After only being imported in small quantities at first, the prescription drug was launched on a larger scale in Swedish pharmacies in October. It is the pharmaceutical company Lilly that is behind the product, and the company believes in great demand for Mounjaro.
Like Ozempic, the drug’s mechanism of action consists of reduced hunger, increased satiety and better control over eating.
– Contrary to previous drugs that target one hormone system, Mounjaro activates two hormone systems and then you get a more pronounced effect on both blood sugar control and body weight, says Mikael Rydén, professor and senior physician at Karolinska.
He emphasizes that the drug is incredibly effective, and almost revolutionary for people living with type two diabetes or obesity. According to the Swedish Medicines Agency, the preparation should function as a supplement to reduced calorie intake and increased physical activity.
– This is the third-generation drug in this class. In the case of obesity, weight losses of upwards of 20-25 percent can be achieved. These are enormous effects for a drug and which approach the effect of what you see in weight-editing surgery, says Mikael Rydén and explains that there are drugs that may soon reach the market, which can enable weight losses of over 25 percent.
Could end up in the wrong hands
Why Mounjaro is so effective is, after all, still up for debate. It is not certain that this is because it activates both incretin hormone receptors, GIP and GLP-1.
– It could only be about a particularly effective drug. Regardless, it works very well in the studies that have been done so far, says Mikael Rydén.
The drug is primarily intended for people diagnosed with type two diabetes or obesity. But Mikael Rydén does not consider it unlikely that it would be abused as a dieting regimen, by people who are not in direct need of the drug.
– It is a rather expensive medicine if you were to buy it without a subsidy. But of course one can imagine the type of illegal use that could also affect accessibility in a negative way.
What can be done to ensure that these types of drugs end up with people who actually need them?
– The most important thing is to prescribe these drugs according to indication – that you don’t prescribe them randomly.
Prescribing medicines without seeing the patients physically and assessing the body weight based on images sent in is not something that should be done, according to the chief physician.
– Both type two diabetes and obesity are chronic diseases that must be treated just like other chronic diseases; you meet patients, you make an individual assessment, you start medication based on the examination you do and then you follow up. Something else cannot be imagined.
“A huge problem for us”
It is not yet known what risks drugs of this class may entail, but research remains to be done. What you do know, however, is that you gain weight again as soon as you stop taking the preparations.
But the effectiveness of the preparations and the media reporting they entail is not unanimously positive, according to Mikael Rydén.
– This is a great preparation – it is more effective than Ozempic. But at the same time, every time these preparations are mentioned, the illegal use increases and people look them up online.
– This is a huge problem for us, who have to print this for people who really need it.