This week, both Superdrug and pharmacy service provider Pharmadoctor announced that their pharmacies will privately offer new weight loss injection Mounjaro.
The diabetes drug, which was approved for weight loss by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in November, is similar to weight loss jab Wegovy and diabetes jab Ozempic.
It is administered in pre-filled injection pens and its active ingredient, tirzepatide, reduces patients’ hunger.
Read more: What’s the deal with Wegovy?
Pharmadoctor yesterday (February 15) announced that as of yesterday, 700 of its partner pharmacies will be “the first private UK service providers” to be able to offer Mounjaro in “face-to-face, clinically robust consultations”.
The company told C+D that pharmacies that already pay for Pharmadoctor’s weight management service package will be able to offer Mounjaro at no additional cost.
The service package costs pharmacies £549 per year and the full maintenance dose of Mounjaro will cost patients around £230, it added.
Available in Superdrug from March
Meanwhile, pharmacy multiple Superdrug announced on Tuesday (February 13) that it will launch a private Mounjaro service “at the beginning of next month when more stock becomes readily available”, amid “very limited supply” being launched on the NHS.
Superdrug said that a four-week course of Mounjaro “will start at £215” for patients.
Patients can apply for treatment via Superdrug’s Online Doctor service where they will “then be reviewed by one of [its] doctors for eligibility”, it added.
Read more: Diabetes injection pen shortage to persist until ‘at least’ end of 2024
Superdrug Online Doctor GP Dr Babak Ashrafi stressed that the multiple has “strict requirements and vetting for weight-loss treatment”, including that patients must have a “BMI of over 30, or between 27 and 30 with risk factors or weight related conditions”.
The multiple said that patients can start registering their interest now. `
“More affordable” alternative to Wegovy
Pharmadoctor chief executive Graham Thoms said that the inclusion of Mounjaro in the weight management service will enable pharmacists “to realise [the service’s] full potential”.
He stressed that patients could use the drug as an alternative to Wegovy, shortages of which “are resulting in some pharmacies turning patients away”.
He added that the new treatment is also “more affordable” than Wegovy, the equivalent maintenance dose of which currently costs £300.
Read more: ‘A minefield’: Contractors left in the dark over 'unfair' Wegovy stock quotas
In October, C+D revealed that independent pharmacy contractors were facing “disgraceful” Wegovy purchasing quotas which allowed them to offer the jab to just “one weight loss patient…per month”.
Meanwhile, an online pharmacy was able to purchase at least 10 times more stock.
At the time, wholesaler Alliance refused to provide any clarification regarding ordering quotas but said it “strives to distribute available stock to allow all customers to access Wegovy”.
