With the end of semaglutide’s exclusivity in March 2026, national companies are preparing launches to compete in a sector that already represents 4% of the Brazilian pharmaceutical market.
By – Matheus Almeida
Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) reports that it is currently analyzing 13 applications for registration of medicines containing semaglutide. There are also nine other applications under analysis related to medicines with liraglutide, another substance initially marketed by Novo Nordisk, whose patent expired at the end of 2024 .At least three companies have confirmed to IstoÉ Dinheiro that they already have plans to market their own versions of semaglutide: Biomm, EMS, and União Química. In another strategy, Eurofarma has partnered with Novo Nordisk and is already marketing its own versions of semaglutide even before the patent expires, under the brands Extensior and Poviztra.
Competition makes it difficult to reverse patent suspension.
Novo Nordisk has already made several legal attempts to reverse the expiration of the semaglutide patent. The company claimed it was harmed by the nearly 13-year delay by Anvisa (Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency) in approving the drug’s use. In December 2025, the Supreme Federal Court unanimously decided that the 20-year patent expiration period begins from the moment the patent is submitted for analysis by the regulatory body, thus maintaining the expiration date of March 2026.
“In practice, it is virtually impossible for this decision to be altered through the ongoing legal action,” analyzes lawyer Guillermo Glassman, partner in the Life Sciences area at LO Baptista. “Logically, in legal terms, there is always room to build new arguments. But, in practice, it is impossible for this to be reviewed at this time.”
Glassman points out that the fact that competitors are moving to enter the market makes any legal setback in favor of Novo Nordisk even more difficult.
Registration in progress and investments confirmed.
At least one of the companies consulted by IstoÉ Dinheiro claims that it has already submitted a request to Anvisa (Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency) for registration of a generic version of semaglutide: Biomm states that it “will be able to make the drug available to the market after obtaining regulatory approval.” The drug will be produced in an industrial plant already in operation in Nova Lima (MG), where it already manufactures human insulin and insulin glargine. The investment in the facility was R$ 800 million.
More options and more consumers
A report published on January 7th by Itaú BBA indicates that generic and similar GLP-1 agonist drugs manufactured by the Danish company Novo Nordisk could generate R$ 8.4 billion in revenue as early as 2027. In addition to semaglutide, the Danish company also manufactures liraglutide, whose patent expired at the end of 2024.
Filipe Campos, Market Insights Leader at Close Up International, the company responsible for gathering data on liraglutide, states that there was no cannibalization of the Novo Nordisk market. EMS’s launches actually increased the number of units sold and prescribing physicians. “Therefore, with the expiration of the Semaglutide patent, it is estimated that the number of patients using the medications will increase,” he says.
Will generic ‘Ozempic’ be available through the SUS (Brazilian public healthcare system)?
With the decrease in medication costs, the possibility opens up for the eventual inclusion of semaglutide in the Unified Health System (SUS). The Ministry of Health stated that it has requested priority from Anvisa (Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency) in the registration of medications composed of the active ingredients semaglutide and liraglutide. “The entry of new generic medications into the market and increased competition should significantly reduce prices,” the agency affirms.
When questioned by IstoÉ Dinheiro, the Ministry of Health stated that it “constantly monitors the intellectual property landscape of essential drugs, such as antineoplastic and biotechnological drugs, to support procurement planning and technological incorporation strategies.”
In 2025, an analysis for the possible inclusion of Ozempic in public health came to a negative conclusion because the budgetary impact was estimated at more than R$ 8 billion annually. This amount would represent almost double the total budget of the Farmácia Popular program for that year.
To be included in the public system, new medications must be substantially cheaper. EMS’s liraglutide, for example, did not reach the 35% price difference compared to the reference medication required to be classified as a generic. With prices above R$ 600, they are still far from being fully accessible to the population and the public system.
Professor Gonzalo Vecina Neto of the Faculty of Public Health at USP (University of São Paulo) states that, even in generic versions, the medication would face another obstacle in the SUS (Brazilian public health system): high demand. According to the 2025 World Obesity Atlas, approximately 31% of the adult Brazilian population lives with obesity.
“The Brazilian public health system (SUS) should reserve the use of these medications for a specific type of patient with a higher risk. For example, patients with morbid obesity who are not candidates for bariatric surgery,” says Vecina. “This should be an important discussion that the Ministry will have with society, to establish a protocol for who can receive them.”
Semaglutide is one of the most popular GLP-1 agonists in the country.
Marketed by Novo Nordisk in Brazil since 2019, semaglutide held over 90% of the GLP-1 agonist market until May of last year. The arrival of Mounjaro changed this scenario, with a study by Close Up International showing both with over 40% market share by August 2025.
The class of GLP-1 (Glucagon-like Peptide type 1) analog medications mimics a hormone that the body naturally produces in the intestine after meals, acting on different organs to regulate metabolism and weight. As a result, it lowers glucose levels and increases the feeling of fullness.
Originally approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, semaglutide has become known worldwide for its effectiveness in treating obesity and overweight. Novo Nordisk markets the drug under two brand names, one with a package insert focused on diabetes (Ozempic) and the other targeted at overweight (Wegovy).
Other popular GLP-1 agonists in the country are:
- Liraglutide, marketed by Novo Nordisk under the brand names Saxenda and Victoza, and by EMS under the brand names Olire and Lirux;
- Dulaglutide, marketed by the American company Eli Lilly under the brand name Trulicity;
- Tirzepatide, marketed by the American company Eli Lilly under the brand name Mounjaro.
According to a report by Itaú BBA, the market for GLP-1 agonists is projected to reach approximately R$ 10 billion in 2025, representing about 4% of the total size of the pharmaceutical retail market in Brazil.
The popularity of these drugs has generated a race to create new products along the same lines. The Chinese company Hangzhou Sciwind Biosciences is currently working on its own molecule, ecnoglutide. Meanwhile, the also Chinese company Innovent Biologics is developing another substance, Mazdutide, in partnership with Eli Lilly.