UK seizes record haul of illegal weight-loss drugs in factory raid

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By Sam Tabahriti

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain’s medicines regulator said on Friday it had made the world’s largest seizure of unlicensed weight-loss medicines, dismantling a factory that made jabs labelled as containing the ingredient in Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro.

Global pharmaceutical companies and regulators have raised alarms over a surge in counterfeit and unregulated weight-loss drugs, which are being trafficked globally and sold illegally online and through underground networks.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it had seized 2,000 injection pens labelled as containing tirzepatide – the ingredient in Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound – and retatrutide, an experimental obesity drug also made by Eli Lilly, which is still in trials.

Tens of thousands of empty pens were also seized, along with raw chemicals.

Eli Lilly said in a statement to Reuters the crackdown was “a direct strike against the criminal elements that are risking people’s lives.”

“People who purchase counterfeit or black market medicines (those sold from unregulated sources) have no way of knowing what they actually contain.”

Eli Lilly applauded the MHRA’s action and said it looked forward to increased enforcement moving forward.

FIRST FACTORY DISCOVERY IN UK

The MHRA said the factory in central England was the first of its kind discovered in Britain.

“This is a victory in the fight against the shameless criminals who are putting lives at risk by peddling dangerous and illegal weight-loss jabs to make a quick buck,” health minister Wes Streeting said in a statement.

“These unregulated products, made with no regard for safety or quality, posed a major risk to unwitting customers.”

Both tirzepatide and retatrutide mimic hormones that suppress appetite and regulate blood sugar.

Britain’s National Health Service prescribes weight-loss medicines only to patients who meet certain criteria. For those who obtain them privately, the drugs can cost hundreds of pounds per month.

In the United States, some people have begun sourcing raw ingredients online to self-manufacture GLP-1-based injections such as semaglutide – a drug developed by Novo Nordisk and used in Ozempic and Wegovy – citing high retail prices and limited access.

The trend has raised safety concerns among health officials, who warn that DIY formulations pose serious health risks due to contamination, incorrect dosing and lack of oversight.

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(Reporting by Sam TabahritiEditing by William James and Peter Graff)