First ads for ‘powerful’ weight loss pills banned by watchdog

Advertisements for oral weight loss medicines have become the first of their kind to be banned for promoting unlicensed and prescription-only treatments directly to the public.

Simple Online Pharmacy and Pharmacy Online marketed oral GLP-1 products using social media posts and their own websites, encouraging people to join waiting lists, register interest, and place advance orders.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) concluded that a Simple Online Pharmacy advert, published on 1 June, marketed oral GLP-1 treatments before any had gained regulatory approval in the UK.

The promotional material urged consumers to "join the waitlist" for a fresh oral weight-management medicine.

The initial oral GLP-1 tablet intended for weight management only received a licence as a prescription-only medicine on 11 June, prior to which no UK marketing authorisation existed for such drugs.

Under UK advertising rules, products must be authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) before promotion, and medicinal claims cannot be made regarding unauthorised treatments.

Once a medicine is licensed as prescription only, it cannot be advertised to the public.

The ASA also banned Pharmacy Online ads promoting the oral Wegovy tablet after it had been licensed as prescription only.

The ads included a website pop-up inviting people to “pre-order” the medicine and paid social media ads promoting an oral weight-management tablet.

The ASA found that these ads promoted a prescription-only medicine to the public.

The watchdog made three further rulings against MedExpress, Juniper and the Care Pharmacy for promoting prescription-only medicines to the public, even though they did not name the products directly.

The ASA warned that advertisers needed to consider the overall impression of an ad after its own research found that people did not need to see a named product to know it was referring to weight-loss medication.

It said it would continue to monitor ads and emerging trends for the medications, working closely with the MHRA and the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).

It warned that weight loss prescription medicines were powerful treatments that should only be used under the supervision of a qualified medical professional, adding: “Advertising them irresponsibly or illegally can put people at risk, which is why this remains a priority for us.”

Catherine Drewett, investigations manager at the ASA said: “The licencing of oral GLP-1 medicines represents a significant development in treatment options but also new challenges for regulators.

“We’ve acted quickly as this market has developed and these first rulings make clear that these oral medicines, like prescription-only injections, cannot be advertised to the public.

“These are powerful medicines so it’s important that ads don’t encourage people to seek treatment in ways that could put them at risk.”

MHRA executive director of healthcare, quality and access Julian Beach 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.”