Saxenda vs Mounjaro cost: what the price difference really means

You've found two prices online, but they're not measuring the same thing

This is where most people get stuck. A monthly price for Saxenda and a monthly price for Mounjaro sit side by side on a comparison site, and neither figure tells you what it actually costs to use that medicine safely. Saxenda is liraglutide, a daily injection made by Novo Nordisk and licensed for weight management in the UK. Mounjaro is tirzepatide, a once-weekly injection made by Eli Lilly, and also UK-licensed for weight management. The dosing structures are completely different: Saxenda involves a daily injection with a gradual dose escalation up to 3mg, while Mounjaro is injected once weekly, titrated by your prescriber through a series of doses starting at 2.5mg. That structural difference matters enormously to the cost calculation, a monthly Saxenda supply covers roughly 28 injections; a Mounjaro pen covers four.

Private pricing for both medicines can shift considerably depending on the provider, the dose, and what is actually bundled into the figure. Mounjaro's UK list price rose from around £122 to around £330 per four-week pen at the highest dose in September 2025, following a price change by Eli Lilly, and private providers vary significantly around that benchmark. Saxenda pricing has historically sat lower per month at lower doses but rises with escalation. Neither comparison means much without knowing what the headline number includes. You can explore how Mounjaro pricing is structured in more detail on our Mounjaro cost overview.

What a headline price for a prescription medicine often leaves out

The figure that appears in search results for either medicine frequently covers one thing only: the physical medicine. Separately, you may encounter a consultation fee before any prescription is written, a prescription fee on top, a delivery charge for each order, and an ongoing support charge if you want clinical contact between doses. Some providers charge for dose reviews or evidence checks when you move to a higher pen. It adds up. For a medicine like Mounjaro, where your prescriber may titrate your dose across several months, if you want to understand what you might pay at the point where many patients begin to see stronger results, our page covering 10mg Mounjaro cost breaks down what that dose typically involves.

This is not a criticism of any particular provider, it is simply how unbundled pricing models work, and it is worth understanding before you compare numbers. A price that looks higher at first glance may well include everything; a price that looks lower may not include the clinical oversight that makes taking a prescription medicine safe. Our Mounjaro pricing page sets out what to ask when comparing services, and our frequently asked questions cover what is included at every stage with us.

Where Saxenda fits in the UK weight-loss landscape now

Saxenda remains a UK-licensed option, but it is worth knowing that the evidence landscape has shifted significantly. In the SURMOUNT-5 trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2025, tirzepatide produced greater average weight reduction than semaglutide 2.4mg head-to-head, and NICE's appraisal of tirzepatide (TA1026) noted that indirect comparisons within the clinical evidence favoured tirzepatide over older GLP-1 options including liraglutide. Saxenda has not received a NICE technology appraisal recommending it for routine use in the way tirzepatide has. That does not mean Saxenda is without value for the right patient, but it does change the clinical calculation, and it changes the cost-versus-outcome question you are implicitly asking when you compare prices.

nume does not dispense Saxenda. If you are currently taking it and wondering about switching, or if a GP has mentioned it, that conversation belongs with a prescriber who can review your full picture. What IS licensed and dispensed by nume for weight management is Mounjaro and Wegovy (semaglutide injection), both prescription-only, both reviewed by a GPhC-registered prescriber before every supply. You can see the full range of options on our weight-loss treatments page.

Why the cheapest listing is the wrong question for a prescription medicine

The lowest price for either Saxenda or Mounjaro tells you something, but not what most people think it tells them. The MHRA has warned publicly about fake weight-loss pens sold via social media and unverified online sellers, pens that have in some cases contained entirely different substances. The safe supply of a prescription medicine depends on a licensed supply chain, a registered pharmacy you can verify, and a prescriber who has actually assessed whether you should be taking it. Checking a pharmacy on the GPhC register before ordering takes about thirty seconds and is the single most useful thing a patient can do.

At nume, we are not the cheapest option for Mounjaro, that is a deliberate position. One price covers the consultation, the prescription, the medicine, and free next-working-day delivery by DPD. Your pen arrives the following morning in an unmarked box, cold-packed, tracked on your phone. There are no subscription fees and no auto-renewals; every repeat is a fresh clinical review. If you want to understand how that price breaks down by dose, our page on the 5mg Mounjaro cost explains what the starting dose costs and what it includes, and the 15mg dose cost page gives you context at the other end of the range. For prescription medicines, the question that keeps you safe is not "which is cheapest?", it is "which service gives me genuine medicine, genuine clinical oversight, and somewhere to turn if something goes wrong?"

Our clinical team is introduced on the clinical team page, and if you have questions before starting, our team is reachable seven days a week. When you are ready, start your free consultation, a prescriber reviews it the same day.