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Eli Lilly has temporarily suspended sales of its weight loss injection, Mounjaro, as patients rush to buy supplies ahead of next month’s 170 per cent price hike. 

Pharmacies will not be able to order the drug from wholesalers until Monday September 1 following a pause in distribution to enable the company to manage what it describes as unprecedented demand.

The price for a 5mg dose will nearly double from £92 to £180 while the maximum dose, 15mg, will increase from £122 to £330. The prospect of such a steep rise has triggered panic buying among patients who purchase the jab privately from pharmacies.

Sector leaders were quick to criticise the move. Quoted in national media outlets, Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Independent Pharmacies Association, said: “It’s unacceptable that Eli Lilly are not only putting their prices up after only giving a short notice at the beginning of this month of their intentions to do so which has led to worry and chaos, but now they are also stopping the supply until September when their higher prices come into effect.

“Patients will understandably be extremely concerned about their ability to access vital medication and it will be pharmacists on the front line who are left to manage the fallout,” she said.

The company said the pause was needed to protect existing supplies and stressed that pharmacies should not stockpile the medication. 

Also read: Mounjaro price hike ‘will drive more patients to black market’