Most weight loss jab users in 2024 were on semaglutide medication, which is branded as Wegovy, according to an integrated care board (ICB) medicines chief.
North East and North Cumbria ICB strategic head of medicines optimisation Helena Gregory last week (May 10) said that those over the age of 50 – “a lot” of them women - are “by and large” using Wegovy the most to help with weight loss.
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Speaking at the Clinical Pharmacy Congress (CPC) London, she revealed that those using tirzepatide, branded as Mounjaro, “tend to be women who are 30-39” years old.
Gregory added that “tirzepatide is growing” and the different age group recognises a “demographic shift for weight loss” and therefore the cohorts of people that pharmacists need to be aware of.
Side effects and TikTok risks
Gregory also warned delegates about “increasing reports” of gastrointestinal side effects from weight loss jabs that are landing patients in hospital.
C+D reported in November that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) had received reports of some 10 deaths “with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) indicated for weight management”.
At the time, the MHRA had also received 7,228 reports of common gastrointestinal reactions that required 68 people to be hospitalised.
Read more: Mounjaro vs Wegovy – latest trial reveals which is ‘superior’
Gregory said that the GLP1-RA market is “very rapidly evolving” and it can be “hard to stay up to date” with the evidence on their efficacy.
She added that a lot of “additional effects” for treating kidney or liver disease will be “transformational” but that there is a lot “we don’t quite yet understand” in the metabolic pathway for the drugs.
Read more: Inside the online pharmacy growing weight loss scripts by the thousands
She also raised issues around distinguishing the “truth from the misinformation” on platforms like TikTok where weight loss jabs are often promoted.
“That’s where they’re going, they’re not coming to you,” Gregory told delegates, as she highlighted TikTok as the “fastest growing” place where young people aged 18-30 go for information.
But “there’s no great information there from healthcare professionals to talk through the risks, the benefits, the care and what you need”, she added.
Read more: Pharmacies to pilot NHS weight loss jab expansion, reports claim
It comes after a head-to-head clinical trial by Mounjaro manufacturer Eli Lily has claimed its tirzepatide-based jab is “superior” to Wegovy’s semaglutide-based formula.
C+D last week revealed Oushk Pharmacy’s funds boomed almost 600% thanks to the thousands of weight loss scripts it processes every month.
And earlier this month, reports claimed that a multimillion-pound deal “with a major pharmaceutical firm” is set to fund a national NHS weight loss jab prescription pilot in pharmacies.
