NICE Technology Appraisal for Tirzepatide for managing overweight and obesity

January 24, 2025

The National Institute for Health and Care and Excellence (NICE) has published a Technology Appraisal for Tirzepatide for managing overweight and obesity (TA1026).

As well as being prescribable by Specialist Weight Management Services, it will also be prescribable in Primary Care. Timescales for implementation have been set.

We understand clinicians are receiving a lot of enquiries from patients requesting this medication, which is no doubt adding to pressures at an already busy time of year. Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) for weight loss is categorised as a grey drug on the Black Country Formulary (Positive NICE TA and /or awaiting local clarification on place in therapy), which will be reviewed as an output of the publication of TA1026.

It will remain this way while we work across the system to develop models for our system, and whilst we await further direction from NHS England on their recommended models of care and any associated funding packages. Unfortunately, this information does not align with the NICE TA release.

We kindly request that clinicians do not prescribe Mounjaro for weight management until we have the pathways in place to enable patients to access the wrap around support required, which will increase their chances of making sustainable change, and the various checkpoints to ensure that patients remain on Mounjaro for an appropriate amount of time. We also request that requests are not made to GPs for Mounjaro prescribing at this time.