Eli Lilly's weight-loss medicine Mounjaro, also known as tirzepatide, will be available in the UK within weeks as a four-dose pre-filled injection pen.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved the drug to treat adults with type 2 diabetes and for weight management in obese patients.
Branded as Mounjaro KwikPen, the injection is to be used together with a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity, the regulator said.
"The public health importance of safe and effective treatments to help manage diabetes and obesity, which can have a significant impact on people's health, is clear.
"This approval enables access to the approved Mounjaro pen in a more convenient presentation of a month's treatment, of one dose per week," said Julian Beach,
MHRA Interim Executive Director, Healthcare Quality and Access.