VIENNA, July 9 (Reuters) - Austrian prosecutors said

they will bring criminal charges against two men accused of

selling fake versions of Novo Nordisk's diabetes drug

Ozempic, resulting in bodily harm in three women.

The defendants had acted as traders and sold 225 bogus

injection pens falsely labelled as Ozempic for 205 euros ($222)

apiece to a plastic surgeon in the city of Salzburg, the

prosecutors' office in the city of Steyr told Reuters, declining

to name the defendants.

Novo has seen overwhelming demand for Ozempic because its

weight-loss effect has boosted off-label use. The Danish

drugmaker, and its rival Eli Lilly ( LLY ) - the maker of

weight-loss drug Zepbound, also known as Mounjaro - have been

scrambling to boost output.

Fake versions have emerged in several countries with

criminals seeking to cash in on the hype. The World Health

Organization (WHO) last month issued warnings on falsified

weight-loss drugs.

Three women who received the fake shots in Austria suffered

injury, the prosecutors' office added, resulting in indictments

of grossly negligent bodily harm and trading in fake drugs

against the defendants.

A judge at the Steyr regional court said a first hearing in

the case was scheduled for Sept. 16.

She added the defendants were accused of selling insulin in

the pens rather than semaglutide, the active ingredient in

Ozempic, in September last year and that they faced potentially

up to three years in prison.

She said the womens' symptoms had been temporary.

($1 = 0.9243 euros)