Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited has launched a biosimilar of the popular antidiabetic drug, Liraglutide, for the first time in India. The drug is being marketed under the brand name LirafitTM following the approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI). Priced at around INR 100 for a standard dose of 1.2 mg (per day), this will lower the cost of therapy by approximately 70%, and will be available only under prescription.

Liraglutide belongs to the class of glucagonlike peptide 1 receptor agonist (GLP1 RA) drugs, which increase glucose dependent insulin secretion and decrease in appropriate glucagon secretion. It has been approved globally for the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus in adult patients in the United States and the European Union.