Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk officially brought its once-weekly basal insulin product, Awiqli, to India on Thursday — a country where diabetes rates rank among the highest anywhere on the planet.
The company describes Awiqli as the world’s first once-weekly basal insulin — a type of long-acting, background insulin — to receive approval for clinical use. It is prescribed for adults managing either type 1 or type 2 diabetes and is expected to go head-to-head with daily insulin options already on the market.
According to Novo Nordisk, more than 101 million people in India are currently living with diabetes, while an additional 136 million are considered prediabetic.
The company noted that insulin treatment in India is typically delayed by an average of seven to nine years, a trend driven in part by patients’ fear of needles, concerns about pain, and the cost of treatment.
Novo Nordisk India’s Managing Director Vikrant Shrotriya addressed those barriers directly, stating: “We believe Awiqli will reduce the psychological and physical barriers to insulin initiation.”
Standard daily basal insulin requires one injection every 24 hours, adding up to 365 injections annually. Awiqli, by contrast, is administered just once per week — cutting that total down to 52 injections per year. The product is delivered via a pen device and is known generically as insulin icodec.
The drug received approval in the United States earlier this year and has also been cleared for use in the European Union and a number of other countries.
In India, Awiqli will face competition from established basal insulin brands including Sanofi’s Lantus, as well as lower-priced insulin glargine products sold by domestic manufacturers including Biocon, Eris Lifesciences, and Lupin.
India’s insulin market is on a strong growth trajectory, with projections from IMARC showing an increase from $660.5 million in 2025 to $916.4 million by 2034. That growth is being fueled by rising diabetes rates tied to sedentary lifestyles, poor dietary habits, and genetic factors.
Beyond insulin, Novo Nordisk is also competing against Eli Lilly and a growing field of Indian generic drug manufacturers in India’s expanding market for obesity treatments.
