The simultaneous patent expiry of Ozempic’s active ingredient in China and India on Friday is a watershed moment. Until now, the revolutionary weight-loss drugs have been available largely to people with means. The entry of affordable generic versions will be a leveling force in healthcare, with global consequences.

That’s because the world’s two most-populous countries aren’t just consumers. They also have pharmaceutical firms capable of exploiting this moment to reshape the market for metabolic therapies — and affecting the earnings of incumbents Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly & Co. The process is driven by the demands of large homegrown populations suffering from chronic ailments like obesity and diabetes that can be treated with these new cheap medicines that mimic the effect of the natural hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which regulates appetite and blood sugar.

© Bloomberg