UK regulator strengthens GLP-1 warnings on severe, necrotising and fatal pancreatitis

The MHRA said the product information for all GLP-1 and dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonists authorised in the UK (dulaglutide, exenatide, liraglutide, semaglutide and tirzepatide) now highlights the risk of severe acute pancreatitis, including rare necrotising and fatal cases. Between 2007 and October 2025 it received 1,296 Yellow Card reports of pancreatitis with these medicines, 19 of them fatal and 24 necrotising, against an estimated 25.4 million packs dispensed in the past 5 years. Clinicians are told to stop the medicine if pancreatitis is suspected, not to restart it if the diagnosis is confirmed, and to ask patients about privately prescribed GLP-1 use.