Where semaglutide stands in the UK
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) decides which medicines may be supplied in the UK. Semaglutide is the active substance in several authorised brands. Ozempic and Rybelsus are authorised for type 2 diabetes. Wegovy is authorised for weight management, as an injection and, since 11 June 2026, as a tablet.
Prescription-only medicine. Lawful supply needs a prescription from a registered prescriber and dispensing by a registered pharmacy.
Prescription-only. The MHRA announced it as the UK's first GLP-1 tablet for weight loss. Not available through the NHS at approval.
What authorisation attaches to a batch
The legal question and the quality question are the same question here. An authorised medicine comes with a marketing authorisation dossier, a licensed manufacturing site, a specification, and batch-by-batch testing and release against that specification. The certificate for an authorised batch carries legal weight, because the issuer answers to the regulator for its accuracy.
An online powder has none of that behind it. A seller can print any document and call it a Certificate of Analysis. Even an accurate report from a genuine independent laboratory describes a sample, and cannot supply the regulatory assessment, the manufacturing oversight or the release decision that make a product a medicine. That is the line the law draws, and it is why a good COA cannot make an unauthorised product lawful.
NHS access and private prescribing
Authorisation is not the same as NHS funding. For England, NICE guidance TA875 recommends semaglutide for weight management only within a specialist weight management service, for a maximum of two years and for adults meeting defined BMI and comorbidity criteria. In announcing the tablet, the MHRA stated that it was not currently available through the NHS and that NHS use would follow an evaluation by NICE.
Anyone interested in treatment should talk to a registered prescriber. Both routes, NHS and private, involve an authorised product dispensed by a regulated pharmacy.
What the Human Medicines Regulations say about everything else
Under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012, a medicinal product for human use generally needs a marketing authorisation or an equivalent licence before it is sold or supplied. Narrow exceptions exist, for example a pharmacist supplying an unlicensed medicine to meet the special needs of an individual patient on a prescriber's request. They do not extend to general online sale.
Semaglutide products without an MHRA authorisation are outside that framework, whatever the label says: powders sold as research chemicals, oral drops, patches and nasal sprays. Calling a product a research material does not alter how it is regulated if it is offered for human use.
Reading the enforcement figures correctly
The MHRA reported that during 2025 it seized almost 20 million doses of illegally traded medicines, with a potential street value of nearly £45 million. That total covers all categories. Most of it was sedatives and sleeping pills, painkillers and erectile dysfunction treatments. Within it, the Criminal Enforcement Unit seized more than 5,000 illegally traded GLP-1 products, and it worked with internet service providers to disrupt more than 1,500 websites and social media accounts selling medical products illegally.
So the figures show active enforcement against illicit online supply, but they are not a count of weight-loss products. Products outside the authorised chain also have no independent record of what they contain, in what amount or how they were made.
A semaglutide product sold without an MHRA marketing authorisation is an unlicensed medicine under UK law, whether it is described as a peptide, a research chemical or a supplement. No certificate issued by its seller replaces the regulatory assessment an authorised medicine has passed.
Ireland and the EU
The same principle applies in Ireland through the EU system. Wegovy is authorised for the EU through the European Medicines Agency's centralised procedure (see the EMA Wegovy page), and the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) supervises medicines supply in Ireland. Semaglutide sold outside the authorised chain has no authorisation there either. Check current Irish rules with the HPRA.
Disclaimer: This is an educational summary of public regulatory information. It is not legal or medical advice and does not recommend any product. Rules change, so consult the MHRA's publications and a qualified professional. Get the COA does not sell products.
Sources: MHRA, first GLP-1 tablet for weight loss approved (11 June 2026) · MHRA, illegal medicines seized in 2025 · MHRA, GLP-1 medicines guidance · Human Medicines Regulations 2012 · NICE TA875 · EMA Wegovy. Information only. Updated 6 November 2026.