The cost of Mounjaro, one of Britain’s biggest-selling weight loss drugs, will be heavily discounted across UK pharmacies when the official list price soars next week, Sky News has learned.
We’ve seen a confidential document from the makers Eli Lilly to pharmacies setting out the scheme, with a saving of £83 on the cost of the maximum dose.
It would take some of the sting out of the sharp price hike announced by the pharmaceutical giant.
But, under the plans, the cost will still double for the 15mg top dose, rising from £122 a month to £247.50 from 1 September.
Lower doses will get smaller discounts.
Eli Lilly confirmed the scheme.
In a statement to Sky News, it said: “We are working with private providers on commercial arrangements to maintain affordability and expect these to be passed onto patients when the change is effective on 1 September.
“We are already seeing providers respond in different ways to the list price change, with a range of options available for eligible patients.”
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Many obese patients have been thrown by the sharp rise in the cost of the drug, announced with just two weeks’ warning.
More than 1.25 million people in the UK are taking weight loss drugs, the vast majority of them paying privately because NHS provision is severely limited.
Around 90% of them are currently taking weekly injections of Mounjaro – also known by its generic name tirzepatide.
Clinical trials show people lose 20% of their weight in a matter of months. The alternative drug Wegovy leads to weight loss of 15%.
Reece Maddick has been taking Mounjaro since November, when he weighed 24st (152kg). He has since lost more than 6st (38kg), with a dramatic improvement to his physical and mental wellbeing.
He stockpiled a two-month supply when he heard the price was rising, but he isn’t sure he can afford to continue treatment beyond that.
“It does petrify me,” he said. “I don’t want to go back to where I was eight or nine months ago.”
He recently missed a weekly dose and almost immediately found his appetite returning.
“I fear just from that week missing it,” he said. “I think it’s like jumping off a cliff, and you’re back to square one. I’d put all the weight back on. No doubt in my mind.”
The online pharmacy CheqUp is shipping 4,000 orders for weight-loss drugs every day from its base in Chippenham, Wiltshire. Almost all are for Mounjaro.
It thinks most users will switch to Wegovy because it will be cheaper than Mounjaro from next month.
But they fear others will take risks with their health to try to save money.
James Hunt, the pharmacy’s director, said: “We would urge absolutely everybody to avoid the black market, to avoid beauticians offering to give you injections of semaglutide (Wegovy) or tirzepatide (Mounjaro). Absolutely do not do that.
“We would also urge people not to microdose, not to skip weeks.
“If you’re taking a medication you need to use that medication as it’s been instructed and designed to be used clinically.”
The price rise followed complaints by US President Donald Trump that “foreign freeloaders” were getting a better deal on medicines than Americans.
Eli Lilly said the UK was one of the first countries to roll out Mounjaro, and the list price had been significantly lower than the European average.
In a statement, it said: “We are now aligning the list price more consistently to ensure fair global contribution to the cost of innovation.”
