Weight-loss injection manufacturer wants to sell drug to the NHS

The manufacturer of a ‘diet jab’ will apply for the slimming aid to become available on the NHS.

The injection, called Liraglutide, is manufactured by the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, who say an injection to the stomach each morning will help people lose weight.

The drug recently passed its safety test with Britain’s regulators, but has to be selected by NHS authority NICE (the National Institute of Clinical Excellence) before it can become available on the health service.

NICE would have to judge whether the drug, which costs £2.25 a day for every patient, is value for money. The NHS already offers prescription died drugs in the form of Orlistat, which is roughly half the cost of the new injection.

Trials suggest the new injection might be more effective than existing solutions, however.

The drug’s manufacturers say it helps obese people on a diet lose extra weight by suppressing their appetite, as long as they are exercising properly and eating well.

In trials, men and women attempting to lose weight who used the drug lost roughly a stone more over the course of a year than a control group who were not using the drug.

Mike Lean, professor of human nutrition at Glasgow University, told the Daily Mail newspaper: “Liraglutide is absolutely life-changing for many of our most difficult-to-manage patients.

“Most do well, and some amazingly well. And it is extraordinarily safe, at least over the two to three years for which we have good evidence, with no signals to suggest serious side-effects.”

According to research by the consultants McKinsey and Company, obesity costs Britain’s economy £47bn a year; more than war, terrorism or armed violence.

Source The Independent