The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a number of advertisements for oral GLP-1 weight loss medications, ruling that the promotion of prescription-only medicines directly to the public breaches UK advertising rules.
Companies such as Simple Online Pharmacy and Pharmacy Online found themselves in the firing line, having advertised oral GLP-1 treatments using social media advertisements as well as on their websites.
The ASA ruled that an Instagram advertisement for Simple Online Pharmacy — inviting people to “join the waitlist” for a new oral weight-management treatment — had promoted oral GLP-1 treatments before the medicine had received marketing authorisation in the UK.
Medicines must be authorised by the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) before they can be advertised and claims about their medicinal properties cannot be made for any unauthorised medicine.
Plus, once a medicine has been licensed as prescription-only, it cannot be advertised to the public.
The ASA also took action against Pharmacy Online for advertisements promoting the oral Wegovy tablet — including a pop-up on the company's website encouraging people to “pre-order” the medicine and paid social media posts — after it had been licensed as prescription-only.
The independent watchdog also made rulings against MedExpress, Juniper and the Care Pharmacy for promoting prescription-only medicines to the public.
The MHRA has backed these rulings, upholding 17 investigations relating to the promotion of oral prescription-only weight-management medicines.
Julian Beach, MHRA Interim Executive Director of Healthcare, Quality and Access, said: “We welcome the ASA’s action in these cases, which highlights the importance of dealing swiftly with adverts that break the rules."
The MHRA expects all organisations promoting medicines to comply fully with advertising regulations, which exist to protect patient safety. Stimulating consumer demand for a new prescription medicine is not permitted.
"We take advertising that breaches the rules when promoting prescription-only medicines to the public, including weight loss medicines, very seriously. We work closely with fellow regulators, including the ASA, to tackle advertising that puts public health at risk."
“This collaboration has been reaffirmed in our recent joint warning this year to advertisers seeking to promote newly licensed and unlicensed medicines for weight management."
He added that the regulatory body would "not hesitate to use the full range of regulatory powers available to secure compliance and protect the public.”
The ASA and the MHRA said they would continue to monitor advertisements for the medications.
