Suspected fake Ozempic hospitalizes several people in Austria

BERLIN, Oct 24 (Reuters) – Several people were hospitalized in Austria after using suspected fake versions of the diabetes drug Ozempic, the country’s health safety body said, the first report of harm caused to users as part of an increasingly broad European hunt for counterfeiters.

The patients reportedly suffered hypoglycemia and seizures, serious side effects that indicate the product contained insulin instead of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, health safety regulator BASG said in a published warning Monday.

The regional regulator, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), last week warned against falsely labeled pre-filled injector pens like Ozempic, which have seen growing demand for their weight loss benefits.

The drug’s maker, Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO), reported an increase in online offerings of fake versions of Ozempic as well as its weight-loss drug Wegovy, both based on semaglutide.

The Danish company has been working to increase production to meet overwhelming demand.

Extraordinary demand for Ozempic and other drugs used for weight loss has caused a global surge in counterfeit versions, a Reuters report showed last week.

“It appears that this shortage is being exploited by criminal organizations to market counterfeit Ozempic,” BASG said.

The BASG did not provide the exact number of people affected by the fake Ozempic, nor the duration of the adverse effects on their health.

The EMA and German and British authorities, including prosecutors in southwest Germany, investigated a case in which fake injector pens with German labels and packaged in authentic packaging were sold by a wholesaler Austrian to Germany, then from there to a British wholesaler.

BASG’s description of the bad pens and their dosage is consistent with the images and details provided by the EMA and German authorities. BASG said it would not make further comments on the matter, to protect the investigation.

Austrian criminal intelligence said Monday that the batch in question was supplied by a doctor they did not name. This person probably did not buy the fakes from an official pharmacy, he added, warning that fake injector pens could still be in circulation.

Although the currently suspected counterfeits are 1-milligram packets, it cannot be ruled out that packets of pre-filled pens with different nominal dosages are also affected, the service said.

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