A combination image shows an injection pen of Zepbound, Eli Lilly's weight loss drug, and boxes of Wegovy, made by Novo Nordisk. REUTERS PHOTOGRAPHER / REUTERS

France's medicine safety agency ANSM said on Monday, May 4, that it had imposed fines on pharmaceutical firms Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly over their advertising campaigns on obesity. The agency fined Novo Nordisk France €1.78 million, a million relating to adverts promoting its Saxenda drug and €783,838 regarding adverts for Wegovy weight management medication for treating obesity. The ANSM also fined Lilly France €108,766 for a campaign promoting its anti-obesity drug Mounjaro, seeing the adverts as "likely to constitute indirect promotion of medicines subject to mandatory medical prescription."

French laws prohibit any advertising to the general public of the treatments. The national medicines regulator said that the fines aimed to "prevent any communication likely to promote the use of drug treatment as the principal response to obesity, to encourage the public to request this treatment from a healthcare professional or seek to obtain it themselves."

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The ANSM said the advertising campaigns were "likely to mislead the public in a context marked by extensive media coverage" as well as what it termed growing inappropriate use of medications which activate certain hormones in order to notably reduce appetite and aid weight loss.

In a statement to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Novo Nordisk France said it "strongly contests" the ANSM's finding, adding it is "exploring all possible appeal avenues against this decision."

Lilly France said it noted ANSM's decision, while stating it believes its awareness campaign entitled "Obesity is a sick person's problem" from a year ago was "in line with the framework applicable to communications relating to human health."

According to a French study published in 2024, around 18% of the French population, equivalent to some 10 million people, are obese.