The U.S. drugmaker behind the blockbuster weight-loss medicine Mounjaro is positioning India as a central hub for its global export and supply network, tapping into the country’s strong contract manufacturing ecosystem as international demand for its products skyrockets.
Lilly is expanding its footprint in India under a previously announced $1 billion investment in contract manufacturing, with plans to produce medicines locally and ship them to markets worldwide. While the company doesn’t yet own its own manufacturing plants in India, it intends to leverage the nation’s existing manufacturing base to meet global demand.
Sales of Mounjaro in India have doubled within months of its launch, quickly making it the company’s top-selling medicine by value in the country — a sign of the booming appetite for obesity and metabolic treatments in a nation projected to have the world’s second-largest obese population by 2050.
“We are actually looking at India to be a hub, part of our global supply chain, and therefore supplying the world,” said Winselow Tucker, president and general manager of Lilly India, at the BioAsia conference in Hyderabad. He added that Lilly plans to scale up investment over time but declined to specify individual manufacturing partners or plant locations.
Lilly also intends to bring additional treatments to India, including its Alzheimer’s drug donanemab and an experimental oral weight-loss drug orforglipron, pending regulatory approval.
In the competitive Indian weight-loss drug market, Lilly faces rivalry from Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy. Local firms are also preparing to launch generic versions of existing treatments as patents expire, intensifying competition.
To broaden Mounjaro’s reach, Lilly is boosting awareness through digital campaigns and extending distribution beyond major urban centers via partnerships with Indian drugmakers and health platforms.
The move reflects the growing importance of India in the global pharmaceutical supply chain and Lilly’s strategy to harness this potential as Mounjaro demand continues to surge worldwide.
