South Africa’s medicines regulator and pharmacy watchdog have intensified a crackdown on the unlawful manufacture and distribution of unregistered GLP-1 medicines as concerns mount over the rapid growth of the country’s largely unregulated weight loss drug market.
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra), working alongside the South African Pharmacy Council (SAPC), confirmed it has seized multiple injectable products after an inspection at iDexis Compounding, trading as Sentra Pharmacy, in Silverton, Pretoria.
The crackdown comes amid booming global demand for GLP-1 therapies — a class of drugs that mimic a natural hormone in the body that regulates blood sugar levels and reduces appetite — which have become one of the pharmaceutical industry’s fastest-growing segments as obesity treatments reshape the healthcare market.
The regulators allege the pharmacy was manufacturing and distributing unregistered GLP-1 medicines — including semaglutide, tirzepatide and combination formulations — under the guise of pharmaceutical compounding, in contravention of the Medicines & Related Substances Act.
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