Weight-loss pills will be easier to counterfeit than jabs, MPs hear

A minister has acknowledged that it will be easier to mass-produce counterfeit weight-loss pills than injections and warned that ‘we will have to be ready’.

But public health minister Sharon Hodgson told an influential committee of MPs that she did not know if conversations had started with the medicines regulator about dealing with rising demand in the counterfeit market.

During a Health and Social Care Select Committee evidence session on food and weight management, Gregory Stafford suggested a tablet would be easier to manufacture than the current weight-loss injections.

The Conservative MP for Farnham and Bordon asked Ms Hodgson: ‘What conversations, if any, have you started having with the regulators about perhaps dealing with that element of the counterfeit market that might be coming along the line, given that there will be an increased demand.

‘Indeed, I suspect, and this is just my view, that once it turns into tablet form, the demand will increase, because there are plenty of people who balk at injecting themselves, but swallowing a tablet will be a lot easier.’

Ms Hodgson acknowledged that a pill would be more popular, and easier to mass-produce, but said she did not know if any conversations had been started.

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‘That is something that we will have to be ready for,’ she added.

‘I don’t know how close the pharmaceutical industry is to producing GLP-1s in tablet form, but I take on board the point you make that they will be more popular, for the injectable fear reason, and easier to mass-produce.

‘I don’t know whether those conversations have been started.’

Novo Nordisk has said it is currently working with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to seek UK approval of its Wegovy pill, which launched in the US earlier this year.

NHS England’s national director of patient safety Professor Megan Fowler told the cross-party committee on Wednesday that the risk of counterfeit weight-loss pills may depend on their market value.

She said: ‘I think one of the issues is that the cost of these medications is not yet known, and the driver for people to go to black market would be around cost, so we don't know how much a risk that is.’

Prof Fowler also raised broader concerns about black market drugs and the risk they pose to the public – particularly given the fact that demand for weight-loss drugs can outstrip access to them on the NHS.

She said: ‘People are seeking GLP-1s, and it's often a different cohort to those we're currently treating in the NHS, who have the most significant [weight-related] issues.

‘Some of those people will seek private providers but there are concerns about black market drugs.’

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Committee chair Layla Moran also said that she had met with families whose loved ones have died because they had accessed weight-loss drugs on the black market.

The Liberal Democrat MP added: ‘But the concern is it was the injection itself and its administration that caused the death, they [the families] don’t feel that the MHRA are on top of it, and I’m not sure that they will have heard today’s evidence and felt that you guys are either.

‘I really hope, minister, that when you go away and look at this that you bear in mind the fact people have already died as a result of this, and there is a chance that this could get worse.’

The MHRA told The Pharmacist: ‘We are committed to providing safe, timely access to medicines for UK patients. No medicine will be approved unless it meets our stringent standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.’

Meanwhile, a new survey suggests many existing GLP-1 users would consider switching from injections to pills, while others who have delayed treatment due to needle aversion said they may be more willing to start non-injectable treatments.

Digital healthcare provider SheMed surveyed 3,544 current and prospective GLP-1 users about oral medications, including Wegovy pills, and found a quarter of respondents would be interested in switching to a pill, and 59% would like to learn more about oral GLP-1 options.

The Health and Social Care Committee also discussed the issue of a ‘two-tier system’ where those who can afford to buy GLP-1s can do so privately from pharmacies, while those who really need them can struggling to gain access through the NHS.

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Ms Hodgson said: ‘We've already got a two-tier system, and we're trying to reverse that at speed. I would have to agree that we have to do more, and we've got to do it at pace, but we need also the wraparound care.’

Upskilling pharmacists to deliver NHS-funded weight-loss drugs is currently being ‘looked at’ she said.

Dr Claire Hambling, national clinical director for diabetes and obesity at NHS England, added: ‘There is an initiative for an obesity pathway innovation program, which is led by the Office for Life Sciences, and that will explore whether access could be enabled through different types of pathway delivery, such as community pharmacies.’