Mounting demand for Novo Nordisk-made Ozempic and Wegovy has fueled a rise in illegal sales of the weight-loss drugs in Denmark, where the pharmaceutical company is based, the Danish Medicines Agency reported.
The agency said in a statement issued Tuesday that authorities know of 26 websites illicitly selling what they claim to be Ozempic and Wegovy.
The drugs, which were initially prescribed as once-weekly shots to treat Type 2 diabetes but have since gained immense mainstream popularity for its “miraculous” weight-loss effects.
“There are no surprises or new trends that we were not already aware of. As a result of the great demand and media attention, we had unfortunately expected an increased illegal supply of the semaglutide preparations Ozempic and Wegovy,” Danish Medicines Agency head Jeanna Majland said in the statement, which was earlier reported on by Bloomberg.
America’s Food and Drug Administration has also reportedly launched an investigation into so-called “faux-zempic” after health authorities were tipped off to numerous fraudulent schemes of counterfeit Ozempic trafficking in the US.
In addition, the European Medicines Agency last month issued a warning against counterfeit Ozempic pens, which the organization said boasted labels in German “falsely labeled as diabetes medicine Ozempic” with 1 milligram of semaglutide for injection.
Both Ozempic and Wegovy are semaglutide injections, a type of strong medication that mimics the actions of the GLP-1 hormone, which the pancreas releases after eating that makes people feel full.
Since the Ozempic and Wegovy craze took effect, their appetite-suppressing benefits have taken both Hollywood and non-celebrities by storm so much so that even Walmart said the medications were causing shoppers to pare back on groceries.
Customers haven’t seemed to mind the series of bizarre side effects that have emerged, including “Ozempic butt” where users are claiming that their derrières have flattened along with their tummies.
Users later warned of “Ozempic finger,” where finger and wrist sizes were rapidly shrinking too, causing women to fear that their engagement rings would fall off.
The latest — and much more serious — side effect saw patients reporting that the medicines triggered thoughts of suicide and self-harm.
Representatives for Novo Nordisk did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Last month, the pharma giant overtook French luxury empire LVMH as Europe’s most valuable company.
Novo Nordisk saw its market capitalization surge to $424.7 billion during Sept. 1 trading in London — beating out the luxury retail conglomerate owned by the family of Bernard Arnault.
The same day, LVMH — which has been Europe’s most valuable company for two-and-a-half years and includes brands Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Sephora — had a market cap of $420.1 billion, according to Refinitiv data cited by the Reuters news agency.
As of Wednesday, the Danish multinational company’s market value has dropped to $333 billion.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
