Booming weight-loss drug demand in Brazil fuels thriving black market and health fears

Asked to comment on the smuggling, prices, and competition from untracked drugs, Eli Lilly said it supports Brazilian authorities in combating the illegal market to protect patient safety. Regarding prices, it said it continues to seek ways to increase affordability within legal, regulated and safe parameters. "In Brazil, the rising popularity of GLP-1 drugs has boosted the market for compounded, counterfeit, or illegally imported products, often sold without medical supervision or outside regulated channels," said Novo Nordisk, adding that it focuses on providing overall value through evidence-based treatments, education, patient support, program discounts, and a partnership with a local manufacturer. The proliferation of weight-loss treatments has cemented Brazil's standing as a global beauty hub, along with Turkey and South Korea. For decades, residents and tourists have flocked to its cosmetic and plastic surgery centers for treatments, which many foreigners can access at attractive prices. Brazil's GLP-1 usage rate, at 5.5% of the population, exceeds the global average of 3.7%, according to market research firm Euromonitor International, meaning millions of people have tried the treatments. Nationwide seizures of illegal GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are soaring, from 609 units in 2024 to 60,787 in 2025, according to the Anti-Counterfeiting Association. Seizures have continued to rise sharply this year. Brazilian authorities hope the availability of cheaper, authorized weight-loss drugs may help drive customers away from illegally obtained injections. In May, Brazil's regulatory agency approved Ozivy, the country's first domestic alternative to Novo Nordisk's Ozempic, which can sell for less than $100 for a four-week supply. Since then, Anvisa has approved other brands. "Controlling demand is difficult," Anvisa Director-President Leandro Safatle told reporters this month. "But if that demand is already being met by a regulated, safer product priced similarly to unauthorized imports, people will naturally choose the regulated option." About 51% of Brazil's roughly $7 billion market is expected from untracked sources, Itau BBA says. Illegal GLP-1 seizures jump to 60,787 units in 2025 from 609 in 2024, anti-counterfeiting agency says. Officials are investigating 83 deaths linked to weight-loss drugs in Brazil. When Brazilian customs agents opened jars of dulce de leche aboard a tourist bus arriving from Paraguay in April, they discovered hundreds of vials of tirzepatide, the active ingredient in the popular weight-loss drug Mounjaro, mixed inside the sweet spread. The routine inspection turned into one of Brazil's largest seizures of weight-loss medications, with the total shipment exceeding 2,500 vials, according to the Federal Revenue Service. But it was hardly an anomaly. Along that border, agents are finding slimming drugs, part of a class of pharmaceuticals called GLP-1 receptor agonists, in unexpected places. Drugs hidden in motorcycle exhaust pipes and false shoe soles underscore the dangers of a boom that has made Brazil one of the world's hottest markets for weight-loss medications, including Eli Lilly's Mounjaro and Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, which has the active ingredient semaglutide. Health officials and experts worry the country may be one of the most exposed to the weight-loss boom's unintended consequences, as a beauty-conscious culture, limited purchasing power, and weak law enforcement drive consumers toward smuggled and unapproved injections. Between 2018 and mid-August 2026, Brazilian authorities recorded 83 deaths, which are under investigation, and over 3,600 complications linked to weight-loss drugs. They were notified of more than 60% of the complications in 2025 and 2026. Untracked versions of the drugs have likely played a significant role, they said. Some 51% of the country's estimated $7 billion weight-loss drug sales this year are expected to come from pharmacies that custom-mix medications and products smuggled from Paraguay, according to investment bank Itau BBA. Reuters could not independently establish the role unauthorized GLP-1 versions have played in those deaths and complications. While experts told Reuters they fear a public health crisis, three Brazilians said the risks are worth it. "There is always some fear," said Taiane Torres da Silva, a pet groomer in Rio de Janeiro who buys a Paraguayan drug called T.G., which Brazilian health authorities have not vetted. "But we do it anyway because we want to lose weight." Paraguay's health regulator, Dinavisa, which has approved T.G., said in a statement that neither it nor the Paraguayan government is responsible for transporting medicines, although it acknowledged that some citizens do so "irresponsibly." T.G. is manufactured in Paraguay by Laboratorios Indufar Cisa, which did not respond to requests for comment. Pharmacies in Paraguay legally sell T.G., including to Brazilians. According to Brazil's health regulator Anvisa, only smuggled products bypass official evaluation. The custom-mixed "compounded" medications must meet technical standards and pass local inspections. However, Andreia Kohout, pharmaceutical director of the Brazilian Anti-Counterfeiting Association, said consumers often mistakenly view compounded drugs as identical to brand names. The compounded medication market, which influencers frequently promote, also features unreliable suppliers, she said.

Booming weight-loss drug demand in Brazil fuels thriving black market and health fears

Authorities and drugmakers push regulated alternatives as seizures rise

Brazil's weight-loss drug market draws smuggled and compounded products

Health officials warn of complications, counterfeit products and unsafe use

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