A once-a-day Wegovy weight-loss pill has gone on sale at high street and online pharmacies in the UK, but is not yet available on the NHS.
Thousands of people began receiving their first deliveries of the pill, made by the Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, on Monday. It contains the same active GLP-1 ingredient as the Wegovy jab, semaglutide, and is similarly effective, according to studies.
The pill, which was approved by the UK’s medicines regulator on 11 June, can be prescribed privately to overweight or obese people, subject to a medical consultation, alongside a healthy diet and exercise. Unlike the injected version, it is not yet available on an NHS prescription.
The public has been warned about the dangers from fake pills sold online. Megan Rannard at the intellectual property law firm Marks & Clerk said: “There are a large number of websites that falsely claim to be legitimate online pharmacies and that advertise medication to the public without a consultation or a prescription, and at very low prices.
“There is a risk that these types of websites will sell consumers counterfeit pharmaceuticals which present a clear public health risk, or that these websites are a simply a front for other types of fraud or phishing scams.”
The Wegovy pill has been popular since it launched in the US at the start of the year. Eli Lilly launched its pill, Foundayo (orforglipron), in early April. Both are cheaper than weight-loss jabs.
In the UK, the Wegovy pill works out at £2.30 a day through some multi-month treatment plans, according to an online pharmacy. Prices range between £69 for a month’s supply as part of a three-month bundle for the 1.5mg starting dose, to £189 for the highest dose of 25mg.
Online pharmacies are selling Wegovy jabs for between £79 and £250 for a month’s supply, depending on the dose. Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro jab costs between £54 and £300 a month.
The chief clinical officer at Simple Online Pharmacy, Abdal Alvi, said: “The Wegovy pill is a major development because it gives patients another way to access semaglutide without self-injecting. But it is not a tablet you can simply take with breakfast or your morning coffee. The way it is taken has a direct impact on how well the medication is absorbed, so patients need to understand the routine from day one.”
The Wegovy pill has to be taken with a sip of water on an empty stomach after fasting for at least eight hours. Patients must then wait at least half an hour before eating or drinking anything else or taking other medication.
At the online pharmacy Juniper UK, tens of thousands of people had signed up to its waiting list for an initial consultation before the pill’s launch.
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Pharmacists say the pill offers a more convenient option for people who are nervous about needles, travel regularly or prefer a daily tablet to a weekly injection.
In clinical trials, people taking the 25mg daily Wegovy pill lost between 14% and 17% of their body weight over 64 weeks, depending on adherence.
The most common side effects of Wegovy pills are gastrointestinal disorders including nausea, diarrhoea, constipation and vomiting. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said anyone experiencing side effects should talk to their doctor, pharmacist or nurse and report it directly to the Yellow Card scheme.
