Hetero, Gedeon Richter Team Up on Ozempic Generic

Hetero Labs and Hungary's Gedeon Richter are joining forces to develop a generic version of Novo Nordisk's blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic. The Hyderabad-based company and the Budapest-headquartered drugmaker signed a global collaboration agreement for the joint development, registration, and commercialisation of Semaglutide injection, the companies said Wednesday.

Semaglutide is the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Ozempic, the GLP-1 drugs that have reshaped the diabetes and weight-loss markets. Hetero has already made significant development investments, including technology setup and registration batch manufacturing. Regulatory filings are underway, with submissions in the European Union and the United States planned for 2027.

The deal splits the world by territory. Hetero brings its market reach in the U.S. and emerging markets. Richter contributes its commercial infrastructure across Europe and Central Asia. The agreement also keeps the door open for future European manufacturing by Richter, the companies said.

"The collaboration will enable us to deliver high quality, affordable therapies to patients living with diabetes and related cardiometabolic conditions worldwide," said Bence Kovacs, Global Head of General Medicines at Richter.

Hetero Labs Managing Director Vamsi Krishna Bandi called the partnership a combination of "deep local expertise" that broadens global access to Semaglutide.

The collaboration follows a familiar playbook for generic drugmakers targeting the GLP-1 market. Multiple Indian and European firms have announced plans to develop copycat versions of Ozempic and Wegovy as patents begin to expire in various jurisdictions. Hetero and Richter are betting that a coordinated global framework with defined territorial responsibilities and a balanced cost- and profit-sharing model gives them an edge over competitors working alone.

The 2027 timeline for U.S. and EU submissions puts the partnership in the middle of the pack among generic Semaglutide developers. Some rivals have already started clinical trials. The advantage for Hetero and Richter may come from the territorial split itself: each partner knows its home markets better than a single firm trying to cover both regions.

For patients, the arrival of generic Semaglutide could mean significantly lower prices for a drug class that has been in chronic short supply. For Novo Nordisk, it marks the beginning of the end of its monopoly on the world's most sought-after drug molecule.