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Fake retatrutide floods UK black market before drug approval

1 min
Fake retatrutide floods UK black market before drug approval

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

Counterfeit versions of Eli Lilly's experimental weight-loss drug retatrutide are being sold across the UK in gyms, salons, and on social media. The UK medicines regulator seized more than 2,000 unlicensed pens in a Northampton raid last year. The drug has not been approved by any regulator and remains in Phase III trials.

Key Facts

  • The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) seized more than 2,000 unlicensed retatrutide pens during a raid on an illegal weight loss drug factory in Northampton last year.
  • Eli Lilly states that illicit retatrutide products may contain unknown ingredients, harmful contaminants, and impurities, and may have too much or too little active ingredient.
  • Only 50% of drugs in Phase III testing in the US are eventually approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
  • Tom Davies accidentally took eight times the recommended dose of a fake version of retatrutide and says he nearly ended up in hospital.

Black Market Spread

Vials purporting to be retatrutide, known as 'reta', are being sold in UK gyms, nail and beauty salons, hairdressers, on social media, and even by flower sellers on the street. Pharmacist Sehar Shahid, director of 24 HR Pharmacy, said people are effectively injecting an illegal drug and thinking it is safe. Users post before and after pictures on TikTok describing how the drug silenced food noise and helped them lose weight.

Regulatory and Safety Warnings

Eli Lilly's website warns that no one should take anything claiming to be retatrutide outside of a Lilly-sponsored clinical trial. The company states that illicit products may contain unknown ingredients, harmful contaminants, and impurities, and may have too much or too little active ingredient. The MHRA found more than 2,000 unlicensed retatrutide pens during a raid on an illegal weight loss drug factory in Northampton last year.

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