At the beginning of this year, a pill called Molecule went viral on TikTok in Russia, accompanied by countless images and videos claiming it could help users shed weight rapidly.
Social media feeds of Russian youths were soon flooded with slogans such as “Take Molecule and forget about food” and “Do you still want to sit at the back of the class in loose clothes?”
Videos circulated online showed blue boxes neatly arranged in refrigerators, each box featuring a hologram and the label Molecule Plus.
As young people began sharing their apparent success stories of weight loss, sales of Molecule skyrocketed. However, the darker side of the pill soon emerged.
Maria, a 22-year-old from Saint Petersburg, purchased Molecule from a popular online seller. After taking two pills a day for two weeks, her face became gaunt, and she completely lost her appetite.
“I didn’t want to eat or drink anything,” Maria said. “I was extremely anxious, biting my lips and chewing my cheeks.”
Within two weeks, Maria began to experience worsening anxiety, insomnia, and depression. “The pills were having a terrible effect on my mental health,” she added.
Maria had been wholly unprepared for such severe side effects. Other TikTok users also reported dilated pupils, trembling hands, and sleeplessness. At least three school students were reportedly hospitalised.
In April, a schoolgirl in the Siberian city of Chita was admitted to hospital after taking an overdose of Molecule. Local media reported that she had wanted to lose weight quickly before summer.
Another student’s mother recounted that her daughter had swallowed several pills at once and ended up in intensive care. In May, a 13-year-old boy from Saint Petersburg was hospitalised after repeated hallucinations and panic attacks. He had asked a friend to buy the pills online because classmates mocked him about his weight.
The Molecule box lists dandelion root and fennel seed extract as natural ingredients. Yet earlier this year, journalists from the Russian newspaper Izvestia sent samples bought online for laboratory testing, which revealed the presence of the banned substance sibutramine.
Sibutramine was originally developed in the 1980s as an antidepressant, later repurposed as an appetite suppressant. Research showed that while it could reduce body weight to some extent, it also increased the risk of heart disease and stroke.
The United States banned sibutramine in 2010. It is now illegal in the United Kingdom, the European Union, China, and many other regions.
In Russia, selling or purchasing sibutramine without a doctor’s prescription is a criminal offence. Nevertheless, numerous individuals and small businesses continue to trade it online without prescriptions.
A 20-day course of Molecule costs around £6–7 (US$8–9), far cheaper than Ozempic — Russia’s most popular weight-loss injection — which costs between £40 and £160 (US$50–210) for a month’s supply.
Zhenya Solovieva, an endocrinologist based in Saint Petersburg, warned that taking such medication without medical supervision is extremely dangerous.
Several people in Russia have already been imprisoned for selling Molecule, but authorities are struggling to curb its illegal trade.
In April, the government-backed organisation Safe Internet League issued warnings about the pill’s rising popularity among young people. Several major online marketplaces subsequently removed Molecule from their listings. Yet within weeks, it reappeared under a new name — Atom — with packaging almost identical to the original.
Recently, Russia passed a law allowing authorities to shut down websites selling “illegal dietary supplements” without a court order. However, sellers are now evading the ban by re-labelling their products as sports nutrition.
On TikTok, some sellers are reportedly disguising Molecule inside the packaging of unrelated products such as biscuits and light bulbs. Others continue to advertise it openly despite the new law.
Meanwhile, online communities dedicated to eating disorders have become a new breeding ground for Molecule’s promotion. Users employ specific hashtags and coded language to advertise the drug discreetly.
Zhenya Solovieva warned that Molecule poses a particular danger to young people already struggling with eating disorders, urging for stronger monitoring and awareness.