Nearly half of online pharmacies 'sell semaglutide illegally'

A study has found that almost half of the online pharmacies offering weight-loss drug semaglutide for sale were operating illegally, putting their customers at risk.

The research published in the journal JAMA Network Open found that 42 per cent (134 of 317) of online pharmacy listings – found using Google or Bing searches for semaglutide available without a prescription – were pointed at rogue pharmacies operating illegally.

That means they are operating without a valid license and allowing customers to receive semaglutide products without a prescription, in direct violation of US laws.

Genuine semaglutide products are sold by Danish Novo Nordisk for diabetes as Ozempic and obesity as Wegovy, although such is the demand for the products' weight-loss properties that Ozempic is widely used off-label for this use.

With Novo Nordisk struggling to supply enough of the drugs to meet demand, criminals have moved in to fill the gap and regulators including the FDA and EMA as well as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the US and the World Health Organization (WHO) have issued warnings of falsified versions that could put users at risk of harm.

Regulators in the UK and Austria reported last year that people had been hospitalised after taking falsified copies of Ozempic and Novo Nordisk's older weight-loss drug Saxenda (liraglutide), which on analysis were found to contain insulin.

The authors of the latest study carried out test purchases of semaglutide products from six online pharmacies deemed to be 'rogue' by the US National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) and LegitScript, which both run certification schemes for legitimate pharmacies in the US.

Of six products purchased, only three were received, and three sellers carried out non-delivery scams requesting extra payments of up to $1,200 to purportedly clear customs.

Ozempic products that were delivered showed clear discrepancies in registration information and labelling, with evidence they were likely to be unregistered or unlicensed.

Lab testing found that one product had levels of endotoxin that could indicate microbial contamination – particularly hazardous for an injectable product – and while semaglutide was present it was at levels substantially higher than the labelled amount, putting users at risk of side effects.