England to roll out anti-obesity drug Mounjaro but access will be limited to high-need patients
The National Health Service (NHS) in England will make a new weight loss drug available next year – but fewer than 10 per cent of eligible people will have access to it.
It comes as governments across Europe grapple with how to approach the surging demand for blockbuster anti-obesity treatments.
The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro for patients dealing with obesity and at least one weight-related health condition, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, or diabetes.
That criteria makes 3.4 million patients in England eligible for the treatment, but over the next three years, access will be restricted to about 220,000 people with the “highest clinical need” – or 6.5 per cent of the total eligible population – in a bid to minimise the impact on other health services.
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Mounjaro is expected to cost NHS England about £317.2 million (€381.1 million) annually by the third year it is available, and it could take 12 years to fully roll out the medicine.
“The world will look very different in three years which is why we’ve taken the unprecedented decision to review the way this medicine is delivered to patients then,” Dr Jonathan Benger, NICE’s chief medical officer, said in a statement.
“This means many people will have to wait”.
Debate in Europe on obesity drugs access
The decision is the latest government move to limit access to anti-obesity drugs, after France opted in October to make Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy available only to patients who pay for it out of pocket.
European health authorities have been debating whether to pay for these medicines out of concern over the potential hit to their budgets, and in some cases laws that ban public funding for “lifestyle” drugs.
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The drugs, known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, work by suppressing people’s appetites and are used to treat diabetes and obesity.
In a clinical trial, patients taking tirzepatide – which is sold as Mounjaro and is already approved as a diabetes treatment in the European Union – lost 21 per cent of their body weight in 36 weeks.
However, people who stop taking anti-obesity medicines often gain the weight back, leaving governments, drugmakers, health insurers, and the public to debate whether these medicines should be taken for life.
The UK health service, for example, previously recommended that people take Wegovy for a maximum of two years out of concern over the long-term cost-effectiveness of the drug.
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NICE said that despite the “considerable cost” of Mounjaro, it is expected to save the NHS money by curbing the risk of health complications related to obesity.
Even so, Dr Kath McCullough, NHS England’s national specialty advisor for obesity cautioned that anti-obesity medicines are “not a magic bullet”.
“They need to be prescribed by a healthcare professional alongside programmes that help people lose weight and live healthier lives by making changes to their diet and physical activity – and it’s also crucial that they are prioritised for those who need them most,” McCullough said.
