Lilly uses Oscars ad to warn about 'untested' GLP-1s
Eli Lilly has stepped up its campaign to encourage people to use its weight-loss drug Zepbound over copycat drugs from other sources, such as compounding pharmacies.
The drugmaker used a 30-second advertising slot that aired during the Oscars ceremony on Sunday to encourage anyone considering sourcing tirzepatide – the active ingredient in Zepbound – to make sure they are getting the genuine, FDA-approved, medicine or risk unintended (and unidentified) consequences.
It's the second year in a row that Lilly has used the Oscars as a platform to drive home a message about GLP-1-based obesity therapies, having aired an ad in 2024 that urged people not to use them for cosmetic purposes or vanity.
The 2025 ad targets people who may be worried about their weight and portrays a hypothetical conversation with someone – a friend, family member, or even a podcaster – urging the use of "natural" options that can be sourced without a prescription and without those pesky "government regulations," ending with the line: "Trust me, bro."
Be a "healthy sceptic," retorts Lilly in the slot, pointing out that products sold in this way – which could include compounded versions of tirzepatide, dietary supplements making weight-reducing claims, or even outright counterfeits that may contain no active ingredient or harmful contaminants – are untested.
Tested, trialled, and approved medicine "doesn't need your faith," it contends.
While not specifically identifying compounders in the ad, there seems little doubt that it is part of a fightback by Lilly and the other main producer of GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, Novo Nordisk, against the widespread sale of compounded versions of their drugs.
It follows a combative ad by telehealth company Hims & Hers, a major supplier of compounded GLP-1s in the US, that was broadcast during this year's Super Bowl and accused the pharma industry of selling weight-loss drugs at unreasonably high prices, claiming the sector is obstructing efforts to improve the health of Americans by improving access.
The FDA has already called an end to compounders providing tirzepatide and semaglutide, the active ingredient on Novo Nordisk's Wegovy obesity therapy, by declaring that drawn-out shortages of the two drugs are now at an end, although those decisions have been challenged.
Appearing on the FDA's shortage list opened the door for compounding pharmacies to offer their versions of the drug to patients, but for tirzepatide, that came to an end on 18th February for state-licensed pharmacy or physician compounders, while outsourcing facilities will have to stop by 19th March. For semaglutide, the corresponding dates are 22nd April and 22nd May, respectively.
