Eli Lilly raises UK price of weight loss drug Mounjaro by up to 170%
https://www.ft.com/content/b71a1c59-2735-4ec8-b895-59c562edeeac
Posted by lessbearnow
Eli Lilly raises UK price of weight loss drug Mounjaro by up to 170%
https://www.ft.com/content/b71a1c59-2735-4ec8-b895-59c562edeeac
Posted by lessbearnow
32 Comments
Short term this is shit for those on it, but we’re fortunate that there is an increasing number of available glp-1 agonist drugs which should help competition and drive prices down.
It is important to read the reason why:
> Eli Lilly has raised the UK price of its popular weight loss drug Mounjaro by as much as 170 per cent, as it tries to address complaints by Donald Trump’s administration about “foreign freeloaders” who rely on the US to pay more for medicines.
I don’t use these medicines, but this is terrible. They are already making a lot of money. They only want to appease Trump.
> The price for a month’s supply of the highest doses of the drug will rise from £122 to £330, an increase of 170 per cent.
This is quite an insane jump. it is almost 3 times the price. For some reason I thought 170% would be a 70% more. But 3x is crazy.
This has made me feel incredibly disappointed. I recently made a major decision for myself. After struggling with my weight for over a decade, I started Mounjaro this month. Even the initial loading dose has completely changed my relationship with food and I’m already experiencing benefits, not just in terms of weight loss but more energy, better sleep and generally feeling a lot better mentally. I’ll be able to continue the treatment despite the suggested price increases, but I’d worry that many others won’t be able to. Too many people may end up stopping the drug, regaining the weight, or turning to cheaper knock-offs from local beauticians or the black market. It feels like Eli Lilly has taken advantage of the UK public by getting us reliant on their product and whacking up the prices once we reap the rewards. One positive is this may trigger a race to the bottom on alternative medications and force Eli Lilly into a similar approach.
Well that’s the end of mounjaro in the UK.
I’m sure Eli Lilly are thrilled to lose the consumer market.
Honestly we could’ve seen this coming from a mile away given how effective these drugs are, not that it makes it any better for people.
I actually joked to friends and family months ago I’d have paid double the price that I actually paid if I knew from the start it would work as well as it did, although that was slightly tongue in cheek and I’m sure I’ll regret saying that now lol
There are lots of interesting GLP1s coming down the pipeline and I believe Ozempic comes off licence and can be produced as a generic in the not too distant future, so there is hope for future patients.
Novo Nordisk who manufacture Ozempic should be rubbing their hands with glee. It’s still substantially cheaper Mounjaro and hopefully will continue to be. It doesn’t have the same results in terms of weight loss as Mounjaro, but still a very significant effect.
Eli Lilly if they aren’t careful will lose their consumer base.
I’m personally glad I’ve finished my treatment a few months back. 45KG lost in a year and I didn’t really have to suffer at all. Shite for anyone on it now though.
For those worried about this. Ensure to look into “counting clicks”. It’s a mechanism to buy a high dose but administer a low dose. You can cut the bill in half with this mechanism. Doctors in other countries support it. I doubt you’ll find a doctor in the UK who supports it.
Go to r/zepbound or r/mounjaro for more info.
(Zepbound is just the brand name in the us, same drug).
The implications of this are pretty staggering when you think about it.
Eli Lilly have effectively just said to the world “don’t buy our product because we will massively jack up the price at any moment”
Not a wise business move.
Is wegovy not almost as good ? I presume if novo Nordisk don’t follow suit everyone will just switch to that instead
Why am i not surprised an american pharmaceutical did this instead of reducing prices in America 🙄
So how long before ‘rest of the world’ based manufacturers use the massive disparity to rip US based manufacturers foreign sales to ribbons?
Ooooof. Thats gonna hurt their profits more than thry realise.
You’d rather sell to 4 people for £150 a head rather than losing 3 of yhose sales and only getting £300 from 1.
Doesnt matter though anyway. Eventually some UK or European based alternative will come out for a much lower price and drive this off the market anyway.
Fuck the yanks medical companies though.
I am of course shocked that the widely predicted “get em hooked and then jack the h price” model I s, in fact,, being filled to a T with this.
Just as it starts getting prescribed on the NHS. Funny that. Disappointed as somebody currently using it.
Isn’t there a term for when companies suddenly raise the prices? Price Gouging? Would there not be laws in the UK to prevent this?
Straight from the drug dealer’s playbook: Get them hooked then up the price.
Well that’s fucking shit. If I had hung on I’d be able to get it on the nhs by now as it is I am going to have to pay through the nose or come off it and pile back on the weight!
Won’t the NHS and individuals just use an alternative weight loss drug..
Idiots that’s not gonna fly with how NHS procurement works they’ll just switch to alternative. Hell, the base medication is so old that it’s patent free from next year, so you could, in theory, just make generics
Well that sucks. In the UK it is actually quite “cheap”, in comparison the 10mg pen in Germany is 385Euro, where at the moment it’s 209GBP. This price raise will bring it inline with Europe I guess. Unless Europe is also getting the price rise then god damn it will be only affordable to the elite in that case!
If only there was an EU based alternative….
Seriously this is a massive self own, everyone will just switch to Novo Nordisks version.
They’re trying to instill a new normal. Just like the house prices, grocery costs and gas prices. They know that people will complain and just shut up and bear it.
Salaries are not in line with the cost of living. When are we going to stand up against this capitalist market?
I just want to put this info out there for all those people that say fat people don’t need this drug, they should just stick to a healthy diet and exercise.
I’ve been diabetic from a very young age, so I’ve been on various meds most of my life.
Weight issues have always been a thing for me, food to me is like alcohol is to an alcoholic, and if you ask most obese people what food really is to them? The vast majority of them will tell you that it is like having a group of people in your head screaming at you every second of every day to eat, it never shuts off, if it wasn’t for the will power we have we’d be much much bigger if not already dead.
To put it into context for you to try and understand what it is like, think of having a 2 year old kid and taking them somewhere that is filled top to bottom with sweets, chocolates, doughnuts, cakes, every kind of delicious sweet you can think of and making them live there and saying to them, only have one or two each day, don’t indulge, but you have to have some, you can’t go a day or two without eating any.
So you are making them eat some to make sure they always got the taste of the sweets but expect them to not have too many and do that for life, that’s what it is like for most of us that suffer badly with weight issues.
Now for me, until recently I was on a totally different injection which had some pretty nasty side effects, so after seeing the diabetes consultant he saw I was really trying and doing quite well with my sugar levels so he gave me a chance with the Manjaro.
I’m currently on the 10mg and for the first time in my entire life, those voices in my head that are normally screaming at me non stop to eat, they are now but whispers, I can go to the fridge and see food and think nahh, not interested, now I actually feel full and know I am full, I can have a large bowl of veg and pasta and pick at it throughout the day instead of eating it al and being mad hungry 30 minutes later, I can have just 200g of meat and be stuffed after it, I can lay down in bed to go sleep and not have voices screaming at me to eat.
For the first time in my life I’m actually enjoying food, I’ve lost a stone in weight, my sugar levels are perfect within normal range, that’s why it’s such a lifeline to those of us who genuinely need it, it gives us the same level playing field that everyone else has that can just eat less and exercise more.
If British governments of present or past had any balls they would use stuff like this to declare biotechnology and pharma industry leaders like Astra Zeneca and GSK to be of strategic national interest and severely limit them fucking off to the USA.
I can’t cope lol. I was paying 230 a month for this and that was pushing it. I’ve lost 6 stone but better than that my anxiety is miles better too. I can’t afford the 400 to 500 but I’m being told I can’t just stop using it as the blood sugar spikes would be bad.
So.
No idea. I’m screwed. Guess I’ll die?
This will be the end of Mounjaro in the UK. I’m pretty well off compared to most and will definitely move to another option if the price triples.
The only thing that stands out in the article is (emphasis added):
> But Lilly said it was not raising the price paid by the NHS, to ensure continued supply of the drug, and that it was working with private healthcare providers to maintain access to a jab recommended to more than 3mn people in England. **Private providers can agree confidential discounts with the company.**
Reading between the lines it sounds like they might be happy to continue with the current prices, provided the contract includes a confidentiality clause (that prevents disclosure to Trump’s team).
Terminate their patent for gouging and start manufacturing generics
THIS is the sort of news Labour( and the Tories) need to absolutely hammer Farage on.
He’d be OK with this and more because he wants us to become very aligned with the US
The rapist in chief strikes again. He’s doing it because he’s a prick that has an issue with ‘Europe’ (for whatever the fuck reason) not to give Americans a better health care deal.
Don’t worry guys, state traitor and enemy of the people Farage will come in and sort this shit out- oh god why is he deep throating trump and pledging the countries children to trumps sex ring