Lilly launches ad campaign warning patients about compounded weight-loss drugs
Lilly's new ads target compounded and possibly counterfeit weight-loss products, a shift patients may notice as the shortage that allowed compounded copies of Zepbound and Wegovy to be sold legally comes to an end.
Eli Lilly launched an advertising campaign on Feb. 28, 2025, warning patients about unapproved weight-loss drugs, its latest move against compounded copies of its products. The ad asks patients to "be a healthy skeptic" [1].
The campaign was released soon after a commercial from telehealth firm Hims & Hers, which sells a compounded weight-loss drug, premiered during the Super Bowl [1]. Lilly's ad states: "Before anything goes into your body, be skeptical of what's in it, be skeptical of where it comes from, be skeptical of who oversees its production" [1].
The campaign is aimed at "unproven and sometimes counterfeit products sold online and elsewhere" that claim to offer weight-loss benefits [1]. Lilly has not disclosed how much it is spending on the campaign, and no details have been reported on where the ads will run [1].
How compounded copies are regulated
Compounding facilities create medicines by combining, mixing or altering drug ingredients [1]. Federal regulations allow compounded versions to be sold to meet demand when a drug is in short supply, but these products are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [1].
Lilly's Zepbound and Novo Nordisk's Wegovy were recently removed from the FDA's shortage list. That means compounding pharmacies selling hundreds of thousands of doses of the drugs are running out of time to produce them [1].
Novo and Lilly have also sued several medical spas and compounding pharmacies for selling products claiming to contain their respective drugs, semaglutide and tirzepatide [1].
Novo released its own ad earlier in February asking patients to "check before you inject" [1]. Hims drew criticism from some lawmakers for omitting safety information about the customized medicines in its Super Bowl advertisement [1].
Why it matters for patients
The products Lilly's campaign targets are not FDA approved, even when they are sold legally under shortage rules [1]. That means the FDA review that applies to brand-name Zepbound and Wegovy does not extend to compounded versions, and the campaign's central message is that patients should question what is in them and who oversees their production [1].
For patients currently receiving a compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide product, the practical situation is changing. The shortage that allowed compounding pharmacies to sell large volumes of these drugs is ending for Zepbound and Wegovy, and those pharmacies are described as running out of time to produce them [1]. It has not been reported exactly when compounding sales must stop, or what options patients in the middle of treatment will have.
The ads also reflect a public dispute between the brand-name manufacturers and companies selling compounded versions, which has already included lawsuits from Novo and Lilly against medical spas and compounding pharmacies [1]. Some lawmakers have criticized Hims over its advertising, saying it left out safety information [1].
What happens next
The Lilly campaign began on Feb. 28, 2025, and Novo's "check before you inject" ad ran earlier in February [1]. The lawsuits Novo and Lilly filed against medical spas and compounding pharmacies are ongoing; no rulings, settlement amounts or court dates have been reported [1]. It is also not yet known how the FDA will handle compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide in the weeks after the shortage-list removals, or how pharmacies will wind down production [1].
Images from the sources
Sources
Semaglutides.org provides information only, not medical advice. Talk to a licensed provider about your own care before making changes. Some telehealth links are affiliate links and are labeled where they appear.