India gets Novo Nordisk's once-weekly insulin injection Awiqli for adults with diabetes

The injection replaces the need for a daily basal insulin injection with a once-a-week dose. This reduces the annual number of injections from 365 to just 52.

Updated on: Jul 9, 2026, 15:56:39 IST

By HT News Desk

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Danish pharmaceutical major Novo Nordisk on Thursday launched its once-weekly basal insulin injection, Awiqli, in India for the treatment of diabetes in adults, marking the country's entry as the seventh market to introduce the therapy.

Awiqli is designed for people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes mellitus. (Shutterstock)

The company said Awiqli is designed for people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes mellitus and replaces the need for a daily basal insulin injection with a once-a-week dose. This reduces the annual number of injections from 365 to just 52.

"It is a modern therapy, and we (India) are the seventh country to launch (the injection)," Novo Nordisk India Managing Director, Vikrant Shrotriya told PTI, adding that the injection will be introduced in two pens - 700 units and 2,100 units, with a per unit cost of ₹3.73.

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With the reduction of the number of injections required for diabetic patients, the company stated that the barriers to needing insulin will be reduced.

Shrotriya noted that in usual therapies patients with diabetes normally will have to take insulin injection every day, which leads to people actually denying insulin as "they think that they have to take every day and they have to take lifelong".

But with Awiqli, that barrier is reduced, and patients get greater control.

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"We believe Awiqli will reduce the psychological and physical barriers to insulin initiation, and ultimately help more people achieve better control and a better quality of life," the managing director added.

The injection will be available across the country through 4,5000 distributors.

(With inputs from PTI)

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HT News Desk
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