Has GLP-1 Prescription Growth Slowed in 2025? (October 2026)

01 · The honest answer

Has GLP-1 prescription growth actually slowed?

It depends on the market, the measure and the period. Summaries that say growth slowed in the second half of 2025 usually refer to the United States. There, the story is about employers and insurers tightening coverage, adding prior authorisation and managing spending. That is a story about who pays, not about whether the medicines work.

The UK is different. Most people who take Mounjaro or Wegovy for weight management here pay privately, and the NHS is only now phasing in access. So the US insurer narrative does not map neatly onto UK patients.

02 · UK picture

What actually changed for UK patients in 2025

Two verifiable developments shaped UK access in 2025: the start of the NHS rollout and a rise in list prices.

Neither development implies falling demand. The NHS rollout adds a new route to treatment, and a price rise changes what private patients compare.

03 · Your decision

What a market slowdown means for your decision

A slowdown in industry growth should not change whether treatment is right for you. That decision rests on your health, not on sales curves. Mounjaro is licensed for adults with a BMI of 30 or above, or a BMI between 27 and 30 with at least one weight-related condition, used alongside a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity.¹

If you think you may be eligible, you can start a free consultation, which a GPhC-registered prescriber reviews. Check our criteria for a GLP-1 prescription first if you are unsure where you stand. The Mounjaro pen starts at £169.99 per month at the 2.5mg starting dose. Your first 2.5mg pen costs £129.99 with code FIRST40, and every later order is £25 off the standard price. All six doses are in stock.

Planning ahead? A first year costs £2,711.88 if you stay on 5mg after your 2.5mg starting pen, up to £3,599.88 if you step up through every dose to 15mg. A new customer's first order is £40 less, and every later order £25 less.

Related guide: What food has glp 1.

04 · Where the slowdown story comes from

Where the slowdown story comes from

The slowdown narrative comes from financial and US health-policy commentary, and it is mostly about spending rather than clinical use. The themes that recur are lowered sales expectations, employers dropping or limiting weight-loss coverage, insurers adding administrative steps, and the sheer cost of a drug class used by so many people.

Read carefully, that describes growth moving from very rapid to more managed. It does not describe people abandoning the medicines.

Be wary of any page, including social posts and forum threads, that quotes a precise growth percentage without naming a dataset and period. A figure without a source is not evidence. For UK prescribing, the reliable places to look are NHS prescribing data and regulator publications, not retail pharmacy pages.

05 · UK access: NHS versus private

UK access: NHS versus private

Mounjaro is available on the NHS, but access is phased in over several years. NICE recommends it for adults with a BMI of at least 35 plus at least one weight-related condition, and the primary-care rollout began in June 2025 with the highest-need groups first, initially BMI 40+ with four or more qualifying conditions.⁴⁶ Full rollout is expected to take years.

That is why many people who meet the licensed criteria choose regulated private treatment rather than wait. The licensed criteria are wider than the early NHS groups: a BMI of 30 or above, or 27 to 30 with a weight-related condition such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obstructive sleep apnoea, cardiovascular disease, prediabetes or type 2 diabetes.¹

Wegovy access on the NHS runs through specialist weight-management services; ask your GP. Whichever route you choose, a prescriber assesses your BMI, medical history and current medicines before deciding whether treatment is suitable.

For the practical steps, see our blog on when clinical assessment is needed.

06 · Price changes and the cost outlook

Price changes and the cost outlook

The biggest 2025 change for private UK patients was the list-price rise, not a drop in demand. The increase was up to 170% on the highest dose.

List price is not the same as pharmacy sell price, because pharmacies receive confidential discounts and set their own prices. Across the UK pharmacies we track, the cheapest and dearest Mounjaro pens across all doses ranged from £143.96 to £339.00 per month as of 10 October 2026. For the 2.5mg starting pen alone, the range was £143.96 to £179.99. The gap between providers for the same dose ran from £27 to £41.

Our standard prices per month are £169.99 at 2.5mg, £218.99 at 5mg, £279.99 at 7.5mg, £290.99 at 10mg, £319.99 at 12.5mg and £329.99 at 15mg. Switching to us at 15mg? Your first order is £289.99 with code FIRST40. See our GLP-1 prescription cost guide for more detail.

07 · Does the treatment still work?

Does the treatment still work if the market has cooled?

Market mood does not alter what the medicine does in the body. Tirzepatide activates two natural gut-hormone receptors at once, GIP and GLP-1. Together these help regulate appetite, slow how quickly the stomach empties and improve the body's response to insulin.¹ In practice most people feel fuller sooner and less hungry between meals, which supports a reduced-calorie diet.

In the SURMOUNT-1 trial of 2,539 adults, people taking tirzepatide alongside diet and exercise lost on average 15% of their body weight on 5mg, 19.5% on 10mg and 20.9% on 15mg over 72 weeks, compared with 3.1% with lifestyle changes alone.² For someone starting at 100 kg, 20.9% is about 21 kg. These are trial averages and individual results vary. Treatment works alongside a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity, not instead of them.

At 72 weeks, 85% of participants on 5mg, 89% on 10mg and 91% on 15mg had lost at least 5% of their body weight. Half of participants on 10mg and 57% on 15mg lost at least 20%.² Trial averages do not predict your own result.

08 · Questions people ask about GLP-1

The hard questions about GLP-1 medicines

Like all medicines, Mounjaro can cause side effects, and most are digestive. The most common, affecting more than 1 in 10 people, are nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting, constipation and abdominal discomfort.¹³ Tell your prescriber about new or worrying symptoms, and you can report them through the Yellow Card scheme.¹⁹ Seek immediate medical help for: severe, persistent stomach pain that may spread to your back, with or without vomiting (possible pancreatitis); pain in the upper right abdomen, fever or yellowing of skin/eyes (possible gallbladder problems); or signs of a severe allergic reaction such as swelling of the face or throat and difficulty breathing. Our prescribing team provides ongoing monthly reviews, dose titration and side-effect support.

If progress stalls, speak to your prescriber. They can review your dose, your diet and activity, and your other medicines. Do not change the dose yourself or use the pen outside its instructions.

On stopping, tirzepatide has a half-life of about five days, so after a final dose it takes roughly 4–5 weeks to clear the system. Nothing needs doing while it clears, and there is no way to speed it up.¹

09 · Buying safely while the market shifts

Buying safely while the market shifts

Price rises and shifting access create room for unsafe sellers, so choose a regulated pharmacy. Check any UK online pharmacy on the GPhC register; ours is registration 9012878.¹² Be suspicious of any seller offering to supply without a consultation or prescription, or at a price far below what regulated providers charge. The MHRA publishes counterfeit medicine alerts and runs the Yellow Card scheme.⁷

We supply Mounjaro through official LillyDirect supply, direct from Eli Lilly's UK distribution, as genuine KwikPens. Delivery is free, next-day and tracked in temperature-controlled, discreet packaging, with same-day dispatch when ordered by 3pm. Saturday delivery is £14.99.

10 · How ordering works

How ordering works

Ordering takes three steps, and the consultation is free with no obligation.

• Free online consultation: a short health questionnaire, no charge.
• Prescriber review: a GPhC-registered prescriber reviews it, not a scoring script. Payment is taken when you place the order; if the prescriber decides the treatment is not suitable, the order is refunded automatically in full.
• Dispensing and delivery: our registered pharmacy dispenses and dispatches, with free next-day tracked delivery.

Repeat orders re-check suitability, and nothing ships automatically. There are no subscriptions, and Klarna and pay-monthly options are available. New customers save £40 on their first order with code FIRST40, and an automatic £25 reorder discount applies to every future order (code DOSE25). You can browse all weight loss treatments or go straight to buy Mounjaro. Mounjaro is a prescription-only medicine, used alongside a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity. Individual results vary. This page is information, not a substitute for medical advice.