Millions of patients will have to wait up to 12 years to access weight loss drug Mounjaro after officials decided the NHS could only cope with a phased rollout.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is prioritising the drug for people with the highest needs to help GPs manage demands.
Professor Jonathan Benger, NICE chief medical officer said: ‘Tirzepatide and other drugs like it, such as semaglutide, will help people living with obesity to lose weight, and as a result will reduce their risk of developing heart disease or having a stroke. But tirzepatide is not for everybody, and only those with the highest clinical need will be treated initially.’
He acknowledged that people would have to wait to access the drug. ‘We have had to make this difficult decision in order to protect other vital NHS services and also to test ways of delivering this new generation of weight loss medications.’
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Mounjaro, also known as tirzepatide, is a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist, a family of medications that help manage blood sugar and reduce appetite. It works similar to Wegovy, also known as semaglutide, which is already available on the NHS. Both drugs were for use as a weight-loss aid in the UK in 2023 by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) but can only be prescribed by specialist weight management services and access to these is limited.
NICE has recommended the drug to those with a body mass index of more than 35 and at least one weight-related illness such as type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure. While about 3.4 million people are recorded to be obese, the drug is estimated to be available to just 220,000 in England over the next three years. NICE will then evaluate the impact before planning a wider rollout, including to those with prediabetes.
Health charities have expressed concerns about the long waiting times to access the drug. Helen Kirrane, head of policy and campaigns at Diabetes UK welcomed the new guidance from NICE on widening access to Mounjaro for weight loss and to reduce the risk of developing diabetes.
However, she said she was worried ‘over the length of time it might take for people with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes to gain access. As the numbers of people living with or at risk of the condition continue to rise, supporting people to lose weight is key to preventing type 2 diabetes and, for those with a recent diagnosis, to putting the condition into remission.’
Dr Kath McCullough, NHS England’s national specialty adviser for obesity, said that while weight-loss drugs were an ‘important tool to tackle one of the greatest public health issues facing the NHS’, she warned that they ‘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.’