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- UK seizes record haul of illegal weight-loss drugs in factory raid</p>
<p>By Sam TabahritiOctober 24, 2025 at 9:47 PM</p>
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<p>Illustration photo shows various medicine pills in their original packaging in Brussels, Belgium August 9, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman/Illustration</p>
<p>By Sam Tabahriti</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Tens of thousands of empty pens were also seized, along with raw chemicals.</p>
<p>Eli Lilly did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p>
<p>The agency said the factory in central England was the first of its kind discovered in Britain.</p>
<p>"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.</p>
<p>"These unregulated products, made with no regard for safety or quality, posed a major risk to unwitting customers."</p>
<p>Both tirzepatide and retatrutide mimic hormones that suppress appetite and regulate blood sugar.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>($1 = 0.7451 pounds)</p>
<p>(Reporting by Sam TabahritiEditing by William James and Peter Graff)</p>
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