Feb 25 (Reuters) – Britain’s medicines regulator said on Wednesday it raided two premises in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, seizing almost 2,000 doses of illegal weight-loss drugs and manufacturing equipment in its second major operation targeting criminal networks in four months.
The raids follow an operation last October, when the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) seized and dismantled the UK’s first illicit weight loss-medicine manufacturing facility with a record haul of drugs.
The crackdown highlights escalating enforcement action against illegal manufacturers exploiting surging global demand for weight-loss treatments, as regulators and pharmaceutical companies worldwide grapple with a surge in counterfeit and unregulated drugs trafficked online and through underground networks.
MHRA’s Criminal Enforcement Unit uncovered medicines labelled as containing tirzepatide and retatrutide alongside packaging and commercial vehicles in the raid.
Both tirzepatide and retatrutide mimic hormones that suppress appetite and regulate blood sugar.
(Reporting by Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
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