Eris Sundae semaglutide tops Indian prescriptions but ranks second by value

Eris Lifesciences says its Sundae brand now leads India's generic semaglutide market by prescriptions and by units sold. In an interview published on 30 October, the Ahmedabad drugmaker credited the Eris Sundae semaglutide plan of selling to diabetes doctors rather than chasing weight loss demand. The ranking rests on company figures. Eris also says it is only second by value, because much of its volume comes from low priced vials, and coverage of the interview says Novo Nordisk still leads on sales value.

How Sundae climbed from fifth to first in India

Eris reached the market through a commercial partnership with Natco Pharma and chose to position Sundae as a diabetes medicine. Investing.com reported that the first packs were vials, with the lowest strength priced at 1,290 rupees a month, and that a pen version was planned for April. That price put Sundae among the cheapest semaglutide options in India, where the main semaglutide patent has lapsed and many local firms launched copies. The approach leaned on the company's existing diabetes franchise and its links with the doctors who treat the disease. Chairman Amit Bakshi told analysts in October that diabetes now makes up about 37 to 38 percent of total revenue, which makes it the largest single therapy area for Eris.

The climb was fast. In slides for the April to June quarter, Eris said Sundae had moved from fifth place in March 2026 to first by June, with about 21 percent of prescriptions and about 20 percent of units sold. The same slides put the whole generic semaglutide market at ₹88 crore in that first full quarter, of which Sundae took ₹12 crore. These are the company's own figures, and the summary of the slides we reviewed did not name the data provider behind them. A share of units is also not the same as a share of revenue. A vial sold at a low price counts as one unit, just like a far costlier pen, and that detail shapes how the brand's lead should be read.

Eris Lifesciences Q2 results lean on diabetes

Eris reported its July to September results, the second quarter of its 2027 fiscal year, and discussed them with analysts on a call published on 26 October. Consolidated revenue rose 12.6 percent from a year earlier, profit after tax rose 39.2 percent and consolidated EBITDA grew 7.3 percent. Reports put quarterly profit at ₹187 crore on revenue of ₹892 crore. The domestic branded business grew 14.1 percent. Management said Sundae kept its place as the top brand in prescriptions and units. Asked for Sundae sales, Bakshi gave no split between vials and pens. He said the representative figure for the quarter was around ₹16 crore to ₹18 crore, up from ₹12 crore in the quarter before.

He said Eris ranks first in units and prescriptions but second in value because it sells a vial presentation as well as pens.

Bakshi explained the value gap himself. He said Eris ranks first in units and prescriptions but second in value because it sells a vial presentation as well as pens. That is the trade off in the Eris Sundae semaglutide model: wide reach at low prices, with less revenue per patient than rivals that sell pens alone. Sundae is still small next to the whole company. At ₹16 crore to ₹18 crore, it is roughly two percent of quarterly revenue, so the profit growth came mainly from better margins and product mix across older brands, according to the published account of the call. Management also guided for an EBITDA margin of about 36 percent in the second half.

Generic semaglutide India market could double in Eris view

India's generic semaglutide market is young and crowded. After Novo Nordisk's main patent lapsed in India this year, many Indian companies brought out copies, some aimed at diabetes and some at weight loss. Bakshi told analysts the market, excluding oral tablets, was running at about ₹45 crore to ₹50 crore a month. He said he expects it to reach around ₹80 crore to ₹90 crore a month next year, which is a company forecast and not a measured figure. The Q2 earnings call transcript shows him tying that view to a broad ramp in demand rather than to any single launch. In its earlier slides, Eris called semaglutide the next big market for Indian pharma.

Larger rivals face their own limits. Dr Reddy's plans to restart its generic semaglutide pens in November after a supply halt, with Canada first in line. Novo Nordisk, the original maker, still leads India's market by sales value, according to reports on the Eris interview. In that interview with Moneycontrol, Eris presented its diabetes focus as the reason it could compete with bigger groups. No independent data on how long Sundae patients stay on treatment were given, and the prescription audit behind the ranking has not been published. Price is the other open factor. With many brands chasing the same doctors, a share lead built on low priced vials could shift quickly.

Recombinant semaglutide trial and the Bhopal insulin plant

Beyond the Eris Sundae semaglutide franchise, the company wants to make more of its own medicines. It has put ₹150 crore into the biotechnology venture Levim Lifetech, and on the October call management said the company had received approval to start a clinical trial of a recombinant semaglutide, meaning one made by engineered cells rather than by chemical synthesis. Bakshi said Eris was the first company to win such an approval, a claim we could not check against a public registry. The company gave no trial size, start date or filing timetable. Reports say Eris aims to cut its reliance on outside partners for biotech products, but the recombinant programme remains a plan rather than a product.

The second plank is a plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, built for insulin and other injectables. Reports say the site has capacity for 70 to 80 million cartridges. Bakshi said Bhopal has already started manufacturing, that the ramp should begin in the first quarter of next year, and that the full shift of outsourced products should finish around the second quarter. He expects this to cut costs and tax, because the site falls under a lower tax regime than outsourced supply. Regulatory audits of the plant have taken place, with results due in a few months. Eris also plans an Investor Day on 19 November and hopes to publish a large study on visceral fat within two months.

Conclusion

The Eris Sundae semaglutide story shows how a mid sized Indian firm turned a patent expiry into a prescription lead by selling cheap vials to diabetes doctors. The lead is real in units but not in value, and it rests on company data. Readers should watch the 19 November Investor Day, the first details of the recombinant trial, and whether pen launches by larger rivals erode Sundae's share. This report is for research and news purposes only and is not medical advice.