*

Danish drugmaker Novo first-to-market with obesity shot

Wegovy

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U.S. rival Eli Lilly's ( LLY ) Mounjaro led to greater weight loss

in

trials

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Mounjaro sales outstripping Wegovy in UK, online

pharmacies say

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Pharmacies estimate as many as 500,000 people taking the

drugs

via private market in UK

By Maggie Fick

LONDON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Britons paying privately for

obesity drugs are increasingly choosing Eli Lilly's ( LLY ) Mounjaro

over Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, online pharmacies say, in a sign the

U.S. drugmaker is gaining ground on its European rival.

Mounjaro is appealing to people because of its greater

efficacy, six online pharmacies and two patients told Reuters,

showing Novo's first-mover advantage is being challenged in the

UK even though some pharmacies sell starter doses for the weekly

injection for up to 40% more than Wegovy.

"Mounjaro is now vastly outstripping Wegovy," said Chemist4U

CEO James O'Loan, who said for the past three to four months,

Mounjaro has won about 70% of its sales.

Chemist4U and another online seller, Simple Online Pharmacy,

estimate that as many as 500,000 people in the UK currently take

either Mounjaro or Wegovy via prescriptions from private online

pharmacies

Mounjaro, unlike Wegovy, is not available through the

state-run National Health Service (NHS) though it likely will be

next year. Wegovy is only available through the NHS at

specialist obesity clinics and in limited circumstances. There

is no public data on prescription numbers but the government

said last year it had capacity to treat about 35,000 patients.

Lilly's Mounjaro launched in the UK in February,

among the first markets outside the U.S. for the drugmaker and

one of only a handful of countries where it competes directly

with its rival from Novo. Wegovy has been available

since September 2023 in the UK, where about two-thirds of adults

are overweight or obese, according to government statistics.

Analysts estimate the obesity drug market could be worth as

much as $150 billion globally per year in the next decade. The

UK is one of the more populous European markets where both

Wegovy and Mounjaro have launched.

O'Loan said his pharmacy is selling about 40,000 pens of

Mounjaro and Wegovy combined each month, each pen roughly a

month's supply. All of the pharmacies interviewed said both

medicines have been readily available since the summer, after a

period of shortages ended.

One-month starter doses of Wegovy sold online cost from

109 pounds ($138.8) and 115 pounds for Mounjaro, websites

showed.

Novo's leading position in the market and ferocious demand

helped make it Europe's biggest company by market capitalisation

last year. It is now worth $496 billion, but has lost about 16%

of its value since peaking in June as competition with Lilly

increases.

Lilly is also gaining ground on Novo in the U.S. market,

according to weekly prescription

data

from research firm IQVIA. In the week ending Nov. 29, Novo

sold nearly 200,000 prescriptions while Lilly sold more than

176,000 prescriptions.

Its fast pace of growth has boosted Lilly's shares this year

by around 37%, outperforming Novo's which are up 12%.

Underpinning the growth in the UK, according to pharmacies

and patients, is clinical trial data from before the drugs were

respectively approved that showed Wegovy helped people lose on

average 15% of their body weight, compared with the nearly 23%

achieved by Mounjaro when combined with a healthy diet and

exercise.

Data published last week from a more recent study that

compared the two drugs directly showed for the first time that

when trial parameters are the same, Lilly's drug is more

effective for weight loss than Wegovy.

Novo declined to comment on UK sales and said prescribing

decisions should be based on what is most appropriate for

individual needs. Eli Lilly ( LLY ) declined to comment.

DRUG SWITCHING

Alan, a 54-year-old who works in financial services and

agreed to be quoted by his first name, made the switch to

Mounjaro in March having taken Wegovy since October 2023.

The Londoner was worried his weight loss might plateau,

because he would need to start on the lowest dose strength and

build up to stronger doses, a similar procedure to Wegovy. But

he lost a kilo (2.2 pounds) in his first month, more than the

amount he had shed on the highest dose of Wegovy before

changing.

"Efficacy drove my switch," he told Reuters. "It was a

no-brainer, it seemed the obvious thing to try."

Juniper pharmacy's clinical director Matt Vickers said

between 70% and 80% of its new customers are starting out on

Mounjaro.

UK pharmacy chain Superdrug said it filled three times as

many prescriptions for Mounjaro as for Wegovy in October while

online pharmacy MedExpress said they are seeing more new

customers opting for Mounjaro than Wegovy.

John, who asked to be identified by his middle name, told

Reuters in November last year he had shed 18 kg using Novo's

diabetes drug Ozempic, which contains the same active ingredient

as Wegovy.

He went on to beat his target to lose another 20 kg but

still plans to switch to Mounjaro in January, he said.

($1 = 0.7838 pounds)

($1 = 0.9517 euros)