Brazil approves first generic semaglutide pen after Ozempic patent expiry

[출처/시간] Reuters - 11:38 AM ET, 05/26/2026

SAO PAULO, May 26 (Reuters) - Brazil's health ?regulator Anvisa said on Tuesday it ?had approved EMS's Ozivy, the country's ?first semaglutide-based injector pen, as the drugmaker looks to expand into a higher-end segment of the global pharmaceutical industry.

The drug uses the same active ingredient as Novo Nordisk's diabetes and weight-loss drug Ozempic, whose patent expired in Brazil in March.

* Drug to be produced at EMS ?plant in Sao Paulo state with capacity for ?up ?to 40 million pens per year.

* ?CEO of Grupo NC, which controls EMS, told Reuters in March the firm expected to launch ?semaglutide ?pens this year.

* Following the registration, ?the drug will be marketed once Brazil's ?medicine pricing chamber approves a price cap.

* ?For ?inclusion in Brazil's public healthcare ?system SUS, Ozivy must be approved by ?the Health Ministry.

* Five other synthetic semaglutide applications and one biological version are under ?review by Anvisa.

* ?EMS rival Hypera ?had previously said it also planned to launch its ?generic version of semaglutide this year. (Reporting by Isabel Teles and ?Gabriel Araujo; Editing ?by Paul Simao)