State should consider making weight-loss drug Wegovy available to patients, report says
Weight-loss drug Wegovy is cost-effective, and health officials should consider making it available to public patients, an assessment by the drug pricing watchdog has found. The National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics (NCPE) ruled the medication is value for money when used to treat overweight patients under certain clinical criteria, despite the significant cost to the State of making weight-loss medications available publicly. However, its recommendation noted the significant cost burden that reimbursement would place on the Government. Wegovy is manufactured by Novo Nordisk , which also makes Ozempic . Its active ingredient is semaglutide. According to the NCPE assessment, the estimated annual treatment cost per patient of lower-dose, weekly Wegovy is €2,918, with this rising to €4,370 for the higher dose. The five-year budget cost would be about €4.4 billion for the full eligible population groups. However, the NCPE said within stricter HSE-specified subpopulations, this cost could be reduced to between €263 million and €3.2 billion. The State’s medicines bill for next year will reach a record €4 billion, meaning a decision to reimburse weight-loss medications would place significant pressure on the Department of Health’s finances. Currently, Saxenda is the only such medication that is reimbursed for weight loss. Ozempic is available under the Long-Term Illness Scheme, but this only to treat type-2 diabetes. Individuals who want weight-loss drugs such as Mounjaro, Ozempic and Wegovy are able to pay privately for access, with prices ranging from €130 to €600 per month, depending on the brand and dosage. The NCPE’s assessment will go to the HSE drugs group for consideration, which will then make a recommendation to the body’s senior leadership for a final decision. The HSE said earlier this week a decision on the reimbursement of weight-loss drugs will take some time and may require a number of meetings. GLP-1s in Ireland: How weight-loss medications work under the HSE system “The State’s approach to these drugs also raises important matters of health policy which will require discussions over the coming months with the Department of Health and other key stakeholders on the potential overall impact on the health budget,” a spokeswoman said. “The outcome of these discussions will also need to be considered by the HSE in finalising the approach to reimbursement of these drugs.” Wegovy, manufactured by Novo Nordisk, is one of a number of weight-loss medications under consideration by the HSE for reimbursement. Earlier this week, the HSE drugs group met to discuss potential reimbursement of rival drug Mounjaro , which is manufactured by Eli Lilly. It has not yet made a recommendation to senior management. In December 2025, the NCPE said Mounjaro was not cost-effective but that the HSE should consider reimbursing it if it could agree a price reduction with the manufacturer. Michael Barry, who leads the NCPE, said earlier this year that Eli Lilly had made an offer for a significant price reduction that would make the drug cost-effective, or close to it. However, he warned it could still cost the State between €2 billion and €3 billion over five years.