Online chemists are reporting high early demand for Wegovy weight-loss tablets after the treatment received UK regulatory approval last week.
Boots said it had seen “thousands more sign-ups for more info over the weekend”, while Superdrug said sign-ups had shot up by 130% overnight after approval was announced on Thursday.
Simple Online Healthcare said people in their 50s made up the single largest group of pre-orders in the first 48 hours, and forecast the tablets would attract 100,000 new GLP-1 users within months.
Worldpanel data last week showed weight-loss drugs in injection form wiped £780m from annual UK grocery spend in the year to the end of February. The proportion of households with at least one user shot from 2.3% in 2024 to 6.3% in 2026.
The approval of a needle-free option by the MHRA for prescription in the UK is expected to drive another sharp increase in users.
Older users
Simple Online Healthcare said people in their 50s accounted for 35% of pre-orders, while the same group accounted for only 26% of injectable prescriptions. Those aged 60 and over accounted for 20% of pill pre-orders, compared with 13% of injectable orders.
Men were also showing more interest in the pills, accounting for 25% of pre-orders compared with 21% of injectable orders.
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Simple Online Healthcare, which operates the retail brand Simple Online Pharmacy, said more than 60,000 people had joined its waiting list, and pre-orders were 10 times the volume of orders it received for Mounjaro injections the day they launched as weight loss treatment in the UK in 2023.
“Drawing on early demand, UK prescribing trends and launch patterns seen in the US, the company estimates oral GLP-1 treatments could reach between 120,000 and 130,000 UK patients within their first few months,” said a spokesperson. “Around 100,000 of those are expected to be completely new to GLP-1 treatment.”
Pricing in line with injections
The online chemist is taking pre-orders for Wegovy pills for £99 a month for the lowest daily dose available, including a £30 introductory discount. It makes them more expensive than Wegovy injections, which the retailer lists at £99 a month without a £30 discount. The website says: “The Wegovy pill is expected to cost less than the injection, but prices may not drop straight away.”
Deliveries to customers are expected to begin in early July.
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A Boots spokesperson said: “Boots continues to see interest from patients in the Wegovy pill with strong web traffic and thousands more sign-ups for more info over the weekend.”
Dr Anju Verma, clinical lead for the Boots Online Doctor weight-loss treatment service, added: “While injectable weight-loss medications have helped many people achieve significant results, they aren’t the preferred choice for everyone as some people find self-injection daunting, while others simply prefer the familiarity and convenience of taking a tablet.”
A Superdrug spokesperson said: “We are seeing significant public interest in the new oral GLP-1 on our information register. In the 24 hours [after approval] the level of sign-ups increased by 130%.”
‘Less embarrassing’
Asda said a survey of 1,800 people who identified as overweight found two in five thought a pill would be ‘less embarrassing’ than an injection and easier to manage as part of a daily routine.
Shore Capital VC Clive Black said on Thursday: “The pill is clearly likely to be more accessible for many users than the injection route, which leads us to assert, whilst keeping our feet on the ground, that this is a notable moment for the UK food system.”
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