Novo, Lilly and Innovent use obesity awareness campaigns to work around China's prescription drug ad ban

Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, Pfizer and Chinese drugmaker Innovent Biologics are reaching consumers in China with obesity-awareness messages that never name their medicines, an approach that stays inside rules forbidding direct advertising of prescription drugs to the public, according to a Reuters investigation published on Aug. 24, 2026 ^[1][2].

China permits drugmakers to tell the public about disease risks and to suggest seeing a doctor, but campaigns may not mention product names ^[1][2]. In Shanghai's central Jingan district, a banner carrying a Lilly logo told subway riders: "Don't forget to pay attention to Dad's snoring and promptly visit a respiratory department or sleep centre" ^[1]. Snoring is a common sign of sleep apnoea, a condition tied to excess weight, and Lilly's GLP-1 medicine Mounjaro, or tirzepatide, has been shown in clinical trials to ease it ^[1].

Other examples Reuters documented include billboards from Innovent and the e-commerce platform Meituan in the same station last month saying "scientific weight management" can reverse fatty liver disease, and an ad at a Suzhou soccer stadium during a July match that repeated "Innovent Biologics weight loss amazing!" ^[1]. Gym chain Supermonkey, promoted on the social platform Xiaohongshu, partnered with Pfizer on a "healthy weight loss party" in June and July; a Pfizer employee addressed one Shanghai gathering before a trainer led a weightlifting session, according to a company Xiaohongshu post that was later deleted ^[1].

Hospital staff in Shanghai and Guangzhou told Reuters that social media posts and word of mouth from friends and family send some patients in asking for specific brands ^[1][2]. Zhao Xiaolong, an endocrinologist at the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Centre, said requests first centered on Novo's semaglutide, sold as Wegovy, and have shifted toward Lilly's tirzepatide, sold as Mounjaro, and Innovent's mazdutide, sold as Xinermei ^[1].

Novo brought the first once-weekly GLP-1 for weight management to China in late 2024. Lilly and Innovent followed in January 2025 and July 2025, and the first prescriptions for Pfizer's Xianweiying were issued in April ^[1]. Jefferies data showed Lilly ahead in once-weekly GLP-1 sales on Alibaba's Tmall and JD.com in the second quarter ^[1]. Yang Huang, who leads China healthcare research at JP Morgan, put current GLP-1 weight-management sales at 3 billion to 4 billion yuan and projected as much as 30 billion yuan within five to seven years ^[1]. China's National Health Commission has said the share of adults who are overweight or obese could pass 65 percent by 2030 ^[1][2].

Chen Zhenggang, a partner at DeHeng Law Offices in Beijing, said the Innovent-Meituan billboards could lead viewers to link them to a particular prescription weight-loss drug: the ads did not show the names Xinermei or mazdutide but featured what looked like a mascot named "Madudu" ^[1]. Jia Hepeng, a science communication professor at Soochow University in Suzhou, said such public promotion is unusual for prescription medicines. "I rarely see pharmaceutical companies promoting prescription drugs for hypertension, tumours and other diseases in public settings, or even through indirect advertising," he said ^[1]. JP Morgan's Huang described the tension: "On one side, they're definitely trying to be compliant ... on the other side, you have drugs and you want to sell" ^[1].

Earlier in 2026, Lilly paused a local obesity awareness campaign in India after regulators there said it coincided with Mounjaro's launch and could promote the drug to consumers ^[1]. Lilly said its educational work does not promote specific medicines and is "consistent" with China's health strategies ^[1]. Pfizer, Innovent, Meituan and China's market regulator declined to comment or did not respond ^[1].

Novo's Greater China president, Cai Yan, took the job in March and told Reuters that doctors had described the company's communications as weaker than competitors', with some rivals speaking more directly about drug benefits ^[1]. She said Novo is widening its outreach beyond hospitals and working on plainer public language; last month the company and state broadcaster CCTV ran a street health exhibit in Beijing that included group dancing ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

The report describes a marketing environment in which messages about a health condition, not a product, can still shape which brand a patient names at a doctor's office ^[1][2]. The article contains no head-to-head trial results comparing Wegovy, Mounjaro, Xinermei or Xianweiying, and no prices for any of them in China ^[1]. Whether US regulators have examined similar awareness campaigns has not been reported, and Reuters did not say whether Chinese authorities are investigating any of the campaigns it described ^[1].

What happens next

No timeline has been disclosed for any regulatory action in China. Novo has said it is changing its communication approach but has not given dates, and it is not known whether Lilly, Pfizer or Innovent plan similar shifts. Lilly's paused India campaign has not been reported as restarted.