{"id":514243,"date":"2026-07-07T14:35:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T14:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/514243\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T14:35:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T14:35:12","slug":"three-quarters-of-pharmacies-expect-surge-in-demand-for-weight-loss-pill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/514243\/","title":{"rendered":"Three-quarters of pharmacies expect surge in demand for weight-loss pill"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than three-quarters (76%) of pharmacies expect to start \u201csignificant numbers\u201d of eligible patients on oral Wegovy (semaglutide; Novo Nordisk)<\/a>, a survey by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has found.<\/p>\n

The results<\/a> \u2014 published on 6 July 2026 and based on a survey of 310 pharmacy owners across the UK \u2014 also revealed that almost half (49%) of pharmacies had received an \u201cincreased number of queries from patients wanting to start treatment\u201d since the pill was approved<\/a> by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in June 2026.<\/p>\n

The results also showed that 97% of pharmacies were concerned that the treatment would result in an increase of fake or unlicensed weight loss pills being sold on the black market.<\/p>\n

A statement released by the NPA said: \u201cThe NPA [is] urging patients to only access the new treatment through regulated pharmacies after a thorough two-way consultation, with previous NPA research having found that patients at two in five pharmacies had unwittingly bought medicines online from unregulated providers last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oral Wegovy launched on 6 July 2026 in 1.5mg, 4mg, 9mg and 25mg strengths. The pill will be available in 1.5mg and 4mg strengths in some pharmacies as part of private weight management programmes for eligible patients. It is not currently available on the NHS.<\/p>\n

Olivier Picard, chair of the NPA, said: \u201cThis is a significant day and pharmacies are bracing themselves for a surge in demand for this new form of weight-loss treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is particularly significant for patients who cannot or do not want to take an injectable medicine.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cThe NHS roll out remains extremely slow and community pharmacy is ready to support a wider roll out, which will help eligible patients access treatment safely and help mitigate the impact of obesity on the NHS.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he added: \u201cAs this survey\u00a0shows, pharmacies are concerned about a dangerous and growing black market for weight loss medicines, with tablet form of medication likely to be easier for criminals to counterfeit.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatients should be wary of sites offering medicines at a cost that is too good to be true or providers who are not offering consultations before prescribing.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the MHRA told The Pharmaceutical Journal: \u201cThe MHRA takes a layered approach to tackling the threat posed by fake and illegally supplied medicines, including weight-loss products. We work closely with law enforcement partners, other regulators and customs agencies, both in the UK and internationally, to uphold medicines legislation and disrupt criminal supply chains.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also collaborate with industry to tackle the online sale of illegally traded medicines and deliver public health messages aimed at reducing both supply and demand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain vigilant to emerging threats relating to unauthorised and falsified weight-loss products and, where necessary, will take appropriate enforcement action to protect public health.\u201d<\/p>\n

On 3 July 2026, the MHRA approved Wegovy injections to treat a form of liver disease for the first time.<\/p>\n

A statement from the MHRA<\/a> said it had approved the treatment for metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) in adults with moderate-to-advanced liver fibrosis.<\/p>\n

MASH develops when excess fat in the liver causes inflammation and scarring. Patients are more likely to develop the condition if they have obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) or high blood lipid levels.<\/p>\n

Semaglutide was approved to treat MASH \u201con the condition that further results from an ongoing study in adults with MASH and moderate to advanced liver scarring will be submitted\u201d, the MHRA said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe product has a conditional marketing authorisation because further confirmatory evidence is required of its efficacy and safety as a treatment for MASH before a full marketing authorisation can be issued,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

Pamela Healy, chief executive at the British Liver Trust, commented: \u201cFatty liver disease, also known as metabolic dysfunction\u2011associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), affects up to one in five people in the UK and is fast becoming a leading cause of advanced liver disease and liver cancer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe licensing of Wegovy\u00a0is an important milestone, with studies showing it can help improve liver inflammation and fibrosis. This gives us a real opportunity to intervene earlier and treat people living with MASH,\u00a0a more advanced form of MASLD associated with liver inflammation and fibrosis,\u00a0to slow progression to serious, life-threatening liver damage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amira Guirguis, chief scientist at the Royal College of Pharmacy, said: \u201cThe MHRA\u2019s approval of semaglutide for adults with MASH and moderate-to-advanced fibrosis marks an important milestone. MASH is\u00a0associated with obesity and T2DM, yet until recently treatment options have been limited.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis approval reflects growing evidence that semaglutide may help treat the underlying\u00a0disease, offering a new option for some patients.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than three-quarters (76%) of pharmacies expect to start \u201csignificant numbers\u201d of eligible patients on oral Wegovy (semaglutide;…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514244,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[134,524,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-514243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-health","tag-medication","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}