2023-10-30 19:11:45
Belgium’s medicines regulator said it had seized counterfeit versions of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s popular obesity drug Wegovy, whose injector pens contained insulin.
The Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products told Archyde.com it had detained nine postal packages this year of GLP-1 drugs, the class of drugs that includes Wegovy and Ozempic, the diabetes drug from Novo, because she suspected them of being counterfeits.
Two of these packages contained drugs that were not manufactured by Novo Nordisk or another GLP-1 drug maker.
A laboratory analysis confirmed that one of them contained insulin, according to the agency, which is used to treat diabetes and can cause serious health problems such as hypoglycemia (dangerous drops in blood levels). blood sugar) and seizures when not administered correctly.
Several people have been hospitalized in Austria following using suspected adulterated versions of Ozempic, that country’s health authorities said last week.
The country’s health safety regulator, BASG, said patients had suffered side effects indicating the product contained insulin instead of semaglutide, but did not say whether this had been confirmed by tests. .
Britain on Thursday warned the public once morest buying fake weight loss pens claiming to be Ozempic or Saxenda, Novo Nordisk’s former weight loss drug, following reports of a “very small number” of hospitalizations.
The growing demand for Ozempic and other drugs used for weight loss has led to a shortage of these drugs and a wave of counterfeits.
A spokesperson for Australia’s health regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, said the agency had identified 14 cases of counterfeit obesity drugs this year.
Belgium’s health minister said last week that the country wanted to temporarily ban the use of Ozempic as a weight loss treatment for a few weeks or months to deal with a shortage of the drug, which is approved to treat type 2 diabetes, initial use of GLP-1 drugs.
Law enforcement, anti-counterfeiting and public health officials said they were opening investigations into complaints regarding the fake drugs, which they were looking for in e-commerce and social media of purchase offers or advertisements, and that they trained customs officials in the detection of counterfeits in order to help stem this increase. (Reporting by Patrick Wingrove in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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