OneSource Specialty Pharma: Dominating the Global Weight-Loss War 💉

In a country like India, protein-dense nutrition + physical activity = propaganda by people with abs, leading to 25% of the nation being classified as obese, often suffering from Type 2 Diabetes.

In what was to be a Hail Mary “shot” that regulated insulin levels and led to weight reduction, GLP-1 Injectables were born - more colloquially known as Ozempic or Mounjaro!

Yet, due to 2 giants dominating the market with their patents on the drug, around 95% of those who need it cannot even afford it!

The silver lining? These patents expire as quickly as next year, with one Indian company priming to bring that exorbitant cost down to less than 10% of what it costs now, instantly making it accessible for 20% of the nation, and this company is called OneSource Specialty Pharma.

While this company was listed on the market this January, and has already given investors a neat 17% return, the story leading up to this GLP-1 revolution is one we must track down to the “source”!

The Visionary Origin Story - 3 Pillar Strategy

Let’s travel back to 1982, when a 21-year-old man from Kerala named Arun Kumar moved to Mumbai to work for a pharmaceutical company in an attempt to eventually start his own.

The first iteration of this was Strides Pharma, set up in 1990 to cater to a contrarian audience. While everyone did generic OTC drugs for the US, Strides made gelatin capsules and injectables for Australia, citing the need to be a “big fish in a small pond”.

What followed was a renowned 3-Pillar Strategy that laid the foundation for what OneSource Specialty has evolved into today:

These 3 entities, with equal parts luck and strategy, found themselves at the very foundation of a revolutionary product that was about to change the world - GLP-1 injectables, the apparent cure for obesity.

The GLP-1 Opportunity & The Birth of OneSource Specialty

Believe it or not, the concept for a weight-loss and diabetes-controlling injection in 2000 initially came from the venom of the Gila Monster Lizard, as it mimics the human body’s appetite and regulates insulin.

Cut to 25 years later, and this drug can reduce weight by 15-25%, with the injection rapidly becoming more of a cosmetic want rather than a medical need.

It is no surprise that the price point is such - Rs. 10,000-20,000/month - with a mere 2-5% of the global population that needs it being able to afford it. Yet, this reality is about to see a drastic shift.

With the global market for GLP-1 currently at around US$ 50 billion (expected to grow by 3x in 10 years), the market is dominated by Novo Nordisk (Ozempic at US$ 30 billion) and Eli Lilly (Mounjaro at US$ 20 billion) - a duopoly at its prime, but one that won’t last very long.

In one of the largest and most integrated CDMO mergers in India, the 3 pillars - Strides, SteriScience, and Stelis Biopharma - combined into a Rs. 22,700 crore mammoth that is OneSource Specialty, and there are stark reasons why it is well positioned to capitalise on the GLP-1 revolution:

1. Unmatched Capacity & First-Mover Advantage: OneSource already manufactures 40 million GLP-1 pen cartridges annually and is scaling up to 220 million by FY28, with 20 GLP-1 customer contracts - including 2 of the world’s top 5 generics players - ensuring it’s ready to supply the post-patent gold rush.

   
   

2. End-to-End, Globally Approved Manufacturing: OneSource combines 3 specialised businesses into a rare end-to-end powerhouse with five globally approved facilities (USFDA, EU, Health Canada, ANVISA), a track record of 54 successful inspections in 24 months, and the unique ability to deliver everything from drug substance to device assembly under one roof.

   
   

3. Financial Firepower & Execution Edge: It raised Rs. 800 crore in fresh capital, halved its net debt in just 9 months, and is deploying a Rs. 854 crore self-funded capex to scale cartridge capacity 5x by FY28. With revenue projected to jump from Rs. 172 crore in FY24 to Rs. 2,800 crore by FY28 on the back of GLP-1 sales, this strong balance sheet makes OneSource India’s most resilient and well-funded contender in the global GLP-1 CDMO race.

Validation and Valuation

The market validated this too, wherein prior to the raise, the company was valued close to Rs. 6,500 crore and post the raise, the valuation skyrocketed to around Rs. 12,000 crore, with players like Whiteoak Capital, SBI Life and Motilal Oswal backing it.

Piloting this entire move is CEO and Managing Director Neeraj Sharma, a pharmaceutical veteran with 28+ years of global experience. Sharma's journey through the industry - from Ranbaxy to Sun Pharma to eventually leading OneSource - brought crucial expertise in both regulated and emerging markets.

With its state-of-the-art 450,000 square feet facility that has received global accreditation for GLP-1 production, its strategic partnerships with Brazil (one of the fastest growing markets for the product), and the Indian CDMO space expected to 2x in the next 4 years, OneSource Specialty has the prospects of carving out a 20% global market share in GLP-1!

The next chapter of the OneSource story will be written as GLP-1 patents begin expiring and the company's expanded manufacturing capacity comes online. With a clear strategy, strong financial trajectory, and positioning in one of the pharmaceutical industry's most promising segments, OneSource appears well-positioned to deliver on its ambitious growth targets while reshaping the global CDMO landscape.