The President’s “America First” policy could see him lower prices at home by charging other countries more for these game-changing drugs.
Unlike in most European countries, including the UK, where medicine costs are heavily regulated, the US imposes no such price controls, resulting in Americans paying about three times more than elsewhere. In the case of slimming jabs, American users can pay as much as 10 times the price paid by European health systems such as the NHS.
Eli Lilly boss David Ricks, whose company is set to make $27bn (£21.7bn) a year from Mounjaro/Zepbound sales by the end of the decade, revealed the Republican president had made clear that ending drug cost disparities would be a priority for the White House during a private dinner with Big Pharma bosses at Mar-a-Lago – Trump’s resort in Florida.
According to data provided by health data company Airfinity, Mounjaro costs £108 per dose on the NHS (rising to about £170 for a private prescription), compared to a list price $1,069 (£859) in America. Wegovy costs in the UK range from up to £240 for a private prescription and an NHS cost of £99, compared to a list price of $1,349 (£1,085) in the States.
Pharmaceuticals sector experts and industry sources told The i Paper that while the mechanism and timetable for achieving such price adjustments for weight-loss jabs was unclear, patients and consumers in the UK could find themselves being asked to pay more for American-made medications, including Mounjaro or Zepbound.
square NEWS Big ReadFirst Ozempic-style weight-loss pill could be available within two years
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Alongside Ozempic and Wegovy, the anti-diabetes and weight-loss jabs made by Danish company Novo Nordisk, Mounjaro and Zepbound are currently the only two major players in a global market for anti-obesity medications which is currently worth about £4.8bn a year and could be worth as much as £80bn per annum by the end of the decade. In its first nine months of global availability last year, Zepbound, which results in weight loss of about 20 per cent over 17 months compared to 14 per cent for Wegovy, racked up sales of £2.4bn.
Fan said: “Trump is seeking to lower drug prices in the US but what he will do to achieve this is not yet known… We could see an increase in price for Mounjaro/Zepbound in the UK but it is hard to determine how significant an increase this would be. It would also be likely other pharma manufacturers will follow suit if companies like Lilly increase the price of their products.”
‘Fair’ for other countries
However the company – which has seen its share prices increase by 700 per cent in the last five year but has more recently hit turbulence over disappointing sales figures – said it was also committed to offering its products at “fair prices” in countries such as the UK.
The US Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request to comment.
The future of weight-loss
Despite its recent travails, Eli Lilly looks increasingly comfortable in its battle for an enduringly dominant share of the global anti-obesity market.
The drug giant has several potential blockbuster innovations in the pipeline, including orforglipron – the world’s first anti-obesity pill.
And retatrutide has shown in trials higher levels of weight loss than Mounjaro/Zepbound with additional benefits for heart and liver health.
Ed Schoonveld, a former pricing executive at Eli Lilly and principal advisor at Schoonveld Advisory, a business consulting firm, told the Wall Street Journal: “To some extent, European consumers are free-riding on the willingness of American society to give new drugs a chance.”
Market share battle
One executive with a European drug company said: “Whether it’s defence or medicines, the Trump administration is hooked on the idea that America and Americans get ripped off by Europeans. When it comes to pharma, I don’t think it’s true but, yes, price rises could be coming. The point for companies like Eli Lilly though is that they probably can’t afford to be 20 or 30 per cent more expensive than their competitor. So if there are price rises, they are likely to be modest.”
Simon Wells, lead analyst for metabolic diseases at Airfinity, said: “The UK’s healthcare system negotiates confidential pricing agreements with pharmaceutical companies, often securing discounted rates that align with strict cost-effectiveness thresholds. As such, it is unlikely that there would be a sudden increase in the NHS price of a drug like Mounjaro/Zepbound that would jeopardise its cost-effectiveness.”
The UK Department of Health and Social Care has been contacted for comment.
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