By Maggie Fick
SEATTLE (Reuters) -Eli Lilly will raise the UK list price of its weight-loss and type 2 diabetes treatment Mounjaro by up to 170% to be in line with other European markets, it said on Thursday, as the pharma industry responds to U.S. pressure to equalize drug prices across markets.
The new price is effective from September. The price for a month’s supply of the highest dose of the medicine will increase from £122 to £330, Lilly said.
Lilly said that when it launched Mounjaro in Britain, it agreed to a list price “significantly below” that in its three other European markets to prevent delays in availability of the medicine through Britain’s National Health Service (NHS).
“We are now aligning the list price more consistently,” Lilly said, adding that it had simultaneously reached an agreement with the NHS to ensure continued supply and access.
The move reflects how the pharmaceutical industry is navigating policy changes in the United States, by far its most lucrative market.
The U.S. pays more for prescription drugs than any other country, often nearly three times as much as other developed nations. President Donald Trump says he wants to narrow this gap to stop Americans from being “ripped off.”
Reuters reported last week that the Trump administration has been talking to drugmakers about ways to raise prices of medicines in Europe and elsewhere in order to cut drug costs in the United States.
A list price, not typically made public, is set by the drug manufacturer before any rebates or discounts.
But the new price will not be paid by the NHS, it and the company confirmed, to ensure continued access for the people with obesity and type 2 diabetes receiving it through the state-run health service.
Lilly said it was also working with private providers, who can agree their own confidential agreements.
Lilly launched Mounjaro in the UK in February last year, while rival Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy treatment has been available in the country since September 2023.
In the UK, mirroring dynamics elsewhere, Lilly challenged Novo’s first-mover advantage swiftly. By late 2024, Mounjaro sales outstripped those of Wegovy in the booming online pharmacy market for the medicines.
Mounjaro and Wegovy are highly effective weight-loss medicines from the GLP-1 drug class. Soaring demand has propelled both Lilly and Novo to record profits, but Novo has recently come under pressure and issued a profit warning last month, citing intense competition.
(Reporting by Maggie FickEditing by Christina Fincher)
