Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk and the FDA are testing the seized products and do not yet have information about the drugs' identity, quality or safety, the agency said. Novo said the seizures took place in warehouses outside the company's authorized supply chain. The FDA urged drug distributors, retail pharmacies, healthcare practitioners and patients to check the drug they have received and to not distribute, use or sell the units labeled with lot number NAR0074 and serial number 430834149057.
Eleven people suffered bouts of dangerously low blood sugar in Lebanon this year, one of whom required hospitalization, after injecting suspected fake versions of Novo Nordisk's diabetes drug Ozempic, according Lebanese health officials. A director for the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, Rita Karam, said officials suspected the drugs were fake after discovering the doses were different from the ones calibrated for authentic Ozempic injector pens. Explosive demand for Ozempic and other drugs used for weight loss, including Eli Lilly's Mounjaro and Novo's Wegovy, is fueling a global surge in counterfeit versions, Reuters interviews with law enforcement, anti-counterfeiting and public health officials showed last month.