By Rishika Sadam

HYDERABAD, July 7 (Reuters) - Demand for weight-loss

drugs is rising at a fast clip in India where rivals Eli Lilly ( LLY )

and Novo Nordisk are competing for market

share, data from research firm Pharmarack showed on Monday.

Sales of Lilly's Mounjaro, which launched in late March,

doubled from May to June, reaching 87,986 units or 260 million

rupees ($3.03 million), Pharmarack said in a virtual session.

Between March and May, Lilly sold a total of 81,570 Mounjaro

units in India.

Meanwhile, Novo sold 1,788 units of Wegovy in India since

its late-June launch, Pharmarack said.

Incidence of obesity and diabetes is rising in India, the

world's most populous country, which also ranks among the worst

three globally for high obesity rates, according to a study

published in the medical journal the Lancet.

The Indian obesity market has grown fivefold since 2021 and

is valued at 6.28 billion rupees, according to the research

firm.

Affordability and willingness to try new drugs for obesity

have propelled the growth of the market, Pharmarack's Vice

President (Commercial) Sheetal Sapale said.

Wegovy's active ingredient, semaglutide, dominates the

market with a two-thirds share in India while Mounjaro's active

ingredient, Tirzepatide, has captured 8% of the market,

Pharmarack said.

As of June, the semaglutide market in India was valued at

4.12 billion rupees, and Tirzepatide at 500 million rupees, the

research firm said.

Novo has sold oral versions of semaglutide for diabetes in

India since 2022.

Semaglutide will lose patent protection in India in 2026,

and generic drugmakers are aiming to produce cheaper versions of

Wegovy as India becomes a key battleground for drugmakers

seeking to grab a share of the global obesity market.

Novo and Lilly's drugs help control blood sugar and slow

digestion, making users feel fuller for longer.

($1 = 85.9200 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Rishika Sadam; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)