DRL Chief Executive Officer Erez Israeli was optimistic that supplies could resume by October/November
Generic supplies of semaglutide from Dr Reddy’s Laboratories have hit a stumbling block, and this is having a domino effect across other companies, including Torrent Pharmaceuticals and USV.“Certain batches of semaglutide were found to be out of specification due to an issue associated with the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) used in the product. We are investigating the root cause and taking appropriate measures to ensure product quality. Until the issue is resolved, commercial supplies of the product will be delayed for a certain period of time,” said DRL, adding that patient safety was not impacted, nor the product’s existing global regulatory filings.The company’s management told analysts that there was a process-linked issue during scaling up, affecting future supplies in the country and Canada. DRL Chief Executive Officer Erez Israeli was optimistic that supplies could resume by October/November. The company would be able to supply 6-7million pens by the second half of the year, he added.Vishal Manchanda, Senior Vice-President (Institutional Research) with Systematix Group told businessline that the longer the company takes, the more it would be impacted. The early mover advantage is important in any market, he said, adding that the supply disruption now affects this start.DRL was one of several drugmakers that launched its version of the product after semaglutide lost its patent protection in March. Semaglutide is the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s weightloss drug Wegovy and diabetes product Ozempic. Diabetologist V Mohan said patients taking semaglutide from any of these companies could move to other similar productsVoluntary recallIn its update, Torrent Pharmaceuticals said it was implementing a voluntary recall as a “precautionary measure” for select batches of Semalix injection disposable pens. “This action follows a product recall notification issued by our manufacturer Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd, Hyderabad (DRL), for a technical evaluation,” it said.Reiterating that there was no risk to patients on this treatment, the company said other formats of semaglutide from Torrent, including the oral formulation were unaffected. The company listed the affected products, including Semalix Injection (select batches of 2 mg & 4 mg manufactured by DRL). It also listed its unaffected products, including Semalix tablet 3 mg, 7 mg, 14 mg (manufactured by Torrent); Sembolic tablet 3 mg, 7 mg, 14 mg (Torrent); Semalix injection 8 mg (from MSN Laboratories); and Sembolic re-usable injection (from Zydus Lifesciences). USV did not respond to queries from businessline at the time of going to press.Published on July 9, 2026
