* Wegovy is cheaper than Eli Lilly's ( LLY ) Mounjaro in South

Africa

* Lowest dose of Wegovy dropped from 3,090 rand to 1,873

rand

* Novo Nordisk plans to introduce Wegovy pill in South

Africa

* Legal action taken against local compounder of

counterfeit drugs

By Nqobile Dludla

JOHANNESBURG, March 25 (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk

is cutting South African prices of its weight-loss

drug Wegovy for a second time since it launched in August, local

executives said on Wednesday, pointing to fierce competition in

a market led by rival Eli Lilly ( LLY ).

The Danish drugmaker launched Wegovy in South Africa in

August, when reference pricing was uncertain due to talks with

the U.S. administration on its proposed "most-favoured nation"

policy linking U.S. drug prices to those in peer countries.

"We were of the view that the prices at the time were not

conducive for the South African market," Thabeng Leping, who

oversees market access and public affairs for Novo Nordisk South

Africa, told Reuters on the sidelines of an event about obesity.

"Because we couldn't delay the launch, we just decided we'll

fix it as we go along," he said. "So we reduced our prices in

December. We've submitted another reduction of our prices

yesterday."

The lowest injected dose of Wegovy has dropped from 3,090

rand ($183) to 1,873 rand, while the highest dose has fallen 27%

to 3,746 rand. A further 12% cut to the 1.7 mg dose - the second

highest - is awaiting approval, Leping said.

Eli Lilly's ( LLY ) rival Mounjaro starts at about 3,600 rand. Its

share of the South African market grew to 52% at the end of

January, Aspen Pharmacare, the official seller of

Mounjaro, said this month, predicting more than 1.3 billion rand

($77 million) in sales in the year through June.

Novo declined to give local sales figures, saying only that

its products were doing "extremely well".

Speaking on a panel at the event, Novo South Africa General

Manager Sara Norcross said the company intends to introduce its

Wegovy pill locally "as soon as possible".

Both Novo and Lilly face competition from unauthorised

copycat versions of their drugs, which Norcross said were used

by one in two people on weight-loss treatments in South Africa

despite adverse outcomes.

Novo has pursued legal action against a local compounder,

while the health regulator is moving to classify such products

as "undesirable."

($1 = 16.9093 rand)