As more and more of us learn about weight management treatments, new medical developments can spark both excitement and impatience.
If you think a new treatment could be right for you, it’s only natural to want to start it right away, which is why we’re watching a new medication called Tirzepatide like a hawk.
Available in the US under the brand name Mounjaro, Tirzepatide is a type 2 diabetes treatment that shares a lot of similarities with medications like Wegovy and Saxenda.
Want to learn more? We do too, so let’s find out more about when this medication might be available in the UK.
Can I buy Tirzepatide?
At the moment, you can’t buy Tirzepatide in the UK.
It isn’t licensed here yet and is only available in the US as a type 2 diabetes treatment.
If Tirzepatide were available over here it would probably be licensed as a prescription-only medication, which means you would not be able to buy it outright.
Like other medications of this type, you would only be able to obtain it via a prescription after going through a consultation with a qualified prescriber who would decide whether Tirzepatide is the right treatment for you.
When will Tirzepatide be available in the UK?
We don’t know when Tirzepatide will be available in the UK yet, but that doesn’t mean patients on this side of the Atlantic should lose hope.
Just because nothing has been made public yet doesn’t mean that the manufacturers of Tirzepatide haven’t been working behind the scenes to get it licensed here.
It’s normal for this type of medication to be licensed in the US first and then become available in the UK a little later, so we won’t be surprised if we hear more information about licensing progress very soon.
Will Tirzepatide be approved for weight loss?
As we mentioned earlier, Tirzepatide is only available as a type 2 diabetes treatment in the US at the moment, so it isn’t approved for weight loss.
However, this follows the pattern laid out by medications like Semaglutide and Liraglutide, which were both licensed for type 2 diabetes before they were licensed for weight loss.
Considering Tirzepatide is a part of the same group of medications as these others, we’ll be keeping a close eye on it to see if and when it will be approved as a weight management treatment.
Alternatives to Tirzepatide for weight loss medications in the UK
If you were hoping to get your hands on Tirzepatide right away you might be a little disheartened to learn that it won’t be available in the UK soon — but not to worry!
Wegovy and Saxenda are both weight management treatments that work in a similar way to Tirzepatide as they’re all a part of the same group of medications, GLP-1 receptor agonists.
If you think you could benefit from weight management treatment, we would recommend learning more about those and asking your healthcare provider whether they think GLP-1 injections would be right for you.
If you’d like to find out more about Tirzepatide or our selection of weight management treatments, including Wegovy and Saxenda, you’re in the right place.
Our team has put together lots of articles about weight loss injections that will tell you everything you need to know about these revolutionary medications.
Here are just a couple for you to get your teeth into.
