More Stories

Informist, Friday, Mar. 27, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. Friday said it will rename its diabetes drug from Olymviq to Olymra after Delhi High Court found it prima facie similar in name with Novo Nordisk A/S' Ozempic drug. The acceptance of Dr. Reddy's proposal to change the name of its drug was subject to the consequent steps of the company discontinuing the use of Olymviq mark and withdrawal of pending trademark application on the same, said Novo Nordisk. The court was yet to record any settlement agreement between the parties.

 

Regarding the existing stock with Olymviq name, the high court said that it was not in the favour of ordering for destruction of the stock held by Dr. Reddy's. "We are dealing with a product consumed by diabetic patients. There can be nothing worse than destroying it," said Justice Jyoti Singh. Nobody is doubting the quality of medicine of Dr. Reddy's, it was not a fly-by-night operator, said the court. The court observed that it would have to balance trademark rights with public interest, particularly given the nature of the drug.

 

Novo Nordisk said that the product should not be permitted to sell as the same would allow Dr. Reddy's to sell an infringing product. If the court was allowing Dr. Reddy's to sell the remaining product, then the same should be relabelled, said Novo Nordisk. Dr. Reddy's had sought time to dispose of its remaining inventory and was against relabelling of the product.

 

The high court expressed reservations about relabeling of the product. It was not equipped to assess the safety implications involved in the process, said the court. Justice Singh will pass an order in the future hearings regarding the settlement agreement between the parties on Olymviq drug and disposal of its remaining stock.

 

Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk held a primary consumption patent for diabetes and obesity drug semaglutide, which expired in September 2024. Novo Nordisk's secondary patent in India relating to the manufacturing process and delivery mechanism of semaglutide drug expired on Mar. 20. Following this, Dr. Reddy's launched semaglutide injections under the brand name Obeda and Olymviq.

 

Pharmaceutical trademarks are subject to a heightened anti-confusion standard, where even a possibility of confusion must be avoided in public interest, said Novo Nordisk in a trademark infringement suit against Dr. Reddy's. If there is any possibility of such confusion in the case of medicines, public policy requires prevention of confusingly similar names, said Novo Nordisk.

 

Friday, the shares of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories ended 1.5% lower at INR 1,281.70 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (11) 4220-1000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.