May 15 (Reuters) - Britain's Pharmacy2U said on

Wednesday it had cut the prices of weight-loss medication

Wegovy and Mounjaro, becoming the latest in a slew of online

pharmacies and slimming clinics to do so as initial supply

shortages of the drugs ease in the country.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

The British market could provide a glimpse into how the

fight for patients among private suppliers could develop as

drugmakers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly ( LLY ) ramp up

production.

Growing competition between retailers has raised fears that

some patients who buy the drugs themselves, amid limited

capacity of the National Health Service, will miss out on

long-term aftercare if they keep switching providers.

CONTEXT

British drug retail companies that have previously marked

down weight-loss drugs include Simple Online Pharmacy, Mayfair

Weight Loss Clinic and London Slimming Clinic. They have

sacrificed some of their retail margin to win patients as

manufacturers have not cut their prices.

BY THE NUMBERS

Pharmacy2U, which serves over 1.4 million UK patients via

online prescription services, cut the price of a one-month

supply of the Wegovy starter kit to 129 pounds ($162.90) from

169 pounds previously. It cut the price of the Mounjaro starter

kit to 139 pounds from 179 pounds.

Pharmacy2U said the offer was limited until May 31 but it

"is constantly reviewing the prices of its weight loss services

and will be able to confirm pricing again in June".

($1 = 0.7918 pounds)