When questioned, there were no details about the patient. When questioned, BASG also did not provide details about the condition. The counterfeit product with a different active ingredient was likely ordered online. There is no evidence that the counterfeits were distributed to patients by legal pharmacies. BASG warns patients “strongly and urgently against any unauthorized ordering of ‘Ozempic’ on the Internet”.
According to BASG, genuine medicines can only be purchased with a prescription and dispensed from a public pharmacy: This is the only way to guarantee that the product purchased is an approved, well-tested, safe and effective medicine and therefore ultimately authentic.
First hospital case due to diabetes medication
The enthusiasm surrounding the diabetes medicine Ozempic, which also leads to weight loss, is also showing its first concrete disadvantages in Austria: a patient in Austria has to be treated in hospital after using a counterfeit diabetes medicine .
Counterfeits must be reported
Counterfeit medicines can be dangerous to your health, warns BASG. Due to the untested quality of counterfeit medicine, possible contamination, and unknown ingredients, these counterfeits can also be fatal, according to the Federal Department. Patients are asked not to use Ozempic pre-filled pens if counterfeit is suspected. Suspicious cases or information about possibly counterfeit products must be reported to the BASG office responsible for combating illegality (enforcement).
The packaging can hardly be distinguished, the pen can
According to current knowledge, the counterfeits are Ozempic packaging with a dosage of 1 mg (Ozempic 1 mg injectable solution in a pre-filled pen). According to BASG, it cannot currently be ruled out that other packages with different potency will be affected. Counterfeit is difficult or impossible to recognize on the outer packaging. According to authorities, the fake pens themselves are comparatively easy to distinguish from the real drug: in photos, the injection button on the end of the injection aid is gray on the original and blue on the fake. However, BASG assumes that there are also counterfeits of “Ozempic” that have a different appearance or are not offered as pre-filled pens.
The first fakes appeared in early October
On Thursday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) also warned against counterfeiting of the diabetes drug Ozempic. The EMA in Amsterdam said counterfeit diabetes pens had appeared in several EU countries and Britain. Spray aids with labels in German came from wholesalers in Austria and Germany. So far, the authority has no evidence that counterfeit preparations have been distributed to patients by legal pharmacies.
The first fakes appeared in Germany in early October. EU authorities, police and a federal authority in Germany are already investigating. At the center of the investigation is a pharmaceutical wholesaler in southwest Baden-Württemberg. According to an announcement from the Freiburg regional council, 199 packages originally came from an Austrian wholesaler and were delivered to another pharmaceutical retailer in Great Britain at the beginning of September 2023. According to the national Federal Criminal Police, there are also investigations into Austria.
Huge demand – also as a lifestyle product
According to the EU authority, reports of falsification of the medicine are related to the increase in demand for the medicine. The active ingredient semaglutide in Ozempic can also be used as an anti-obesity medication. Manufacturer Novo Nordisk had also announced that there had been a significant increase in illegal online sales.
There has been a lot of hype around the drug in recent months because, according to celebrity reports, it also sold very well as a type of weight loss lifestyle medication. Novo Nordisk cannot meet global demand. Doctors and pharmacies not only warn against use for health reasons that are not medically necessary: patients with diabetes or obesity who really need the medicine could not be supplied due to supply bottlenecks.