The drug’s active ingredient functions as a weight-management medication by helping patients feel full and reducing food cravings. It also helps lower blood sugar levels in individuals with type 2 diabetes when their levels are high.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved the diabetes medication mounjaro, also known as tirzepatide, in November of last year with the goal of assisting obese and overweight adults in managing their weight.
Laura Steele, president and general manager of UK and Northern Europe at Eli Lilly, a US pharmaceutical company, stated that the company will be able to “begin supply to the UK within weeks” after its Mounjaro “KwikPen” was approved.
The Mounjaro KwikPen has been approved to treat adults with type 2 diabetes, to help obese adults manage their weight, and to treat overweight adults with weight-related health issues such as prediabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart problems. The device administers four doses of the medication once a week for a duration of one month.
“It is obvious that safe and effective treatments to help manage diabetes and obesity, which can have a significant impact on people’s health, are important for public health,” stated Julian Beach, interim executive director of healthcare quality and access at MHRA.
“This approval enables access to the approved Mounjaro pen in a more convenient presentation of a month’s treatment, of one dose per week.”
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) approved the jab for use in the NHS in September of last year as a treatment option for patients with type 2 diabetes who do not have the disease under control. However, NICE has not yet approved the drug’s use for obesity.
The drug’s active ingredient functions as a weight-management medication by helping patients feel full and reducing food cravings. It also helps lower blood sugar levels in individuals with type 2 diabetes when their levels are high.
The latest authorisation from the MHRA is founded on a bridging study that demonstrated the multidose Mounjaro KwikPen should be as safe and effective as the single-dose pen in terms of both efficacy and safety.
