Weight Loss Drug Prescriptions

Weight Loss Drug Prescriptions

Weight Loss Drug Prescriptions Cost

There is massive public interest in a new class of weight loss drugs (Wegovy, Mounjaro and Saxenda) which have been shown in clinical trials to help patients to achieve from 12% to 22% loss of body weight when used for one year. These drugs are expensive to manufacture and one year’s supply in the UK costs the NHS approximately £1,000 per patient.  Prescriptions via private clinics can easily cost the patient double this amount.

This website aims to track the cost to the NHS resulting from the uptake and use of weight loss drugs in Scotland and England.  This data and will be subject to regular updates to enable the uptake of these drugs in Scotland and England.

Last Updated: 05-03-2025

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Scotland: Weight Loss Drug Prescriptions

Obesity in Scotland
There are an estimated 3.7M adults in Scotland between the ages of 18 to 69 (inclusive) and, according to the Scottish Health Survey 2023, 32% of adults in Scotland are obese.  This means that some 1.2M adults are clinically obese and meet the criteria for treatment with GLP-1 agonists.

Cost of Prescriptions in Scotland
Prescriptions of the three licensed GLP-1 agonists Wegovy, Mounjaro and Saxenda have been collated from the Scottish NHS website along with prescriptions of the two forms of the GLP-1 agonist licensed for type 2 diabetes, namely, Ozempic and Semaglutide (see Table 1 and Figure 1).  The costs are based on the cost to the NHS of providing these prescriptions.

In Scotland monthly data for the period Jan 2024 to Nov 2024 is available.  The inclusion of two drugs licensed only for the treatment of type2 diabetes shows that these are in a close to steady state and not rising, although Semaglutide prescriptions are low.  The drop of of Ozempic over the period may indicate that some off-label prescriptions for weight loss were occurring and that these are being switched to their licensed counterparts.

There is a pronounced ramp up of Mounjaro prescriptions starting in Jun 2024 with monthly cost rising from zero in Jan  to £216,516 in Nov.  Wegovy prescriptions are also rising but at a much slower rate reaching £30,655 in Nov 2024.

Total cost of weight loss prescriptions in November was £250,781.  Spend per million adult population in Scotland in Nov 2024 was £68,000 whereas in England it was £240,890 in the same period ( i.e. 3.5 times as much).  This may indicate a later adoption of these drugs in Scotland.

Table 1: Cost of Prescriptions of GLP-1 Agonists (£)
in Scotland during the period 2024-01 to 2024-11


Figure 1: Cost of Prescriptions of GLP-1 Agonists (£)
during the period 2024-01 to 2024-11


England: Weight Loss Drug Prescriptions

Obesity in England
There are an estimated 37.8M adults in England between the ages of 18 to 69 (inclusive) and, according to the Health Survey For England 2022, approximately 29% of these adults are obese.  This means that some 11M adults are clinically obese and thus will meet the criteria for treatment with GLP-1 agonists.

Cost of Prescriptions in England
Prescriptions of Wegovy, Mounjaro and Saxenda have been collated from the English NHS website along with prescriptions of Ozempic and Semaglutide (see Table 1 and Figure 1).  The costs are based on the cost to the NHS of providing these prescriptions.

In England monthly data for the period Jan 2024 to Dec 2024 is available.  The inclusion of two drugs licensed for the treatment of type2 diabetes shows that these are in a close to steady state.  The drop of of Ozempic and Semaglutide over the period may indicate that some off-label prescriptions for weight loss were occurring and that these are being switched to their licensed counterparts.

There is a striking ramp up of Mounjaro prescriptions over the 12 month period with monthly costs doubling every 2 months and rising from zero in Jan  to £9,951,777 in Dec 2024.  Prescription costs for Mounjaro surpassed those of Ozempic by July 2024.  In contrast to Mounjaro, Wegovy prescriptions rose at a much slower rate with costs reaching £92,662 in Dec 2024. Saxenda prescriptions dropped by over half over the year and the cost fell from £26,899 in Jan 2024 to £10,785 in Dec.  This was probably due to switching patients from  Saxenda over to Mounjaro and Wegovy.

Total cost of weight loss prescriptions in Dec 2024 was £10,055,224.  Spend per million adult population in England in Dec 2024 was £266,071.

Table 1: Cost of Prescriptions of GLP-1 Agonists (£)
in England during the period 2024-01 to 2024-12






Background to Wegovy, Mounjaro and Saxenda as Weight Loss Drugs

These drugs ( known as GLP-1 receptor agonists) were initially introduction of for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) mimic the action of the natural hormone by GLP-1 by activating the GLP-1 receptor resulting in increases insulin secretion which helps to reduce blood sugar levels and to slow gastric emptying. GLP-1RAs also act on receptors in the brain to reduce the sensation of hunger. Thus in addition to their ability to control blood sugar levels, their ability to reduce appetite has led to their use as a weight loss treatment. GLP-1 receptor agonists are most often provided as solutions for subcutaneous injection and are available in pre-filled pens.

Prior to their formal adoption as weight loss treatments by regulatory authorities they have become increasingly used by non-diabetics as an appetite suppressant to help with weight loss. Indeed there has been GLP-1RAs supply shortages in 2023 and 2024 possibly as a result of their use as a diet aid.

Prescription Only
There are a number of GLP-1RAs available for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and three  licensed in the UK for weight loss therapy.

• Wegovy
• Mounjaro
• Saxenda

They are licensed in the UK to treat obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m²) or overweight patients with weight-related conditions (BMI > 27 kg/m²).

Inappropriate Prescribing in the Community

It is not surprising considering the high cost of these drugs and the potential profits to be made from private clinics prescribing these drugs that there is growing evidence of abuse of the system by online pharmacies and by at least one well known high street pharmacy.  Indeed, in February 2025 , the General Pharmaceutical Council (almost as a rebuke to the industry)  introduced guidelines stating that online pharmacies must either see the patients in person on a video consultation with documented identity verification and or request GP records.

More recently, Channel 4’s Dispatches programme, Skinny Jab Scandal (2025-03-04), demonstrated that a 16-year-old girl was able to buy weight-loss drugs from a well known high street pharmacy twice, after ordering them online without age verification then collecting them in-store in person. In other cases presented by the programme, prescriptions for these drugs are being authorised by private clinics without proper verification checks.

General Pharmaceutical Council Update (03-02-2025
“The updated guidance emphasises that for high-risk medicines, the prescriber cannot base prescribing decisions on the information provided in an online questionnaire alone. Instead, the prescriber has to independently verify the information the person provides, either through timely two-way communication with the person, accessing the person’s clinical records, or contacting the person’s GP, their regular prescriber, or a third-party provider. This will help prevent people providing false information to obtain medicines that are not clinically appropriate for them.”

Potential Side Effects

There are a number of reported side effects for these drugs.  Many of the side effects are relatively minor, however, some of the less common side effects can be severe and potentially life-threatening.  A number of deaths have been reported, up to the end of Jan 2025, to The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) following the use of these GLP-1 agonists for both weight loss (22 deaths) and for the treatment of type 2 diabetes (60 deaths). The MHRA chief safety officer has stated, “The decision to start, continue, or stop treatments should be made jointly by patients and their doctor, based on full consideration of benefits and risks.”

Clearly prescribers need to ensure these drugs are issues to patients that satisfy the licensing conditions and that patients are monitored by appropriately by qualified and regulated healthcare professionals.

It is not this website’s responsibility to describe these in detail since accurate and current reporting is paramount. For details of potential side effects see official NHS websites for guidelines and details.

Sources

Scottish Prescribing Data
https://www.opendata.nhs.scot/dataset/prescriptions-in-the-community

English Prescribing Data
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/english-prescribing-data-epd

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/english-prescribing-data-epd

Obesity Data
https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-health-survey-2023-volume-1-main-report/pages/15/

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/health-survey-for-england/2022-part-2/adult-overweight-and-obesity#overweight-obesity-and-health

Drug Selling Scandal References to Channel 4’s Skinny Jab Scandal (2025-03-04)
https://www.womenshealthmag.com/uk/health/a64013508/skinny-jab-scandal/

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/mar/04/tv-tonight-how-skinny-jabs-became-a-cultural-obsession

Safety Data
https://www.bmj.com/content/388/bmj.r390.full

General Pharmaceutical Council Update

https://www.pharmacyregulation.org/about-us/news-and-updates/online-pharmacies-strengthen-safeguards-prevent-unsafe-supply-medicines

https://assets.pharmacyregulation.org/files/2025-02/gphc-guidance-registered-pharmacies-providing-pharmacy-services-distance-february-2025.pdf

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