POLICE say that enquiries are ongoing after thieves made off with a huge stockpile of Mounjaro weight loss drugs from a pharmacy in East Craigs, Edinburgh.
It is understood that the shop was targeted on Saturday night and made an apparent beeline for the weight loss drugs whose popularity and subsequent resale value has gone through the roof recently.
Police responded to the incident on Sunday after staff returned to find a large amount of Mounjaro missing from their stockpile.
The pharmacy confirmed that the theft took place as described but said they could not comment further due to the active investigation into the incident.
Mounjaro is the UK brand name of the drug Tirzepatide, which was originally intended to treat type 2 diabetes, but which has now swept the nation as a weight loss drug.
Tirzepatite mimics gut hormones to facilitate insulin production, reduce blood sugar, slow stomach emptying, and stifle appetites.
On top of making you feel fuller for longer, Mounjaro also helps to control blood sugar levels and decreases the amount of sugar produced by your liver, meaning less production of fat.
Mounjaro has shifted its image over time, and is now heavily marketed as a weight loss drug, with its name now becoming associated with innumerable anecdotes of miracle slimming.
As its popularity has reached the stratosphere, so too have the prices.
Although NHS prescriptions are available for those with severe obesity and type-2 diabetes, there are several restrictions about who can access them, and waiting lists stretch on for months.
Private prescriptions for Mounjaro can cost upwards of £150 per month.
This was after Eli Lilly, the drug’s American manufacturer, announced that it was increasing the price of the drug by as much as 170% in the UK.
Despite this, it is thought that 90% of people currently on Mounjaro in the UK have been prescribed privately.
Fears have now been raised that the exclusionary prices may give rise to a Mounjaro black market, with criminals stealing and fencing cut-rate weight loss drugs to people.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 12:40pm on Sunday, 5 October, we received a report of a break-in to and theft from a premises on Bughtlin Market, Edinburgh.
“Enquiries are ongoing.”
The East Craigs Pharmacy confirmed the robbery but declined to comment further.
More than 500,000 people in the UK are thought to be on Mounjaro prescriptions.
