A future of many possibilities: Can weight-loss drugs be the answer to India's obesity problem?

With Ozempic and similar injectable medicines being used off-label overseas to help obese individuals lose weight, can these new drugs become the panacea for over 250 million overweight and obese Indians? Over Christmas, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, brought the issue into sharp focus when he revealed he was using the medication Mounjaro for weight loss. His post went viral, sparking renewed interest in GLP-1 inhibitors—originally intended for managing Type 2 diabetes.

This is the topic we explore in this issue, and as Neetu Chandra Sharma writes, it may well become the next big thing in India. However, as Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk prepare to launch these treatments in the Indian market, regulatory approvals and pricing may prove to be a significant hurdle. In the US, such medication is partially subsidised under the Medicare programme when prescribed for diabetes management.

Will Indian companies seize this opportunity and provide more affordable versions of these weight-loss treatments? Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw tells us that her company Biocon has already developed GLP-1 peptides and secured the world’s first approval for a drug—liraglutide—from the UK. It is making strong progress on approvals for other GLP-1 drugs, including semaglutide, which is set to go off-patent in emerging markets and Canada by 2026, she says.

Meanwhile, 2025 is poised to be a landmark year for India and the world, with several critical developments on the horizon. In this issue, 20 leading lights from business, industry, government, and academia share their insights on emerging trends and opportunities. Economist Sanjeev Sanyal writes that a complex world could take many unpredictable paths by 2030. Harvard Business School’s Tarun Khanna cautions that India faces the urgent challenge of extreme heat but remains underprepared.

Elsewhere, Arvind Panagariya, Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission, reflects on lessons yet to be learnt for India’s economic journey ahead. On the economic growth front, as SBI Chairman Challa Sreenivasulu Setty points out, until private investment picks up, the central government will have to continue to do the heavy lifting. While Surabhi examines the implications of a potential India-China thaw on economic relations, fund manager Harsh Gupta Madhusudan asserts that American exceptionalism is far from over. A country capable of producing both SpaceX and Saturday Night Live should not be bet against.

And betting against the future is something that history teaches us to never do. With the right mix of innovation, resilience, political vision and chutzpah, India’s journey into 2025 and beyond should move it consistently towards a much higher per capita income. That would be the true measure of a Viksit Bharat and a great bet to win!