Team Metabolic Health

England’s National Health Services will offer Eli Lilly’s (LLY.N), opens new tab weight-loss drug to nearly a quarter million people as part of a three-year plan, the country’s drugs cost regulator said on Thursday.

The drug, called Mounjaro in the UK and Zepbound in the U.S., would be initially offered to obese people with at least three weight-related health conditions, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence said.

The conditions are hypertension, sleep apnea, cardiovascular disorders and unhealthy levels of lipids like cholesterol.

As part of a phased rollout, the drug would then be offered to people with two of the conditions and then to those with just one.

The plans have been described in an application from the NHS to UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

An injection pen of Zepbound, Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug, is displayed in New York City, U.S., December 11, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

As part of the plan, the NHS will test several new services to offer the drug, including digital technologies, and will select the most cost-effective one.

NHS plans to offer the drug as part of a “wraparound package”, which will include diet and exercise support through primary or secondary care clinics.

“This is no small task for the NHS, and it will be difficult to provide the level of wraparound care seen in patients who took part in the clinical trial,” said Simon Cork, a physiology lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University.

About 64% of adults are either overweight or living with obesity in England, according to a national survey.

Rival Novo Nordisk’s (NOVOb.CO), opens new tab Wegovy made its weight-loss debut in the UK last year and was also approved in July to reduce risk of serious heart problems or strokes in overweight and obese adults.

The NHS currently offers Wegovy through specialist weight management services.

Credit: Reuters