Fake Mounjaro pens have been supplied by an online pharmacy, the UK medicines watchdog has said.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said that the online pharmacy, located in Birmingham, had been supplying the falsified Mounjaro (tirzepatide) KwikPen 15mg solution for injection in pre-filled pens.
Five affected pens have so far been identified, drug manufacturer Eli Lilly told the medicines regulator, where in all but one case the dose knob came off while in use.
The MHRA added that it was likely that the substance in the pens is tirzepatide, but the products are not safe to use because they do not meet the quality and safety standards of legitimate pens.
This is because the regulator can’t be sure the pen is sterile and if its contents are not sterile, there is a potential for infection.
The falsified product has the batch number D873576 which is a legitimate batch number for ‘genuine’ Mounjaro KwikPen 7.5mg pen, and the MHRA said that pens at this strength are not impacted.
Healthcare professionals have been advised by the medicines regulator not to supply Mounjaro KwikPen 15mg pens with batch number D873576 because all pens with this batch number are fake.
They should quarantine all stock with the affected dose and batch number and return it to their supplier.
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has served a ‘notice of conditions’ on the pharmacy involved and the MHRA is continuing with its ongoing investigations, the regulator said.
Patients who have this falsified pen have been advised to report the case to the MHRA via [email protected] with ‘Mounjaro Pens’ in the subject line. The MHRA will arrange to collect it.
The MHRA said that the risk to any patients who have already used the pen is low.
The Pharmacist has approached the online pharmacist for comment.