Brides and grooms looking for shortcuts to lose weight before the big day have become the latest consumer target of weight loss drugs in India.
New Delhi’s Klarity Skin Clinic is promoting its ‘Mounjaro Bride’ package, while other clinics have incorporated weight loss injections into ‘pre-wedding’ transformation packages that typically focus on skin treatments and hairstyles.
In a social media video, Klarity offers “guided nutrition, mongaroo and smart workouts” to prepare brides to walk down the aisle. The clinic did not respond to a request for comment.
Eight doctors interviewed by Reuters said they were receiving inquiries from brides and some grooms about taking weight-loss medications before taking their vows. Many have asked about Eli Lilly’s Moonjaro, the first GLP-1 drug to enter the Indian market for treating diabetes and weight loss. Doctors said it had become more in demand than Novo Nordisk’s competitor Wijovi.
“Over the past few months, more than 20% of the inquiries we have received regarding obesity injections have come from prospective brides, who also provide us with a timeline of when they will get married,” said Rajat Goel, a bariatric surgeon at Hindustan Healthcare Hospital in New Delhi.
He said he only prescribes the drugs if patients are medically qualified, and not for cosmetic use.
Traditions and societal pressure
Weddings in India are a big deal for families who can afford them, with culture and tradition exerting a strong influence. Families continue to arrange many marriages, often leading to expectations regarding physical appearance and financial status.
Aditi, a 26-year-old financial officer from Mumbai, consulted a doctor in November to get a weight-loss prescription after exercise and diet failed to produce the desired results.
“When I see the result, I feel happy,” Aditi said of losing 10 kilograms in Mongaro before her wedding last February. “If I’m not happy, I won’t feel confident. I didn’t want to feel that way at wedding time.”
She is one of six brides and grooms who spoke to Reuters about using weight-loss medications before the wedding, but asked that their last names not be used due to social stigmas. They cited societal pressure to look “a certain way” at their wedding, and most stopped injecting soon after.
Novo and Lilly launched obesity drugs in India last year. It is expected to reach the market $80 billion ($851.79 million) by 2030. Sales of monjaro doubled in the months after its launch, making it the best-selling drug in the world’s most populous country.
Indian pharmaceutical companies began selling cheaper versions of Novo last month after the patent for semaglutide, its active ingredient, expired, expanding access.
These medications are intended for adults classified as obese, or those who are overweight and have a weight-related medical condition such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or sleep apnea.
“Monjaro is approved by regulators for specific medical indications and is intended for use only under the supervision of a qualified healthcare professional,” Lilly said in a statement.
The lowest dose sold for the Mongaro injection pen $13,125 ($139.50) per month in India, while the highest cost per dose $25,781.
Novo, which this week cut prices for Ozempic and Wegovy for the second time, is selling the lowest dose of Wegovy for… $5660 ($60.90) and higher for $16400 per month.
Novo said it does not encourage any form of semaglutide self-treatment or deviation from the use indicated on the label.
Cheaper drugs and concerns about misuse
There could be more than 440 million overweight or obese people in India by 2050, one of the highest rates in the world, according to The Lancet.
Akshitha, who got married in Hyderabad last year, said the medicines helped her shed 15 kilograms, taking her weight to 76 kilograms before the wedding. She said her family doctor suggested she try the injections when she was concerned about her weight.
“There’s a lot of chaos before the wedding, with all the planning and preparation. I knew I wouldn’t have time to go to the gym and go on a diet. That’s when these medications seemed like a better option,” she said, adding that she might consider using them again after a pregnancy in the future.
As local pharmaceutical companies flood the market with cheap weight-loss drugs, India’s drug regulator has raised concerns about misuse and intensified scrutiny of unauthorized sales and promotion.
“We understand the curiosity, but this cannot be a quick fix,” said Dr. Swati Pradhan, founder of obesity and metabolic health clinic Live Light.
Pradhan said she prescribed the injections to only a few soon-to-be brides if they were medically eligible and showed signs of other medical problems, while insisting on lifestyle changes to get sustainable results.
For 27-year-old Priya, a tech worker from Bengaluru, weight-loss drugs have become a way to counter body shaming from the families of potential grooms.
“Men and their families rejected my proposal because of my weight. I was told I was fat,” Priya told Reuters.
She initially used Novo’s oral semaglutide, which is approved in India to treat diabetes, as an off-label treatment, and lost more than 12kg before switching to injectable Mongaro.
Her search for the groom continues.
