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Regulator last updated guidance for online pharmacies in

2022

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Online obesity drugs market has boomed in UK

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WHO has said the drugs could tackle obesity crisis

By Maggie Fick

LONDON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Britain's pharmacies regulator

on Tuesday tightened rules for online pharmacies' prescribing

obesity drugs, ordering them to make changes to prevent people

from receiving drugs that could cause them harm.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), which regulates

UK pharmacies and has the power to ban them from supplying

medicines, said it has updated its overall guidance to online

pharmacies for the first time in three years, mainly because of

its concerns about how some dispense weight-loss drugs.

The regulator also added the GLP-1 receptor agonist drug

class, which includes weight-loss injections Wegovy and

Mounjaro, to its list of "high-risk medicines" that require

pharmacies to use extra measures when prescribing.

Others in this category include medicines deemed liable to

misuse, like opioids and sedatives, antibiotics, and those used

for long-term conditions such as asthma and diabetes.

The online market for obesity drugs has boomed in the UK.

Late last year, several online pharmacies told Reuters they

estimated as many as 500,000 people were taking the drugs via

the private market in the UK, far more than the number receiving

the medicines in the state-run National Health Service.

"We have seen, through our inspections and concerns raised

by the public, some concerning ways in which these drugs were

being supplied online and we have taken action as a result,"

Louise Edwards, Chief Strategy Officer at the GPhC, told

Reuters.

Since 2021, the regulator has taken enforcement action

against at least a dozen online pharmacies over their supply of

weight-loss medicines, she said.

The guidance requires online pharmacies to "independently

verify the person's weight, height, and/or body mass index"

before prescribing a weight-loss drug to them. This could be

through a video consultation, accessing the person's clinical

records or contacting the person's doctor, the guidance said.

Under the new guidance, online questionnaires will no longer

be considered sufficient verification for prescribing obesity

drugs, and neither will a phone call.

Wegovy is made by Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk

and Mounjaro is made by U.S. pharma giant Lilly. The

companies are first-to-market with weight-loss drugs that have

propelled them both to record profits.

The World Health Organization said in December the drugs had

the potential, along with other health interventions, to tackle

a global obesity crisis.