People paying privately for weight-loss drug Mounjaro in the UK face a rise in the cost of the treatment after manufacturer Eli Lilly said it was increasing the list price of the drug by as much as 170%.<\/p>\n
It means the suggested price for a month’s supply of the highest dose of the drug will rise from \u00a3122 to \u00a3330, although the rise for lower doses will be smaller.<\/p>\n
More generally, retailers who sell the drug may be able to negotiate discounts to the list price, so it is possible the impact on consumers will be limited.<\/p>\n
The announcement does not affect the price the NHS pays, as the service has negotiated a heavily-discounted rate for those getting the drug on prescription.<\/p>\n
The weekly injection works by making you feel full so you eat less, and can help people lose 20% of their body weight.<\/p>\n
Currently there are thought to be around 1.5 million people on weight loss drugs in the UK with more than half of them on Mounjaro. Estimates suggest nine in 10 pay for these drugs privately, buying from online services and high street pharmacies.<\/p>\n
Eli Lilly said the drug had been sold in the UK at a price that was \u00ab\u00a0significantly below\u00a0\u00bb that charged in other European countries.<\/p>\n
It comes after US President Donald Trump complained about the high cost of drugs in the US.<\/p>\n
He has threatened the pharmaceutical industry with a \u00ab\u00a0most favoured nation\u00a0\u00bb drug pricing proposal to peg US prices to those abroad.<\/p>\n
Eli Lilly said it agreed with the objective expressed by President Trump that costs should be shared more fairly \u2013 although a \u00ab\u00a0most favoured nation\u00a0\u00bb approach was not the right answer.<\/p>\n
Research suggests prices in the US can be three times higher than in other rich nations.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Eli Lilly said: \u00ab\u00a0The UK was one of the first countries where Lilly launched Mounjaro, and our priority was to bring it to patients as quickly as possible during a time of limited availability.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0At launch, Lilly agreed to a UK list price that is significantly below the European average to prevent delays in NHS availability.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0With changes in the environment and new clinical evidence supporting the value of Mounjaro, we are now aligning the list price more consistently to ensure fair global contributions to the cost of innovation.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Dr Leyla Hannbeck, head of the Independent Pharmacies Association, said she was \u00ab\u00a0shocked and very disappointed\u00a0\u00bb by the price rise.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0This is a real blow to patients, at a time when more and more people worried about their weight are turning to jabs.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0It is vital that patients who are already taking Mounjaro talk to their local pharmacy before they take any action.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Those patients considering weight-loss jabs should also not be put off as Mounjaro is not the only option – local pharmacies are best placed to offer vital advice about the range of treatments available.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
She said it was important other weight loss drug manufacturers hold their nerve and their prices – alongside Mourjaro Novo Nordisk drug Wegovy is widely used in the UK.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0The British market for weight-loss jabs will is only set to grow, but it will only achieve that growth if treatment remains affordable to the average patient.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
People paying privately for weight-loss drug Mounjaro in the UK face a rise in the cost of the treatment after manufacturer Eli Lilly said it was increasing the list price of the drug by as much as 170%. It means the suggested price for a month’s supply of the highest dose of the drug will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9081","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9081\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}