Fewer than 10% of patients in of England those eligible for what is being called “King Kong weight loss medicine” will initially be able to access it on the NHS after officials said they would prioritize people with the greatest needs.
“The difficult decision” has been made slowly over 12 years ago, Mounjaro said, “to protect other vital NHS services”, the National Institute for Health and Care of Excellence (Nice) said.
The NHS The weight watcher recommended the drug — also known as tirzepatid and made by Eli Lilly — for those with a body mass index (BMI) of more than 35 and at least one weight-related disease. This is estimated to account for approximately 3.4 million people.
To help manage the demand for the NHS, Nice said about 220,000 people could benefit from the drug in the first three years. After this, the Nicaean event is reviewed, which will provide further guidance on the rollout.
Mounjaro is a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist, a family of medications that help manage blood sugar. It was initially given the green light to help manage obesity in the NHS in June as part of the Nice leadership.
A once-weekly fix should be prescribed from a calorie-reduced diet and exercise to help people lose weight.
Other GLP-1 agonists include semaglutide – sold under the brand names Wegovy, Ozempic and Rybelsus.
Prof. Jonathan Benger, chief medical officer of Nice, said: “The world will be very different in three years because we took the unprecedented decision to review why this medicine was delivered to patients at the time.
“Tirzepatide and other similar drugs, such as semaglutide, will help people with obesity lose weight, thereby reducing their risk of developing heart disease or stroke.”
But tirzepatida is not for everyone, and only those with the greatest need will be treated initially.
“This is just the way many people will have to wait. We have had to make this difficult decision to protect other vital NHS services and also to test ways to give this new generation of weight loss medicines.
The latest draft guidance published by Nice shows that NHS England required Mounjaro to be developed over a period of 12 years.
The inspector recommends that patients receive prioritization of care from special moment management services that will be able to access medication within 90 days from the guide published on December 23.
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The NHS in England will develop a plan for other groups of patients who will be offered Mounjaro over the next three years, according to Nice.
Prof. Benger added: “We want to help NHS England carefully manage the rollout of tirzepatid so as not to impact other services in a disproportionate way.
“As the variation of the fund sets a maximum of 12 years, Nicaea will review again within three years and advise further on how the rollout of this medicine can be handled using the learning gained from the beginning.
“This will ensure that the rollout of tirzepatide reaches everyone who enters it in a safe and effective way.”
The latest Health Survey for England shows that 64% of adults will be overweight or obese in 2022.
A trial by Eli Lilly – known as Surmount-5 – patients on tirzepatide recorded a weight loss of 20.2% compared with 13.7% in patients on semaglutide.