Weight loss injection will be available in Britain within weeks

A new weight loss injection will be available in Britain within weeks to treat thousands of patients with type 2 diabetes or obesity, after the medicines watchdog became the world’s first major regulator to greenlight the drug in a more convenient device.

Mounjaro was developed by the American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. Research shows that people who use the highest dose lose more than three stones on average. It is injected under the skin of the patient’s stomach, thigh or upper arm and should be used in combination with a low-calorie diet and increased physical activity.

The drug itself, also known as tirzepatide, received approval for obesity and type 2 diabetes from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) late last year, but it is not yet available due to huge global demand.

The watchdog has approved a new device for delivering the drug – a four-dose pen under the brand name KwikPen, covering a month’s treatment – which Eli Lilly said could deliver the drug to Britain within weeks .

The development, announced by the MHRA on Thursday, means there will be an alternative to the weight loss drug Wegovy, also known as semaglutide, manufactured by Danish company Novo Nordisk. It has been given to tens of thousands of NHS patients, but global shortages mean it is only available to a fraction of those who qualify.

Julian Beach, MHRA interim director for healthcare quality and access, said: “The public health importance of safe and effective treatments to help manage diabetes and obesity, which can have a significant impact on people’s health, is clear. This approval allows access to the approved Mounjaro pen in a more convenient format for a one-month treatment of one dose per week.”

Eli Lilly said the green light for a more convenient device, which contains four doses instead of one, would allow the company to bring the drug to market almost immediately.

“The MHRA is the first major regulator in the world to grant marketing authorization for the KwikPen alternative presentation to tirzepatide, demonstrating their clear focus on accelerating innovation to help patients,” said Laura Steele, president and managing director of UK and Northern Europe at Lilly. . “This will allow Lilly to start delivering to Great Britain within weeks.”

The MHRA has approved Mounjaro for patients with type 2 diabetes and patients with obesity. The drug has also been approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for use on the NHS for type 2 diabetes and is awaiting approval for obesity.

Douglas Twenefour, head of care at Diabetes UK, said: “We hope that the approval of this device by the MHRA will help eligible people with type 2 diabetes to access this effective treatment. Supporting people with type 2 diabetes to lose weight and control their blood sugar levels is critical to reducing the risk of diabetes-related complications, and tirzepatide (Mounjaro) expands the range of treatment options available to help people do this reach.”

The MHRA said Mounjaro could be used to treat adults with type 2 diabetes and obese patients with a body mass index over 30. It will also be offered to some overweight patients with a BMI between 27 and 30 if they are also have a different weight. related conditions such as pre-diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or heart problems.

The MHRA said the most common side effects were nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting and constipation. Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) was also very common in patients with type 2 diabetes, it added.