Investor Aditya Khemka Avoids Semaglutide Stocks, Warns of ‘Pricing Collapse’ Despite Hype

At a time when the global demand for weight-loss drugs has surged significantly, the semaglutide space has emerged as an attractive investment opportunity for many, but not for veteran health investor Aditya Khemka.

Khemka, the Chief Investment Officer at InCred Asset Management, told NDTV Profit that he is avoiding investing in the semaglutide space as the sector currently lacks clarity on future market leaders.

“There were no investment cases for us for export-oriented pharma companies,” he said.

Khemka's comments come against the backdrop of the Delhi High Court clearing Dr Reddy's Laboratories to manufacture and even semaglutide, which is a key active ingredient in Novo Nordisk's blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.

Although the court blocked domestic sales of semaglutide in India until Novo's patent expires in March 2026, the ruling is being viewed positively for Indian pharma companies, as it could be an ideal opportunity for them to tap into the global supply chains.

That being said, Khema remains sceptical about the sector and whether or not it can create long-term value for the investors, especially amid stiff competition, although he did acknowledge the opportunity.

“The space is really big. WHO recommended semaglutide for weight loss reduction therapy,” Khemka said. “The space can be really big as obesity is a big problem, and semaglutide offers a very good solution. The only problem with investing in this space is that you never know who is going to be the winner. While we have heard the positive newsflash, we can’t really guess at this point.”

Talking about competition, Khemka added that the semaglutide space could see multiple new entrants, which in turn, may put pressure on pricing.

“One needs to pay attention to the fact that semaglutide can see price control,” Khemka said. “There will be many, many players launching semaglutide, so there will be a lot of competition. When competition is too high, sometimes the pricing collapses. We are not playing the semaglutide space at this moment.”