Mounjaro, tirzepatide
Named-patient access overview. Mounjaro is coordinated by Reserve Meds for international patients via physician-led cross-border sourcing.
This page is informational, not medical advice. Always work with a licensed treating physician on prescribing decisions. Mounjaro is approved for type 2 diabetes, not weight loss; the obesity indication is held by a separate tirzepatide product (Zepbound).
About Mounjaro
Mounjaro is the brand name for tirzepatide, manufactured by Eli Lilly. The US Food and Drug Administration approved Mounjaro in May 2022 for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus in adults. It is the first-in-class dual GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonist, delivered as a once-weekly subcutaneous injection via a single-use prefilled pen. Mounjaro shares its active ingredient, tirzepatide, with Eli Lilly's separately branded obesity product Zepbound. The 2 are not interchangeable, and Mounjaro is specifically the type 2 diabetes brand.
Head-to-head clinical data have placed tirzepatide among the most efficacious agents available for glycemic control in type 2 diabetes, with magnitude of HbA1c reduction and incidental weight loss exceeding earlier GLP-1 monotherapies in several comparative trials.
Mechanism of action
Tirzepatide is engineered to activate 2 receptors at once: the glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptor and the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor. Both are gut-derived hormone pathways the body uses after eating, both promote glucose-dependent insulin secretion, and both contribute to satiety. Activating them in combination produces metabolic effects that are larger than activating GLP-1 alone.
In plain terms: the medicine pulls 2 of the body's own post-meal metabolic levers at the same time. Blood sugar control improves through better-timed insulin response, and patients commonly experience reduced appetite as a side effect of the mechanism.
FDA-approved indications
Mounjaro is approved as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. It is not approved for the treatment of obesity. It is not approved for type 1 diabetes. It is not approved for use in patients with a history of severe gastrointestinal disease (such as gastroparesis). Patients seeking tirzepatide for weight management should discuss Zepbound with their treating physician, which is a separate brand at the same molecule. The label and the indication that matches a given case should always be confirmed with a treating physician.
Dosing and administration
Mounjaro is administered as a subcutaneous injection once weekly, on the same day each week, at any time of day, with or without meals. The standard starting dose is 2.5 mg weekly for 4 weeks (this is a tolerability dose only, not effective for glycemic control). The dose is then increased to 5 mg weekly. Further escalation in 2.5 mg increments at least 4 weeks apart is available, up to a maximum of 15 mg weekly. Each single-use pen contains 1 fixed dose. Refrigerated storage between 36 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit is required. The pen can be kept at room temperature (up to 86 degrees Fahrenheit) for a maximum of 21 days before disposal.
Side-effect profile
The most commonly reported side effects are gastrointestinal: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, decreased appetite, constipation, and abdominal pain. These are usually dose-related and tend to ease over the first several weeks. Slower dose titration helps. More serious but less common effects include pancreatitis, gallbladder disease, hypoglycemia (particularly when combined with insulin or sulfonylureas), acute kidney injury (often in the setting of dehydration), severe gastrointestinal disease, and diabetic retinopathy complications in patients with pre-existing retinopathy and rapid glycemic improvement.
Mounjaro carries a boxed warning regarding thyroid C-cell tumors observed in rodent studies. It is contraindicated in patients with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. The right monitoring cadence is always a conversation between patient and treating physician.
Why international patients seek Mounjaro cross-border
Tirzepatide demand has chronically outrun supply since launch. In several countries Reserve Meds serves, Mounjaro is either not yet locally registered, intermittently unavailable, or available only through narrow specialist or hospital pathways. Patients with a clear US-label type 2 diabetes indication, an established response to tirzepatide, and a treating physician's prescription frequently find no continuous local route.
Reserve Meds will not coordinate Mounjaro for off-label weight-management requests where Zepbound is the FDA-approved option. Every Mounjaro case is reviewed for clinical appropriateness, sourced from DSCSA-compliant US specialty wholesalers with full serialization and unbroken cold chain, and routed through the destination country's lawful import framework. We do not handle controlled substances. We do not sell direct to consumers.
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Access by country
Reserve Meds publishes a detailed country deep-dive for Mounjaro in every market we coordinate. Each page below covers the destination-country regulatory pathway (named-patient framework), real costs in local currency and USD, indicative timelines, physician-credential requirements, and cold-chain handling for the route into that country. Tap any country to read the full deep-dive.