LONDON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Britain's medicines regulator

said on Friday it had made the world's largest seizure of

unlicensed weight-loss medicines, dismantling a factory that

made jabs labelled as containing the ingredient in Eli Lilly's ( LLY )

Mounjaro.

Global pharmaceutical companies and regulators have

raised alarms over a surge in counterfeit and unregulated

weight-loss drugs, which are being trafficked globally and sold

illegally online and through underground networks.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency

(MHRA) said it had seized 2,000 injection pens labelled as

containing tirzepatide - the ingredient in Eli Lilly's ( LLY )

Mounjaro and Zepbound - and retatrutide, an experimental obesity

drug also made by Eli Lilly ( LLY ), which is still in trials.

Tens of thousands of empty pens were also seized, along with

raw chemicals.

Eli Lilly ( LLY ) did not immediately respond to a request for

comment.

FIRST FACTORY DISCOVERY IN UK

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."

Both tirzepatide and retatrutide mimic hormones that

suppress appetite and regulate blood sugar.

Britain's National Health Service prescribes weight-loss

medicines only to patients who meet certain criteria. For those

who obtain them privately, the drugs can cost hundreds of pounds

per month.

In the United States, some people

have begun sourcing

raw ingredients online to self-manufacture GLP-1-based

injections such as semaglutide - a drug developed by Novo

Nordisk and used in Ozempic and Wegovy - citing high

retail prices and limited access.

The trend has raised safety concerns among health

officials, who warn that DIY formulations pose serious health

risks due to contamination, incorrect dosing and lack of

oversight.

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