According to Thursday, the US is receiving “problemous shipping” of fraudulent and potentially unsafe ingredients used to produce combined forms of GLP-1 weight loss drugs. Report From a safe drug partnership.
Separately, the bipartisan coalition of state attorney generals has urged FDA committee member Sarah Brenner to act on fraudsters and counterfeit GLP-1 drugs.
in letter The coalition, sent Thursday and signed by 38 lawyer generals from Tennessee, Colorado, Alaska and Illinois, has a shortage of Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 drug Ozempic and fake versions of these drugs in Wegovy. said it could carry contaminants and other unknown drugs. It is sold to US consumers.
“Most consumers are not equipped to determine whether their drug is legal or fake. The FDA is in the process of intercepting counterfeit GLP-1 drugs before reaching unsuspecting consumers. We must work with federal partners like the Department of Homeland Security,” the Attorney General wrote.
The letter states that some scammers simply repackage insulin and sell it as Ozempic, while others simply illegally sell the active ingredients of GLP-1 drugs directly to consumers. It points out that there is. The Attorney General also points directly to a pharmacy that claims to be involved in illegal GLP-1-related activities.
This letter comes when the partnership in the Safe Drug Report details an analysis of nearly 2,500 shipments that arrived between September 2023 and January 2025. Of these, 239 “problematic” batches of Semaglutide (sold by Ozempic and Wegovy’s Novo Nordisk) have been flagged. Tilzepatide (sold by Elilily as Murujaro and Zepbound) comes from “unregistered entities” There are no traceable semaglutide or tilzepatide products registered with the FDA.
According to the report, “Many of these shipments were allowed to enter the United States anyway as a violation of federal law,” and many of these unregistered materials were “explicitly marked compound interest.” “It could hurt many Americans.” ”
In light of these findings, the Safe Drug Partnership, a collection of nonprofits focused on counterfeit drugs and patient advocacy, will make GLP-1 drug compounds “more transparent.” We called for how and where to source the ingredients of pharmaceuticals. Meanwhile, the FDA, alongside the US Customs and Border Patrol, must adopt strict checks to intercept these shipments, according to the organization.
The FDA should also flag what the partnership calls “fraudulent foreign” manufacturers so that future shipments from these sources are more easily detected and blocked when necessary.
Compounds – The process and practice of prescribing FDA-approved drugs by pharmacies and other manufacturers Authorized by the Congress In an era of drug shortages, it has recently become a flashpoint for the industry and regulatory authorities. Combined drugs can help strengthen drug supply, but pharmaceutical companies cannot meet patient demand with their manufacturing capabilities, but can steal market share from brand drug makers if there is no shortage of drugs .
Novo and Lilly launched their respective legal attacks on wellness clinics and pharmacies to block GLP-1 from the market. For example, novo He filed a lawsuit June 2023, finally Get a permanent injunction February 2024. Similarly, recent lilies Sued three retailers It is said to be selling a remixed version of Tilzepatide.
The FDA is also opposed to compounding interest in some of it. Regulators have been consistent over the past few years Warning Consumers For practice, Flag potential safety risks of unapproved drugs.
In October 2024, regulators hit Comparmer. Officially removed the tilzepatide That shortage list effectively prohibits the production and commercialization of combined versions of drugs. Trade Group Outsourcing Facilities Association Go back in lawsuitcalling the FDA’s move “arbitrary” and lacks “legal process similarity.”
However, in the end, following months of reviews, the FDA It’s doubled The original declaration announced in December 2024 that there was no shortage of tilzepatide. The compounds were given 60-90 days to halt the production of complex GLP-1. The FDA also confirmed that the shortages of Wegovy and Ozempic in Novo have been resolved and the drug has been removed from the shortage list. Reuters reported Friday.
On the other hand, there are agents too A warning letter issued Off brand to another group to create GLP-1S: Manufacturer of Research Peptides. A prosperous shadow market Because of these drugs in demand.
Editor’s Notes (February 21): This story has been updated to include news about the bipartisan coalition of state attorney generals and the FDA having removed Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 from the agency’s shortage list.
