filed for bankruptcy in April this year because they resisted the idea of inclusion of GLP-1 medications into their weight loss programmes and saw huge disruption,” Namit Chugh, partner at W Health Ventures, an investor in weight loss startup Elevate Now, told Inc42.

Collaborations could become more commonplace between epharmacy giants like Tata 1mg or PharmEasy and healthtech platforms such as Elevate Now or Healthify. This can facilitate large-scale prescription fulfillment once generic versions of these drugs arrive.

“Diagnostic platforms such as Thyrocare or Redcliffe Labs, offering metabolic and insulin resistance panels, could see new relevance as baseline and tracking tools in weight-loss programmes,” the founder of a Pune-based wellness startup told us, requesting anonymity.

The Cost Of ‘Miracles’

Pricing is another area where Indian companies might need to push the envelope. Especially because of how Ozempic and Mounjaro have been billed as miracle drugs. This is likely to lead to a lot of aggressive price-based competition in the long run.

Healthify has priced its programme at INR 48,000 for the three-month plan that includes 12 doses of tirzepatide or Mounjaro. There are other plans for six months (INR 80,000) and for 12 months (INR 1,00,000), but the dosage is the same in every plan.

“We rely on our medical and coaching experts, nutritionists, fitness coaches, smart devices and side effect management to help patients come off the medications effectively,” Vashisht said.

W Health Ventures’ Chugh said that the pricing of the GLP-1-based products is competitive, given that it targets a niche market at the moment. “At INR 3,500- 4000 per dose, it effectively comes to around INR 20,000 per month for anyone planning to use this therapy. So the pricing doesn’t create a roadblock.”

But will Indian startups be able to replicate the revenue growth of US-based companies? Healthify’s CEO Vashisht said the company doesn’t expect a major surge this year (FY26), but he is hoping for a sizable impact on revenue and profit next year onwards prices become more stable.

Speculation among founders and healthtech practitioners is that Indian versions of Mounjaro or Ozempic will be up to 90% cheaper than the current prices. US President Donald Trump pushing to reduce the prices of so-called ‘fat shots’ which is expected to drive more global adoption.

“Markets will definitely blow up once the generics are launched because the products right now are obviously not for the mass market and there will be adoption. The users are now buying these products from Elevate Now [portfolio company]. But the adoption is expected to significantly increase once a lower price point drug comes into the market,” the W Health Ventures partner added.

Will Ozempic, Mounjaro Cross The Trust Hurdle?

As with any drug advertised as a weight loss miracle, there are plenty of concerns around Mounjaro, Ozempic and other GLP-1 medications.

While there have been no genotype trials for GLP-1 medicines in India, Healthify’s Vashisht pointed out a huge number of people in the US have tried out the drugs following the US FDA approval and India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) too has given the go-ahead.

“The wide usage of medicines in itself and subsequent regulatory approvals have built trust. I am certain that once Indian pharma companies start making these medicines and introduce them to the market, they will conduct the required clinical trials on Indian genotypes. Only then we will include the generic medications into our programmes. For now, we have brought in the US-certified dieticians, doctors who have prescribed GLP-1 medicines before for Indian users,” he said.

Startups also need to pay attention to guardrails — treating GLP-1 medications like any other drug and not a miracle cure that can be prescribed without doctor intervention. Chugh maintained that startups cannot ignore the side effects and need to have plans to manage them.

India’s cultural notions too need to be factored in. “The use of the term drug often brings hesitation to the end-user. We, therefore, use the term medicines across all our platforms. The other challenge is that there are plenty of nutraceuticals and platforms that claim Mounjaro or Ozempic-like efficacy, without adequate clinical trials or approvals. This does hurt consumer trust,” Vashisht said, calling for stricter regulatory checks since more and more startups are venturing into the market.

This is perhaps the most critical factor in taking Ozempic or Mounjaro or whatever marketing terms Indian pharma companies choose to the Indian masses. Miracle or not — GLP-1 medications are seemingly here to stay. The least healthtech startups can do is not cut corners as Indians try to cut their weight down.

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