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UK seizes record haul of illegal weight-loss drugs in factory raid
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on October 24, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on October 24, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
UK's MHRA dismantled a factory in England, seizing 2,000 illegal weight-loss drug pens, marking the largest global seizure of its kind.
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's medicines regulator on Friday said it had made the largest single seizure of trafficked weight loss medicines recorded globally, dismantling a factory making thousands of unlicensed weight-loss jabs.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it had seized 2,000 pens labelled as containing tirzepatide and retatrutide - drugs not approved for weight loss in the UK - tens of thousands of empty pens, and raw chemicals.
The agency said the factory in central England was the first of its kind discovered in Britain.
"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.
"These unregulated products, made with no regard for safety or quality, posed a major risk to unwitting customers."
($1 = 0.7451 pounds)
(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti; editing by William James)
The article discusses the UK's largest seizure of illegal weight-loss drugs from a factory in central England.
Authorities seized pens containing tirzepatide and retatrutide, which are not approved for weight loss in the UK.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) led the operation.
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