RAS question
Which company's patent on semaglutide expired in India in March 2026?
Correct answer: (C) Novo Nordisk.
Novo Nordisk's patent protection for semaglutide in India expired on March 20, 2026.
Explanation
The company was Novo Nordisk. Fortune India identifies semaglutide as Novo Nordisk's diabetes and weight-loss drug and says that it lost patent protection in India on March 20, 2026. That is why the answer is not just linked to the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy, but to the underlying semaglutide franchise owned by Novo Nordisk. After the patent expiry, the Indian market saw generic competition, with 26 brands from 13 companies being marketed in India, including Novo Nordisk's own semaglutide brands. The question therefore tests recognition of the innovator company behind semaglutide, not merely a competing pharma name in the GLP-1 market.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Pfizer is wrong because the question asks about semaglutide, Novo Nordisk's drug franchise.
- (B) Eli Lilly is wrong because Lilly's tirzepatide is separate from semaglutide, the Novo Nordisk drug whose patent protection expired.
- (D) AstraZeneca is wrong because AstraZeneca is not connected with the semaglutide patent expiry in India.
Concept
This tests Science and Technology current affairs at the intersection of patents, pharma innovation and generic competition. RAS often asks such items because patent expiry affects access, pricing and India's domestic pharmaceutical market.