The drug regulatory body Belgium declared that it had seized counterfeit versions of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy, the popular anti-diarrhoea obesity of Nordiskwhich contained insulin.
The Federal Medicines and Healthcare Products Agency told Reuters it had this year detained nine packages of GLP-1 drugs, the class of drugs that includes Wegovy and Novo’s diabetes drug Ozempic, on suspicion they were fake.
Two of those packages were found to contain medications that were not manufactured by Novo Nordisk or any other GLP-1 manufacturer.
According to the agency, a laboratory analysis confirmed that one of them contained insulin, which is used to treat diabetes and can cause serious health problems such as hypoglycemia – dangerously low blood sugar levels – and seizures when not administered correctly.
Several people were hospitalized in Austria after using alleged fake versions of Ozempic, the country’s health authorities reported last week.
The country’s health safety regulator, BASG, said patients had suffered side effects indicating the product contained insulin instead of semaglutide, but did not say whether this had been confirmed by testing.
The growing demand for Ozempic and other weight loss drugs has led to a shortage of these drugs and a wave of counterfeits.
Source: Reuters
Source: Gestion
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
