UK Seizes Record £250,000 Illegal Weight‑Loss Jabs

The MHRA, working with Northamptonshire Police, raided an industrial warehouse on the outskirts of Northampton and dismantled what officials say was the first illicit factory in Britain producing unlicensed weight‑loss jabs, seizing more than 2,000 finished pens along with tens of thousands of empty pens, raw chemical ingredients and manufacturing equipment. The agency described it as the largest single seizure of trafficked weight‑loss medicines on record worldwide; the finished products were valued at over £250,000 and about £20,000 in cash was recovered. The pens were labelled as containing tirzepatide and retatrutide; authorities said the tirzepatide supplies were unlicensed and that retatrutide remains experimental and is not approved in the UK, raising particular safety concerns. Officials warned that unregulated products could be contaminated or otherwise dangerous and urged people not to buy slimming jabs from online or social‑media sellers and to consult GPs or the NHS. The bust underscores soaring global demand for GLP‑1–class weight‑loss drugs and the growing problem of counterfeit and potentially deadly weight‑loss medicines being marketed outside regulated channels.