UK warehouse raid leads to record haul of illegal weight loss drugs

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The United Kingdom's healthcare regulator on Friday said it had made the world's largest seizure of illegal weight loss medicines after officers from the agency raided a warehouse in Northampton, finding thousands of unlicensed injection pens containing the ingredient in Eli Lilly's (NYSE:LLY [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/LLY]) Zepbound and Mounjaro.

"This is the first illicit production facility for weight loss medicine discovered in the UK and is believed to be the largest single seizure of trafficked weight loss medicines ever recorded by a law enforcement agency worldwide," the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said in a statement.

The agency's raid uncovered more than 2,000 pens with tirzepatide - the ingredient in Lilly's (NYSE:LLY [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/LLY]) Zepbound and Mounjaro - and retatrutide, an experimental obesity drug also made by the company.

"The street value of the finished weight loss products alone is estimated to be more than a quarter of a million pounds," the MHRA said.

"The site, on an industrial estate on the outskirts of Northampton, is believed to have been used for the large-scale manufacture, packaging, and distribution of unlicensed—and potentially deadly—weight loss products to customers," it added.

Eli Lilly (LLY [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/LLY]) did not immediately respond to Seeking Alpha's request for comment.

The blockbuster success of such weight loss and diabetes drugs has also led to a huge rise in counterfeit versions. Healthcare regulators across the globe, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency, have raised concerns over these illegal medicines.

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