𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Sales of weight loss jab Wegovy have soared in the UK after the maker of rival drug Mounjaro said it was hiking prices, a supplier has revealed.

Weight loss programme CheqUp said it had experienced a spike in interest from consumers wanting to switch or begin taking the medication.

This resulted in a 27-fold surge – or 2,660 per cent – in Wegovy sales on Wednesday this week, compared with the daily average in the month prior to the pricing news.

Sales of Wegovy’s lowest dose soared by 2,212 per cent, which CheqUp said reflected many people taking the medication for the first time amid heightened awareness and an end-of-summer health focus.

US manufacturer Eli Lilly last week announced the price of Mounjaro was rising by 170 per cent in the UK.

A month’s supply of the highest dose of the drug will rise from £122 to £330 from September.

Eli Lilly’s decision reflected efforts to more closely align prices with its other European markets, and amid political pressure from US President Donald Trump to keep pharmaceutical prices low for Americans.

The NHS is not set to pay the higher price in order to maintain access for people with obesity and type 2 diabetes accessing it through the health service.

Mounjaro is a weekly prescription weight loss injection that works by lowering the appetite and making people feel fuller between meals.

Alternative Wegovy is also self-administered through weekly injections but contains a different active ingredient.

The lowest dose of Wegovy costs £85 per month, and the highest dose is priced at £160.

More than a million people in the UK are estimated to be currently using weight loss medication.

Toby Nicol, chief executive of CheqUp, said: “We now confidently expect Wegovy to become the most popular weight loss treatment in the UK in the very short-term.

“Our sales of Wegovy in the last week since the price rise of Mounjaro was announced have surpassed all expectations.

“The extraordinary growth in Wegovy adoption has been seen across every dose of the medication, from existing Mounjaro patients switching to higher doses of Wegovy right down to new patients starting their weight loss journeys on the lowest dosage for the first time.

“This underlines that this isn’t just switching, it’s new beginnings, with people prioritising their health and exploring treatment options as awareness grows.”