Medicated weight-loss treatments have soared over recent months, reaching an estimated 1.5 million users in the UK in March 2025, according to data shared by IQVIA.
The UK weight management market has seen an average monthly volume growth of 24.6% since October 2024, Chris Pilsbury, senior director at market intelligence company IQVIA, revealed yesterday at the Sigma 2025 conference in Baku, Azerbaijan.
He also shared that since October 2024, there has been a 56% growth in the amount that people in the UK spend on private access to medicines – from £503m to £784m in October 2025.
Around £210m of that spending related to weight management medication, IQVIA revealed.
He suggested there was an estimated 1.5 million UK citizens receiving ongoing weight-loss management medication in March 2025 alone – with some 1,527,000 packs supplied.
The ‘significant growth’ was largely driven by online providers that account for around 80% of purchases, said Mr Pilsbury.
But Mr Pilsbury stressed that there was still a £72m or 17% increase in other private treatments once weight-loss medication was excluded.
The biggest area for growth outside of obesity medication was anti-asthma and COPD, IQVIA revealed.
Other areas of growth included phsycoanaleptics, hormone therapies, central nervous system drugs and oncology.
Mr Pilsbruy said that it was an ‘exciting time for innovation’ in drug development, including 169 new assets from 70 companies in the obesity pipeline.
He suggested new therapies could provide ‘lots of opportunities’ for community pharmacy.
And he suggested that weight-loss medications were driving increased use of distance-selling pharmacies.
GP leaders across the country are advising practices to decline or request a fee when private providers seek input for weight-loss jab prescriptions because this is unfunded work. However medico-legal experts said GPs should not ‘ignore’ requests.
Separately, GPs will be starting to prescribe under the phased rollout of NICE guidance on NHS-funded tirzepatide for weight loss next month.
Earlier this month, Community Pharmacy England (CPE) said it was ‘open to discussing’ how weight-loss injections could be delivered through community pharmacies on the NHS, following rumoured plans reported in the national media.
A version of this article was first published by Pulse’s sister title The Pharmacist
Oviva’s fully remote Tier 3 Weight Management programme
Millions in the UK would benefit from these drugs.
An utter failure of the NHS.