(Yicai) Dec. 29 -- Prices of imported weight-loss drugs in China, including Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro, are tumbling ahead of patent expiration, as domestic generic treatments prepare to hit the market.

Wegovy has roughly halved in price to CNY987.48 (USD141) from CNY1,893.67 (USD270) per pre-filled injection pen, according to the Yunnan Province Drug Centralized Procurement Platform and the Sichuan Province Drug and Medical Device Bidding and Procurement Service Center. Some e-commerce platforms have also slashed their prices for the drug.

Novo Nordisk voluntarily cut prices, thereby lowering the cost for patients and improving treatment compliance, a company representative told Yicai.

Meanwhile, e-commerce sites have also reduced the presale price of Mounjaro to as low as CNY450 (USD64) per pre-filled pen, well below the previous official guide price of CNY2,180 (USD311). Post-price cut deliveries will start on Jan. 5.

Lower prices reflect growing competition in the market for glucagon-like peptide-1 weight-loss drugs. The patent in China for semaglutide, marketed as Wegovy, will expire next March 20, and domestic firms are busily preparing to launch their own generic versions.

Ten domestically made semaglutide drugs have applied for approval, and several other types of innovative GLP-1 drugs are also in the process of application, according to data from Chinese biopharmaceutical consulting firm Pharnexcloud.

A source at a local GLP-1 drug developer told Yicai that the price cuts mean imported brands will no longer enjoy their earlier outsized margins, though the new pricing is still expected to remain profitable. The cuts will have a major impact on the industry and also on the market pricing of other weight loss drugs to be launched in future, they pointed out.

Wegovy went on sale in China in November last year, while sales of Mounjaro began this January.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Tom Litting