The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) and Novo Nordisk India Pvt Ltd (NNIPL) have entered into a five-year strategic collaboration, formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on July 8, 2025. This partnership aims to strengthen India’s healthcare ecosystem with a sharp focus on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), particularly obesity.
The collaboration comes at a pivotal moment as Novo Nordisk’s weight-loss drug Wegovy makes its India debut, underscoring the urgency of addressing obesity as a growing public health challenge.
The partnership will span three core areas: health system capacity building, policy advocacy, and health economics. Initiatives under this alliance include the development of model frameworks for obesity clinics, creation of educational content tailored for healthcare professionals and stakeholders, and the formulation of data-driven public health policy recommendations.
As part of the effort, IIMA and NNIPL will also undertake research into the economic burden of obesity—analyzing its impact on individual health, workforce productivity, and the broader healthcare system. These insights are intended to inform long-term strategies and support meaningful policy interventions.
The collaboration further outlines plans for joint research publications, pilot outreach programmes, and studies evaluating the effectiveness of telemedicine in managing NCDs in underserved areas. These initiatives will aim to generate actionable evidence that can help reform care delivery and expand access.
The IIMA Endowment Fund (IIMAEF) played a critical role in enabling the partnership. As a platform for institutional collaborations and philanthropic engagement, the fund supports efforts that leverage IIMA’s academic and research strengths to address pressing societal issues, including public health.
By uniting academic rigor, corporate expertise, and a shared commitment to healthcare advancement, the partnership aspires to develop scalable, impactful models for NCD management—with obesity as a central focus. Ultimately, the initiative seeks to drive improvements in health outcomes, healthcare delivery, and policy-making across India.