Abbott to sell Plosbrio semaglutide in Singapore as Novo adds a second Ozempic brand

Abbott will sell Plosbrio semaglutide, a second brand of Novo's Ozempic, in Singapore and other Asia Pacific markets under an expanded deal the two companies announced on 5 November 2026. The Plosbrio semaglutide pen is made by Novo and holds the same molecule as Ozempic, for adults with type 2 diabetes. The companies named only Singapore as a market and gave no launch date, price or approval status. They say availability depends on local regulators, registration and launch plans in each country.

What Abbott and Novo agreed in Singapore

The press release issued in Singapore on 5 November 2026 set out an expanded Abbott Novo collaboration, and the Indian trade title Pharmabiz carried it a day later. Under the deal, Abbott will commercialise Plosbrio, while Novo, the Danish maker of Ozempic, develops and manufactures the medicine. The companies call the product originator semaglutide, which sets it apart from the generic copies now sold in some other Asian markets. Singapore is the only country named. The release refers to other Asia Pacific countries but does not list them or say in what order they will follow. Abbott said it will promote and distribute the brand through a regional business that already sells its branded generic medicines, diagnostics, glucose monitors and nutrition products.

According to the release, Plosbrio is indicated as an add on to diet and exercise for adults whose type 2 diabetes is not well controlled. It also carries a use to lower the risk of heart and kidney events in adults with type 2 diabetes who already have heart or kidney disease. The release lists no weight management use, so the brand is aimed at diabetes care rather than obesity. It will come in Novo's FlexTouch pen, used once a week, in four strengths. The companies add that semaglutide is 94% homologous to the GLP-1 hormone the body makes, and that the World Health Organization placed semaglutide on its essential medicines list in 2025.

Why a second brand of Ozempic

A second brand is the same medicine sold under another name, usually by a partner with its own sales teams. Abbott already sells Extensior, another second brand of Ozempic, in India, so the Plosbrio semaglutide deal extends a model rather than starting one. For Novo, the deal places its molecule inside what the release calls Abbott's extensive healthcare and commercial footprint across the region. For Abbott, it adds an originator GLP-1 medicine to a diabetes business that runs from glucose testing to nutrition. Jay Thyagarajan, Novo's senior vice president for Asia Pacific, called it a "first-of-its-kind, multi-country collaboration across Asia Pacific", while Abbott presented it as a way to widen access to newer diabetes treatment in the region.

The release names Singapore as the only confirmed market and gives no price, launch date or registration status for the new brand.

Karim Elmashad, divisional vice president for Abbott's medicines business in Asia Pacific, said access to advanced therapies "remains uneven across many parts of the region." The release backs this with a regional count: more than 107 million adults in the Southeast Asian region live with diabetes, a figure it projects will reach 185 million by 2050. It also says type 2 diabetes in Asia Pacific tends to start earlier and progress faster, with a higher risk of heart and kidney complications. These figures describe need, not proof that Plosbrio will reach those patients. Uptake will depend on price, on whether public schemes or insurers pay, and on how doctors choose between brands and, in markets where they are legal, cheaper copies.

Extensior in India set the pattern

The new agreement builds on an Indian arrangement in which Abbott commercialises Extensior for adults with type 2 diabetes. The release does not say when Extensior launched, how it is priced or how many patients use it, so its results cannot be judged from this announcement. India has since become a crowded semaglutide market after the main patent lapsed there. This site has reported that Eris Lifesciences leads by prescriptions with its Sundae brand, based on company data. A separate Mint report covered in our story on Indian generic semaglutide volumes said generic semaglutide units rose about sixteen fold after the patent expired. In that setting, an originator second brand sits beside both cheaper copies and Novo's own Ozempic.

The two companies also share a device history. Since 2019 they have worked to link Abbott's FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitor with Novo's connected insulin pens, so that glucose readings and insulin doses can be viewed together. The release cites real world studies suggesting that using the Libre sensor alongside GLP-1 therapy may further improve HbA1c and support adherence, but it does not name those studies or give their size. It also states that Plosbrio and FreeStyle Libre are separate products that are not sold or offered together, and that decisions on their use rest with healthcare professionals. Readers should treat the monitor link as background to the partnership, not as part of what patients in Singapore will be offered with the new pen.

What the release leaves out

The release names Singapore as the only confirmed market and gives no price, launch date or registration status for the new brand. It does not say whether Singapore's Health Sciences Authority has registered Plosbrio, and the companies note that availability may vary by market and depends on approvals, registration requirements and local launch planning. No financial terms were disclosed, so it is not clear how revenue will be shared between Abbott and Novo. The release also gives no estimate of how many patients the companies expect to reach. The scale figures it does give, such as more than 58 million patient years of exposure across all semaglutide products, describe the molecule's global record rather than this regional deal.

The patent picture across the region also shapes how far a second brand can go. As this site's semaglutide patent expiry map shows, the main patent has lapsed in India and China, though data protection holds Chinese copies back until April 2027. Novo said semaglutide is taken by more than 32 million people worldwide, but the release gives no breakdown by country. Readers in Singapore and nearby markets should watch for a registration listing, a first launch date and any word on subsidy or insurance coverage. Those steps, not the announcement itself, will show whether Plosbrio semaglutide widens access to new patients or mainly moves existing Ozempic users onto a second label.

Conclusion

Abbott and Novo have agreed that Abbott will sell Plosbrio semaglutide, a second brand of Ozempic made by Novo, in Singapore and other Asia Pacific markets that are not yet named. The deal follows the Extensior model in India and adds to a device partnership dating from 2019. What is missing is the detail that decides access: approval status, launch dates, prices and reimbursement. Until those appear, the deal is a commercial plan for type 2 diabetes care rather than a medicine patients can already receive.