By Bhanvi Satija and Maggie Fick
LONDON (Reuters) -Generic drug giant Sandoz expects unbranded versions of Novo Nordisk’s popular diabetes drug Ozempic to launch in Canada by the second quarter next year after a key patent expires, its CEO said on Wednesday.
Sandoz hopes to be one of the first entrants in the Canadian market where Novo’s patent for semaglutide for diabetes will expire in January.
“It’s unlikely people will launch in January next year, to be brutally honest. I think it’ll probably be quarter one, quarter two,” said Richard Saynor in an interview.
Saynor said the market will serve as a testing ground for unbranded versions of the mega-blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic that contains the same active ingredient as weight-loss injection Wegovy.
The firm also hopes to launch unbranded versions in Brazil and Turkey next after patents expire there.
(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija and Maggie Fick;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
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