\n<\/p>\n
Hidden-market promoters of weight-loss drugs are running social media \u201cgiveaway\u201d competitions that offer powerful, unlicensed medicines as prizes.<\/p>\n
The Guardian has been monitoring WhatsApp and Telegram groups promoting substances such as retatrutide \u2013 a medicine unlicensed in the UK. Some groups have posted competitions for existing customers, claiming they have \u201cjust 24 hours\u201d to enter giveaways or claim injections.<\/p>\n
Experts described what was happening as \u201cextremely dangerous\u201d, warning that digital marketing techniques were being applied to pharmaceuticals without a licence in the UK.<\/p>\n
One post from a WhatsApp group that calls itself BioUK Research peptides 2, seen by the Guardian, urged in block capitals: \u201cLast chance to enter \u2013 24 hours left!\u201d, claiming it was their \u201cbiggest giveaway yet\u201d and offering an \u201cultimate peptide stack\u201d including retatrutide (Reta) 20mg, Glow (GHK-Cu) pens and melanotan II (MT2).<\/p>\n
Retatrutide is an experimental weight-loss drug that is not yet approved for use anywhere in the world. Glow pens contain a copper peptide \u2013 the building blocks of proteins \u2013 marketed for skin repair and anti-ageing. They are often sold as research chemicals or for topical cosmetic use, and pre-mixed pens intended for injection are not approved by the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency).<\/p>\n
Melanotan II is an unapproved tanning peptide that increases melanin but can cause side-effects. Expert health advice from UK sources states that melanotan injections are illegal to sell and supply, are untested for safety or efficacy, and may pose health risks.<\/p>\n
The post said the competition was \u201c100% free to enter\u201d and that participants had only to add three friends to the group and follow the account on TikTok and Instagram. The winner, the message said, would be drawn the next day \u201cusing a random name generator\u201d. It ended: \u201cGood luck everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
A video shared later with the Guardian showed a spinning wheel of 85 entrants, with one name selected as the winner of the weight-loss drugs.<\/p>\n
Guardian research has uncovered dozens of registered companies with Bio UK in their name. This WhatsApp group is not believed to relate to any of them.<\/p>\n
Under UK law, many of the substances being promoted in these giveaways are tightly regulated medicines rather than harmless supplements. Weight-loss injections such as GLP-1 drugs can be supplied legally only with a valid prescription and must be dispensed through licensed pharmacies or authorised healthcare providers.<\/p>\n
Drugs that have not been approved for medical use, such as retatrutide, which is still undergoing clinical trials, cannot legally be marketed or sold to the public at all. Advertising or distributing prescription-only or unlicensed medicines through social media competitions may breach medicines regulations, and products obtained through hidden-market sellers carry serious risks, as they are not subject to safety checks, quality controls or medical oversight.<\/p>\n
The WhatsApp group has 1,024 members and promises next-day delivery.<\/p>\n
A separate company, calling itself BioBlue Cosmetics but also operating as BioBlue Fitness, is selling so-called \u201cskinny jabs\u201d under the guise of exercise programmes. Its website appears to be a female-led online coaching platform featuring workout imagery and fitness plans fronted by trainers named Rita, Teressa, Carla and Mary Jane.<\/p>\n
However, when potential customers inquire via linked WhatsApp and Telegram channels, administrators reveal that the \u201ccoaching\u201d is not fitness instruction but a coded reference to unlicensed weight-loss drugs. For example, \u201cGet fit with Rita\u201d is used as shorthand for retatrutide.<\/p>\n
One administrator confirmed the system when the Guardian posed as a customer, explaining that consumers were not signing up for workouts at all: \u201cSo click on the website and look for \u2018Get fit with Rita\u2019. Don\u2019t worry, you\u2019re not signing up to a workout programme. The 20 mins is 20mg, 40 mins is 40mg and 60 mins is 60mg.\u201d<\/p>\n
By disguising drug sales as coaching or training services, operators gain access to payment options intended for legitimate businesses.<\/p>\n
Emily Rickard, a research fellow at the University of Bath, said: \u201cGiveaways, countdown timers and raffles are classic pressure tactics designed to override caution, yet they\u2019re being used to promote powerful, unlicensed injectable drugs. This not only trivialises the use of unlicensed medicines but actively discourages people from stopping to ask whether what\u2019s being offered is legal or appropriate. From a safety perspective, that is extremely dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Piotr Ozieranski, a reader in sociology at the University of Bath, said \u201chighly problematic digital marketing techniques\u201d were being applied \u201cto unregulated pharmaceuticals\u201d. He added: \u201cWorryingly, they are now being used to promote powerful injectable drugs as \u2018prizes\u2019 rather than as healthcare interventions that require appropriate clinical oversight.\u201d<\/p>\n
BioUK Research peptides 2 did not respond to a request for comment. BioBlue Fitness did not respond to a request for comment but deleted all messages and discussions in its Telegram channel, telling customers it had \u201cchanged settings\u201d.<\/p>\n
Telegram said the sale of illegal medication was explicitly forbidden by its terms of service \u201cand such content is routinely removed whenever discovered\u201d.<\/p>\n
Meta, the owner of WhatsApp, said that if it became aware of accounts breaking its messaging guidelines those accounts would be banned.<\/p>\n
This article was amended on 6 February 2026. In an earlier version, the response from Meta did not relate to WhatsApp; the company has now provided an updated response.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hidden-market promoters of weight-loss drugs are running social media \u201cgiveaway\u201d competitions that offer powerful, unlicensed medicines as prizes. The Guardian has been monitoring WhatsApp and Telegram groups promoting substances such as retatrutide \u2013 a medicine unlicensed in the UK. Some groups have posted competitions for existing customers, claiming they have \u201cjust 24 hours\u201d to enter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[542,22896,205,10810,204,16357,1474],"class_list":{"0":"post-43929","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-drugs","9":"tag-marketed","10":"tag-media","11":"tag-prizes","12":"tag-social","13":"tag-unlicensed","14":"tag-weightloss"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/43930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}