Cost of weight-loss drug Mounjaro too high to cover for 900,000 people who need it, pharma watchdog says

Professor Michael Barry, clinical director for the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics, said he had never seen such a high cost for a drug. File picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The cost of weight-loss drug Mounjaro is currently too high for the HSE to justify covering it for a large number of people, it has been advised.

Professor Michael Barry, clinical director for the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics (NCPE), has completed an assessment of the drug, which is known as the King Kong of weight-loss drugs because of its effectiveness.

The key ingredient for this drug is made at the Eli Lilly plant in Kinsale, Co Cork.

Mr Barry advised while it was “not too far away” from being cost-effective, a staggering estimate of more than €5.2bn over five years was too high.

Mr Barry told RTÉ on Thursday morning he had never seen such a high cost for a drug.

One issue is the large number of people who are potentially eligible for this. He estimated if it were given to people with a BMI of over 30 and other factors, this could amount to up to 900,000 people.

This could be reduced by only considering people with a BMI of over 40, but he estimated the number of people included could hit 80,000 patients.

A policy decision was now needed as to whether this drug could be funded for a smaller group of people, potentially only those with an extremely high body weight, he said.

He also pointed out agreements had been reached in the past with pharmaceutical companies to reduce costs on occasion.

He explained Mounjaro still came close to being cost-effective due to how this therapy would also affect other areas of a person’s health by helping them reduce their weight.

“One trial showed patients can expect to lose on average about 20kg over the 72-week period, and that is maintained,” he said.

“In addition to that, it has other valuable properties. It reduces blood pressure, both systolic and diastolic pressure. It improves the cholesterol profile, both HDL and LDL, and it improves blood glucose.” 

Overall, it also improves patients’ quality of life, Mr Barry said.

The NCPE report, published this week, will now be considered at the next level in the HSE. Up to now, the HSE only funds public patients to take one brand of weight-loss drug, Saxenda.

Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of Mounjaro, has applied to the State for funding to cover its use for weight-loss and also for diabetes. The latter assessment still continues.

Another weight-loss drug, Ozempic, remains under assessment but only for use in diabetes treatment so far. Its key ingredient — semaglutide — is also used in a weight-loss drug called Wegovy.

This remains under assessment for that brand-name.