A 34-year-old Pune woman, diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) as a teenager, saw her first natural menstrual cycle in February—six months after starting Mounjaro for weight management. This spotlights a broader shift, as more women with the condition turn to GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) drugs for metabolic relief and, in some cases, improved fertility.
The trend is accelerating across India, doctors said, even though these drugs are not officially approved for treating PCOS and are prescribed primarily for type-2 diabetes and obesity.
“I’ve had PCOS since I can remember, and with that comes infertility,” she told Mint, requesting her name be withheld to protect her privacy. While she was initially put on Rybelsus (oral semaglutide) to prepare for a round of IVF (in vitro fertilization) treatment for infertility in 2024-25, she stopped when two rounds of IVF failed. She was prescribed Mounjaro in August 2025, with the starting dose of 2.5 mg to treat obesity, blood sugar, blood pressure, etc.
Scores of Indian women diagnosed with PCOS—which typically involves weight gain or difficulty losing weight due to insulin resistance—have been turning to GLP-1 injectables over the last one year. Doctors across specialties have reported a quick pick-up among PCOS patients seeking these medicines and expect the pool to expand quickly, given the recent influx of cheaper generics since last month.
Doctors say GLP-1s work for patients by reducing insulin resistance and weight, and easing symptoms such as acne and irregular periods. They have also shown a positive effect on fertility.
GLP-1s are officially indicated to treat diabetes and obesity, which often accompany PCOS, a hormonal disorder. PCOS symptoms span specialties including dermatology, gynaecology, diabetes and endocrinology, with doctors across these segments seeing patients benefiting from these drugs. Several companies have directed marketing and field forces towards these specialties.
How do GLP-1s help in PCOS?
“PCOS is a metabolic-endocrine-gynae issue. It's driven by excess insulin, insulin resistance, obesity and inflammation. GLP-1s actually treat all this,” said Mumbai-based diabetologist Dr. Rajiv Kovil.
Polycystic ovary syndrome is a hormonal disorder in women characterized by insulin resistance, which leads to excess insulin, excess androgens (male hormones), irregular periods, and small cysts on the ovaries. It shows symptoms such as infertility, acne, excessive hair growth, and weight gain, and can even lead to type-2 diabetes and heart disease.
The disorder is extremely common in India. A large nationwide study published in 2024 found that 7-20% of women surveyed had PCOS, depending on the diagnostic criteria. Of these, 43% had obesity, 92% had dyslipidemia (unhealthy imbalance of lipids or fat), 33% had non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, 25% had metabolic syndrome, 3.4% had diabetes, while 8.3% of them had hypertension.
“There has been a shift of the treatment of PCOS from a symptom-only treatment to a metabolic-focused management… there has been a noticeable increase in the use of GLP-1 receptor agonists specifically in women who are struggling with obesity and insulin resistance,” said Dr. Shweta Wazir, a Gurugram-based gynaecologist at Motherhood Hospital.
Apart from GLP-1s, patients are often prescribed metformin for insulin resistance or birth control pills for menstrual cycle regulation, along with lifestyle changes.
Uptick across specialties
Several patients Mint spoke to said the initial recommendation for GLP-1 came from their dermatologists. This is because a lot of PCOS symptoms—excess hair growth, acne, dark patches—are skin related.
Dr. Satish Bhatia, a dermatologist and cosmetologist at the Indian Cancer Society in Mumbai, said using GLP-1s had led to noticeable improvements in acne, oily skin and thickened skin in patients. However, he was firm in emphazising that the condition was metabolic, and that the medication is not a dermatological therapy.
“Whenever we do recommend, we go in tandem with the endocrinologist,” he said, adding that there are also side-effects such as severe hair loss that need to be kept in mind.
As per the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) guidelines, only endocrinologists, internal medicine specialists, and cardiologists can prescribe GLP-1s.
With GLP-1 semaglutide being launched at half the innovators’ price by several Indian companies in March, this patient pool is set to balloon.
Bariatric surgeon Dr. Neha Shah, who runs a weight-loss clinic in Chennai, said patients with PCOS now make 20% of the total number of patients seeking GLP-1s, up from 5% last March, when Mounjaro was launched. Women account for 60% of such patients in her practice.
Dr Bhatia projects the use of GLP-1s for PCOS to grow 3x this year.
This mimics global trends. In the US, prescriptions for GLP-1 drugs for women with PCOS have rise more than sevenfold since 2021, according to a December 2025 report by Reuters, citing health data firm Truveta.
Need for evidence
The lack of global phase-3 clinical trials for the effects of GLP-1s on PCOS by drugmakers is a glaring gap, say doctors.
Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are testing their drugs for other conditions such as addiction and Alzheimer's.
Innovators Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly did not respond to queries on whether there were any plans for the drug's dedicated clinical trial on PCOS indications. In an emailed statement to Mint, however, Novo Nordisk India managing director Vikrant Shrotriya said that “the weight loss effects of GLP-1 RAs offer a chance to expand the treatment options available to women with PCOS under the supervision of healthcare professionals.”
In the absence of pointed clinical data from innovators, doctors rely on independent investigational studies.
Indian generic drugmakers who have launched their semaglutide brands in March are also focusing on the segment, with several having dedicated teams for doctors in these specialties.
“This therapy intersects with diabetes, obesity, cardiometabolic risk, NASH/NAFLD (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease) and PCOS management, making it crucial to engage those specialties that directly influence treatment pathways, long-term outcomes, and impact,” Rajeev Sibal, Lupin’s president of India region formulations told Mint.