The launch of oral weight-loss medications in the UK is raising concerns among experts about the potential for counterfeit versions to flood the market. As pharmaceutical companies work on developing tablet forms of popular injectable treatments like Wegovy and Mounjaro, there are fears that these pills will be easier for fraudsters to replicate than the current injectable versions.
“Pills are much easier prey for scammers than injectables as they require relatively accessible equipment to manufacture – something to mix the powders and a pill press – and can provide the scope for vast production,” said Bhavik Patel, a professor of clinical and bioanalytical chemistry at the University of Brighton.
The demand for weight-loss injections has grown in the UK, with trials suggesting they can help people lose an average of 14% to 20% of their body weight after 72 weeks. However, these jabs are expensive, require an injection pen and needle, and must be refrigerated.
Now, pharmaceutical companies are developing oral versions of the medications, creating tablets containing drugs that mimic the hormone GLP-1. A pill form of Wegovy, produced by Novo Nordisk, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month and is under assessment by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), while Orforglipron from Eli Lilly has completed phase-three clinical trials and has been submitted to the FDA for review.
Experts warn that counterfeit pills could include medications taken out of the legitimate supply chain and potentially stored incorrectly, or they could be contaminated, contain an incorrect dose, incorrect active ingredient, or no active ingredient at all.
“We can see already that there have been some examples of the injections being falsified,” said Dr. Bernard Naughton, an associate professor and researcher in pharmaceutical regulation and innovation at Trinity College Dublin. “It’s relatively easy to just create a pill and, if you’ve got good packaging, to falsely put it forward as the legitimate product.”
Naughton’s research suggests that people seem more likely and more willing to take a risk online with tablets than injections, even when they think there might be something wrong.
The MHRA has repeatedly issued warnings about the importance of buying weight-loss jabs only from registered pharmacies or legitimate retailers, and there is a precedent for fake weight-loss medications. In October last year, the MHRA revealed it had carried out a raid on a factory in Northampton, seizing more than £250,000 worth of counterfeit weight-loss jabs, including injection pens for the experimental drug retatrutide, which is not licensed in the UK.
Experts say stronger regulation and enforcement are needed to prevent fraudsters from cashing in on the new tablet forms of weight-loss medications. Pharmaceutical companies are taking action to combat counterfeits, but the scale of the problem is likely to be greater than with injectable treatments, potentially stretching the resources of the UK Border Force and MHRA.
“Patients need to know that they should only access these products with a prescription, under medical supervision and to avoid purchasing any pharmaceuticals on social media,” said Oksana Pyzik, an associate professor at the UCL School of Pharmacy and academic chair of the Fight the Fakes Alliance.
