A BMJ investigation has shone a spotlight on the marketing of semaglutide in the U.K., raising questions about the effectiveness of regulatory oversight of materials on the weight loss and diabetes treatment.
Novo Nordisk is the marketing authorization holder for semaglutide, the active ingredient in diabetes drug Ozempic and obesity therapy Wegovy, but the results of online searches for the molecule include pharmacy websites unrelated to the drugmaker. The BMJ looked into whether any of those pages break the rules on the advertising of prescription drugs and how authorities in the U.K. respond to allegations of illegal promotion.
A complaint filed by academics in the U.K. and Sweden forms the centerpiece of the report. Writing to the U.K. drug regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the academics said they were “appalled” to find Pharmadoctor, a provider of clinical services to pharmacists, was marketing Wegovy “directly to the public.” Pharmadoctor has said it is “categorically not involved in the marketing, advertising nor promotion of Wegovy.”
Direct promotion of approved prescription medicines is illegal in the U.K. and most of Europe.
The complaint centers on a Pharmadoctor blog post that called Wegovy “a weekly weight loss injection made famous by celebrities such as [X owner] Elon Musk and [former British Prime Minister] Boris Johnson.” The opening of the blog post says that “if Wegovy is suitable for you, your pharmacist will be able to provide it” and features a link to a tool for finding pharmacies that provide weight-management services. The patient-facing homepage included a link to the blog post.
Responding to the complaint, MHRA told the academics the reference to Wegovy on the homepage had been removed in line with its guidance. However, while the link and word “Wegovy” were taken off the patient-facing homepage, the blog post remained online. Pharmadoctor CEO Graham Thoms told the BMJ that the MHRA hadn’t required the removal of the blog post.
A Novo Nordisk spokesperson told Fierce Pharma Marketing that: "Novo Nordisk does not condone the promotion of prescription only medications to the public in the U.K. and did not participate in the development of these ads."
James Cave, editor in chief of the BMJ’s Drug & Therapeutics Bulletin, said the MHRA’s focus on websites is “completely out of date” because people use search engines rather than visit specific websites. Google searches for text from the blog post don’t produce any results, suggesting it won’t show up to people who are looking for information about Wegovy online.
Cave said he has filed more than a dozen complaints about semaglutide advertising to the MHRA and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over the past year. The ASA took action in numerous cases but declined to consider websites that were not being promoted through paid advertising on search engines. The MHRA acted on some cases but Cave said the enforced changes were minor.