How the rules work
The Human Medicines Regulations 2012 require a marketing authorisation before a medicinal product can be sold or supplied in the UK. Whether something is a medicinal product is decided by the MHRA on presentation and function, in the same way as under EU law that the regulations carried over. A vial of BPC-157 sold with claims about healing is a medicine; the words "research" or "not for human consumption" on the label do not remove it from the regulations when the marketing is aimed at people who will inject it.
Licences for the peptides on LYO: Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus (semaglutide), Mounjaro (tirzepatide) and Saxenda (liraglutide). Tesamorelin and bremelanotide are not licensed in the UK. Retatrutide is unlicensed everywhere and available only in trials.
The MHRA's Criminal Enforcement Unit has made unlicensed weight-loss injectables its priority. It shut a manufacturing site in Northampton in October 2025 (2,000 filled pens, tens of thousands of empty autoinjectors, counterfeit tirzepatide and unlicensed retatrutide), raided sites in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire in February 2026, and in May 2026 seized around 12,000 doses — retatrutide, tirzepatide and other peptides — in its largest such operation, arresting two men under the 2012 Regulations. Across 2025 the agency seized a record 28.5 million doses of illegally traded medicines.
Buying and importing for personal use
The offence sits with the supplier. The regulations allow an individual to import an unlicensed medicine for their own use or a member of their household, so a personal-quantity parcel is not in itself a crime for non-controlled substances. That is where the protection ends: Border Force can detain and destroy the goods, there is no recourse if the contents are wrong, and the MHRA's testing of seized weight-loss pens has repeatedly found products that contained something other than what was claimed.
Advertising a prescription-only or unlicensed medicine to the public is a separate offence, which is why social-media promotion of retatrutide draws enforcement even when the seller is abroad. Anyone with a reaction to one of these products can report it through the Yellow Card scheme.
Compound by compound
Not licensed by the MHRA. Selling or supplying it is an offence under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012; importing a small quantity purely for personal use is not itself an offence, but consignments are seized.
Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus licensed by the MHRA; available on prescription including from registered online pharmacies. Anything sold without a prescription is unlicensed.
MHRA, July 2026: 'it has not been authorised for use in the UK, meaning anyone selling this product is doing so illegally.' Thousands of doses seized in raids in October 2025, February and May 2026.
Mounjaro licensed by the MHRA. Counterfeit Zepbound/Mounjaro pens were among the products seized from illicit UK manufacturing sites in 2025–2026.
No MHRA licence. Unlicensed medicine when supplied for human use.
Not licensed by the MHRA. Selling or supplying it is an offence under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012; importing a small quantity purely for personal use is not itself an offence, but consignments are seized.
Lawful in topical cosmetics. Injectable products are unlicensed medicines.
Not licensed by the MHRA. Selling or supplying it is an offence under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012; importing a small quantity purely for personal use is not itself an offence, but consignments are seized.
Not licensed by the MHRA. Selling or supplying it is an offence under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012; importing a small quantity purely for personal use is not itself an offence, but consignments are seized.
Investigational; supply outside trials is an offence.
No MHRA licence; supply for human use is an offence.
No MHRA licence; supply for human use is an offence.
No MHRA licence; unlicensed medicine when supplied for human use.
Not licensed by the MHRA. Selling or supplying it is an offence under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012; importing a small quantity purely for personal use is not itself an offence, but consignments are seized.
Not licensed by the MHRA. Selling or supplying it is an offence under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012; importing a small quantity purely for personal use is not itself an offence, but consignments are seized.
Not licensed by the MHRA. Selling or supplying it is an offence under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012; importing a small quantity purely for personal use is not itself an offence, but consignments are seized.
Not licensed by the MHRA. Selling or supplying it is an offence under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012; importing a small quantity purely for personal use is not itself an offence, but consignments are seized.
What changed, and when
- 24 Oct 2025MHRA closes an illicit manufacturing facility in Northampton: counterfeit tirzepatide and unlicensed retatrutide pens.
- Feb 2026Further raids in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.
- 28–29 May 2026Largest seizure of unlicensed weight-loss medicines to date: ~12,000 doses; two arrests under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012.
- 24 Jul 2026MHRA public warning: retatrutide is unauthorised and anyone selling it is doing so illegally.
Questions
Is BPC-157 legal in the UK?
Is retatrutide legal in the UK?
Can I get semaglutide or tirzepatide legally?
What about compounded versions?
Sources
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4The Human Medicines Regulations 2012 (legislation.gov.uk)legislation.gov.uk
- 5Pharmaceutical Technology — UK regulators seize illegal weight loss drugs (Northampton facility, Oct 2025)pharmaceutical-technology.com
LYO summarises the law for research and educational purposes. It is not legal advice; rules change and enforcement varies. Corrections through the contact page.