The Wegovy Pill craze takes off: 10 times as many patients ordering the tablet as the injection as companies report long waiting-lists… but will supplies last?

The newly approved Wegovy pill has sparked strong early demand, according to new  data, with initial figures suggesting it could prove more popular than injectable treatments.

The oral GLP‑1 drug, a tablet version of the once‑weekly Wegovy injection, has prompted patients to rush to sign up. 

Online pharmacy Simple Online Healthcare said it received more than ten times the number of orders on its first day compared with the launch of the Mounjaro injection in the UK in 2024.

For now, the medication, that can help patients lose as much as 17 per cent of their weight, is expected to be available only through private providers.

These are likely to include high street names such as Morrisons, Superdrug and Boots, alongside a growing number of online pharmacies.

Prices have not yet been confirmed, although some pharmacists estimate the pill could start from around £99 per month – potentially cheaper than injectable versions.

If supply holds, the company expects the first prescriptions to be fulfilled as early as July.

However, with tens of thousands of patients already on waiting lists, experts have raised concerns over whether supply will be able to keep pace with demand.

Simple Online Healthcare said its waiting list had reached around 60,000 patients even before the drug was approved for obesity treatment in the UK.

On its first day of pre-orders, the company reported demand more than ten times higher than when the Mounjaro weight‑loss injection launched, highlighting the level of early interest in oral treatments.

Other firms have also reported high demand for the pills. 

The online retailer Chemist4U says it already has a waiting list of more than 10,000 customers.

Early data from providers also suggests the Wegovy pill may be attracting a different mix of patients compared with injectable weight‑loss drugs.

According to Simple Online Healthcare, older adults and men – groups historically less likely to use weight‑loss medication – appear to be more strongly represented among those signing up.

Adults in their 60s account for around 20 per cent of pill pre-orders, compared to 13 per cent of injection users, while those in their 50s make up the largest share overall at 35 per cent.

Men represent around a quarter of pill users, compared with roughly one in five among those opting for injections.

Abdal Alvi, chief clinical officer at Simple Online Healthcare, said the early findings suggest the tablet could reach patients who have previously been reluctant to try injections.

‘The people coming forward in the greatest numbers are those injectable treatment was least likely to reach,’ he said.

The trend is notable given that obesity rates are highest among older age groups.

NHS data shows that around one in three people aged 55 to 74 are obese, yet this group has historically been less likely to seek pharmaceutical treatment.

Men have also been less likely to access weight‑loss medication despite high levels of obesity, with studies suggesting uptake remains significantly lower than among women.

The introduction of an oral alternative could therefore broaden access to treatment and increase overall demand.

Drawing on its early data, alongside US trends, Simple Online Healthcare estimates that between 120,000 and 130,000 patients could begin using oral GLP‑1 treatments within the first few months of launch.

The company said around 100,000 of these would likely be new patients, rather than people switching from injections.

However, these projections remain early estimates, and it is not yet clear how demand will develop at a national level.

Previous weight‑loss drugs, including injectable Wegovy and Mounjaro, have faced repeated supply shortages as demand outstripped availability, raising questions about whether the same could happen again.

At least 1.6 million adults in the UK are thought to be using weight-loss jabs already, with a further 3.3 million considering taking them.

Previous polling by digital healthcare provider Numan found that around one in five people considering weight-loss medication are put off by a fear of needles.

But, now that the simpler oral tablet has been approved, experts believe demand for the pill will soar because it gives people the option not to self-inject.

This, they warn, could trigger supply issues.  

‘The pills contain around 100 times as much of the active drug as the injections, because a lot of it gets absorbed in the gut,’ says Prof David Strain, an obesity expert at the University of Exeter.

‘This means the drug company will have to produce far more of it than before. In recent years, there have been shortages of the jabs due to high demand.

‘So if there is a rush for the pills, as is looking likely, then this could drive more shortages.’ 

A spokesperson for Novo Nordisk told The Daily Mail last week that it was confident that there were enough Wegovy Pills available.