The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) seized around 27,200 illegal hair loss medicines in the UK in 2025, almost eight times more than the previous year, new data has revealed.
A freedom of information request to the regulator by hair transplant clinic Elithair found that approximately 23,000 - around 85% - of the seized drugs were finasteride – a 1,253% increase on the 1,700 seized in 2024.
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The figures also showed that the types of hair loss drugs being sold illegally has shifted in the last five years, with minoxidil accounting for around 21,000 of the products seized by the MHRA in 2021.
Data obtained by Elithair from the General Pharmaceutical Council also found that the regulator received 15 reports about “potential issues with the supply or prescription of hair loss medicines” in 2025.
This is the highest annual figure in the past five years, Elithair said, with 11 reports received in both 2022 and 2023 and 12 received in 2024.
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A total of 58 reports were made to the GPhC about hair loss drugs between 2022 and 2026, it added.
Elithair medical director Dr Abdulaziz Balwi said “many men are accessing treatments without proper medical consultation, often through unregulated online sellers or social media”.
“According to MHRA figures, officials have seized nearly 70,000 illegal hair loss drugs in the last five years alone, highlighting the scale of the issue,” he added.
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It comes after the MHRA updated safety advice for finasteride in May after reviewing evidence on the risks of “sexual dysfunction, depression and suicidal thoughts”.
And it follows the medicines watchdog revealing in July that it had seized a record 28.5m doses of illegal medicines, with an estimated street value of £64.4m, in the last year.
