This is the downside of success. While anti-obesity drugs are enjoying increasing popularity among the public, abuses are multiplying all over the world. To the great displeasure of health authorities and the pharmaceutical laboratories behind these treatments, who are increasingly concerned about the phenomenon.
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Concerned, the latter have been issuing warnings for several months. In June, the World Health Organization sounded the alarm, indicating that it had discovered several batches of counterfeit Ozempic pen injectors in the United States, the United Kingdom and Brazil in 2023. The UN agency is not the first to make this observation. A few months earlier, the European Medicines Agency had already warned member states against the circulation of counterfeit syringes of this product on the Old Continent, spotted in particular at German and Austrian wholesalers.
These fraudulent copies, often illegally purchased online, and whose content is not guaranteed, can be particularly dangerous for health. The health authorities of the United Kingdom and Austria had revealed, in October 2023, that several users of these counterfeits had had to be hospitalized urgently following serious side effects, including convulsions and hypoglycemic shocks.
Excitement on the networks
If Ozempic, which is intended to treat diabetes, is particularly targeted by this phenomenon, it is notably because of its popularity on social networks. This antidiabetic, which contains the same active ingredient, semaglutide, as its little brother Wegovy, authorized for the treatment of obesity, has become very sought after since influencers began to praise its slimming properties.
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The frenzy on social networks has also forced health authorities in countries to also increase their vigilance on cases of misuse, with some patients managing to get these slimming treatments prescribed for cosmetic purposes. In France, the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products, which closely monitors these diversions, estimated in June that around 1.5% of patients taking Ozempic were affected by these practices.
In recent months, other abuses have been causing concern among health authorities, particularly in the United States. Lured by this lucrative market, start-ups have started selling copies of anti-obesity drugs online, exploiting a regulatory loophole. In the event of a drug shortage, American pharmacies are authorized to manufacture magistral preparations for patients.
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