Wegovy and Mounjaro for weight loss not funded
Medsafe has recently approved two new medicines as suitable to support weight management. Pharmac's role is to decide whether medicines will be publicly funded.
About the weight-loss treatments
Medsafe has approved Wegovy (semaglutide) and Mounjaro (tirzepatide) as treatments for weight loss. Semaglutide and tirzepatide are the names of the active ingredients in the medicines. Wegovy and Mounjaro are the brand names. They are both a type of medicine called a GLP-1 agonist.
Neither of these products are publicly funded in New Zealand.
How much will Wegovy or Mounjaro cost me?
If a health care professional prescribes Wegovy or Mounjaro for you, you will need to pay for it. Pharmac does not control this price. You would need to discuss with your pharmacy how much that might be.
Will Pharmac look at funding them?
Pharmac has received three applications to fund semaglutide for the following conditions:
- weight management for people with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 kg/m2 or more with at least one weight-related health condition
- insufficiently controlled type 2 diabetes
- cardiovascular disease with a body mass index (BMI) of 27 kg/m2 or more.
Semaglutide applications in the Application Tracker(external link)
Pharmac has received one application to fund tirzepatide for:
- insufficiently controlled type 2 diabetes
Tirzepatide application in the Application Tracker(external link)
All applications need to go through our standard process. Applications for weight-loss treatments need to be prioritised against all other applications to fund medicines.
Specialist advisory group formed
We established the Obesity Treatments Advisory Group in 2025 to give Pharmac objective advice on:
- new obesity treatments
- future category management
- procurement activities in this area.
The group met in December 2025 and reviewed the semaglutide funding application for weight loss.
The group has provisionally recommended that Pharmac fund semaglutide (Wegovy) for chronic weight management in people with a high body mass index (BMI) and associated comorbidities, with a high priority.
The full record of the meeting is expected to be available by March.
Pharmac's Advisory Groups membership and records
When will they be funded?
We cannot say when or if any medicine will be funded. Once clinical advice is finalised, Pharmac will compare the benefit of funding any weight-loss treatment against all the other medicines we have been asked to fund.
About the prioritisation process
Medicines funded to treat type 2 diabetes
Both dulaglutide (Trulicity) and liraglutide (Victoza) are funded for people with type 2 diabetes, who meet the funding criteria. These medicines are also GLP-1 agonists like semaglutide and tirzepatide.
If you have type 2 diabetes, talk to a health care professional whether one of these medicines might be right for you.
Medsafe approval
Medsafe's role is to make sure that medicines available in New Zealand meet standards of quality, safety, and effectiveness. Medsafe has reviewed Wegovy and Mounjaro, it has approved these medicines as suitable for weight management.
You can search for data sheets and consumer medicine information sheets on Medsafe's website
Data sheets and consumer medicine information(external link)
Who to contact
Your health care team are in the best place to discuss whether any of these medicines are right for you.