UK watchdog takes first action on oral weight drug adverts

Online pharmacies operating in the UK have been taken to task by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for promoting prescription-only oral weight-loss medicines directly to the public.

According to judgments published by the ASA, the companies – including Simple Online Healthcare and Express Healthcare – advertised oral GLP-1 agonists through social media channels and their websites in breach of its rules.

Simple Online Health, which operates the Simple Online Pharmacy site, ran a paid-for ad on Instagram at the start of June, featuring the text: "NO NEEDLE. COMING SOON" and a button labelled "Learn more."

Later that month, after Novo's Wegovy (semaglutide) pill was approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the company ran a paid-for ad on Meta, offering the new product for pre-order with a discount code.

Express Healthcare, meanwhile, has been censured for two Meta ads, along with one on its Pharmacy Online website.

The first Meta ad ran in early June and said that an oral product "is coming to the UK this summer, and Pharmacy Online will be among the first GPhC-registered pharmacies to offer it," asking viewers to register their interest.

A second ran later in the month, after the Wegovy approval, and also offered pre-ordering of an oral therapy, while a promotion on Pharmacy Online read "THE WEGOVY PILL JUST GOT APPROVED IN THE UK" and also offered pre-ordering with a discount.

Wegovy has since been joined in the UK market by Eli Lilly's oral GLP-1 agonist Foundayo (orforglipron), which was approved by the MHRA in August. Neither product is covered by the NHS, but can be obtained privately.

According to the judgments, the two companies were at fault for both making medicinal claims for, and promoting, an unlicensed product, and promoting prescription-only medicines (POMs) to the public.

"We welcome the ASA's action in these cases, which highlights the importance of dealing swiftly with adverts that break the rules," said Julian Beach, interim director of healthcare quality and access at the MHRA, which has been working with the ASA and General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) to clamp down on promotion of both approved and experimental oral therapies to the public.

"The MHRA expects all organisations promoting medicines to comply fully with advertising regulations, which exist to protect patient safety," added Beach. "Stimulating consumer demand for a new prescription medicine is not permitted."

The ASA also issued rulings today against MedExpress Enterprises, Juniper Technologies UK, and Care Pharmacy Bradford for promoting injectable and other weight-loss POMs to the public.

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay