Copyright mirror
More than 2,000 fake weight-loss jabs - with an estimated street value of £250,000 - have been seized from an illegal factory in Northampton. The UK’s medicines regulator (MHRA) and Northamptonshire Police raided the site, making what is believed to be the world ’s largest-ever seizure of weight loss medication. The unlicensed pens contained tirzepatide - the key ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound, lawfully produced only by American pharma giant Eli Lilly - and retratutide, a new experimental weight-loss drug still in trials and not approved for use anywhere. Eli Lilly warned that anyone buying these black-market jabs would have "no way of knowing what they actually contain". Officers also seized raw chemicals, tens of thousands of empty pens ready to be filled and £20,000 in cash. “This is the first illicit production facility for weight loss medicine discovered in the UK and is believed to be the largest single seizure of trafficked weight loss medicines ever recorded by a law enforcement agency worldwide," an MHRA spokesperson said. "The street value of the finished weight loss products alone is estimated to be more than a quarter of a million pounds." Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: "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. These unregulated products, made with no regard for safety or quality, posed a major risk to unwitting consumers." He urged the public not to buy weight loss medication from unregulated sources, saying: "Talk to your GP, seek NHS advice, and don’t line the pockets of criminals who don’t care about your health." Andy Morling, head of the MHRA's criminal enforcement unit, said the seizure "shows the lengths these criminals will go to for profit". "Taking out the first illicit weight loss medicine manufacturing facility found in the UK is a landmark result for the MHRA and a major blow to the illegal trade. These products are untested, unauthorised and potentially deadly," he said. "By taking this organised criminal network out of operation and stopping tens of thousands of potentially fatal products from entering circulation, we’ve prevented a serious risk to public health." Mr Morling also warned people to only buy prescription medicines from registered pharmacies with a prescription from a healthcare professional. No arrests have been made so far in connection with the seizure, according to Pharmacy Magazine . Weight-loss jabs are only available on the NHS for patients who meet strict criteria.
