A weight-loss injection used by celebrities is to be sold in pharmacies across the UK. Wegovy, also known as semaglutide, works by suppressing your appetite.
The drug has the same ingredients as diabetes medicine Ozempic - said to be Hollywood's diet drug of choice, according to the BBC.
Boots says it will be able to prescribe and dispense the drug and Lloyds Pharmacy has an online page where people can register their interest in the jab.
Side effects of Wegovy can include nausea, an upset stomach, bloating and gas. No price has yet been set by the NHS but the list price for a month's supply of four pre-filled disposable injection pens is velieved to be £73.25. The final NHS price agreed with NHS England for Wegovy (semaglutide 2.4mg) has not been disclosed.
Wegovy must be prescribed by a doctor and is only given to people who are overweight or obese. The drug works by mimicking a hormone that tells your brain you feel full.
It comes in pre-filled pens which you inject once a week. In trials, ised alongside diet and exercise, the drug helped people lose an average of two stone or 12% of their body weight.
A spokesperson for Boots said: "It can be an effective medicine to achieve sustained weight loss when used alongside a reduced calorie diet, increased physical activity and healthy lifestyle choices. It will be available from Boots Online Doctor, with an anticipated launch of spring 2023.
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"The Boots Online Doctor Weight Loss Treatment service is for customers who are worried that their weight is impacting their health. Customers will have access to treatment following their completion of an online consultation form, which will be assessed by a clinician.
"Those who are offered treatment will receive follow-up touchpoints and support from the Boots Online Doctor service throughout their weight loss journey, and can access advice and support from our pharmacy teams in stores."
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said people on the weekly injections saw their weight drop by 12% on average after 68 weeks.
Nice has issued draft guidance recommending semaglutide (also known as Wegovy and made by Novo Nordisk) for adults with at least one weight-related condition and a body mass index (BMI) of at least 35.
In some cases, those with a BMI of 30 may be able to access the drug, which is given via a pen injector.
Patients inject themselves with semaglutide, which suppresses the appetite through mimicking the hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) that is released after eating.
This makes people feel full, meaning they eat less and lose weight.
Nice said anyone from a south Asian, Chinese, and black African or Caribbean background will also be able to access the drug at a lower BMI and can be advised by a medic.
The weight-related conditions that make obese people eligible include high blood pressure, dyslipidaemia (unbalanced or unhealthy cholesterol levels), obstructive sleep apnoea and heart disease.
People will only be given semaglutide on prescription as part of a specialist weight management service involving input from several professionals, and for a maximum of two years.
Clinical trial evidence shows that people lose more weight with semaglutide together with supervised weight loss coaching than with support alone.
The 2019 Health Survey for England estimated that 28% of adults in England were obese and a further 36% were overweight, costing the NHS and wider economy billions of pounds a year.
Helen Knight, programme director in the centre for health technology evaluation at Nice, said: “We know that management of overweight and obesity is one of the biggest challenges our health service is facing, with nearly two-thirds of adults either overweight or obese.
“It is a lifelong condition that needs medical intervention, has psychological and physical effects, and can affect quality of life.”
The list price of semaglutide 0.25mg, 0.5mg and 1mg is £73.25 per pack (four pre-filled pens excluding VAT).
The dosage schedule for patients is put at an induction dose of 0.25mg, increasing every four weeks to a maintenance dose of 2.4mg.
Nice’s approval is subject to consultation.
