Advertising and labelling of medicinal products on social media

Colin Kavanagh
Arthur Cox, Dublin
Colin.Kavanagh@arthurcox.com

Bridget Clinton
Arthur Cox, Dublin
Bridget.Clinton@arthurcox.com

Orla Clayton
Arthur Cox, Dublin
Orla.Clayton@arthurcox.com

Robert Byrne
Arthur Cox, Dublin
Robert.Byrne@arthurcox.com

Aoibhín Ní Dhubháin
Arthur Cox, Dublin
Aoibhin.NiDhubhain@arthurcox.com

Social media and the digital transformation of promotional strategies have fundamentally reshaped how pharmaceutical companies market their products. In Ireland and across the European Union, the promotion of medicinal products is subject to stringent regulation, with a strong emphasis on safeguarding consumer health and upholding the integrity of the doctor–patient relationship. In this piece we look at the overall landscape, with a particular focus on Ireland and with a lens on glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1s).

In Ireland, the advertising of medicinal products is governed by a combination of legislation and self-regulatory codes of practice. Directive 2001/83/EC on the Community Code relating to medicinal products for human use, as amended, has been implemented into domestic law through several pieces of legislation. One of these is a statutory instrument, the Irish Medicinal Products (Control of Advertising) Regulations 2007 (the ‘Irish Marketing Regulations’), which permits authorised over-the-counter medicines to be advertised, albeit with strict limitations. It is entirely prohibited under the Irish Marketing Regulations to advertise prescription-only medications (POMs) to the public via social media or any other means. The Health and Beauty section of the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland Code (7th edition, applicable since 2016) specifically prohibits the advertisement of prescription-only medicines to the public.

Using social media to promote POMs

Social media, as with any form of advertisement, can only be used in the promotion of authorised POMs if those medications are being promoted to persons who are qualified to prescribe or supply them, ie, to healthcare professionals (HCPs). The use of social media, for example, could be confined to closed social media channels, such as a company’s intranet page with restricted access to only its HCP employees, or a social media application that is specifically restricted to HCPs, such as a private LinkedIn page. It is essential that companies choosing to engage with social media platforms establish robust procedures for reviewing and monitoring their online activity to ensure compliance with the applicable Irish rules governing the promotion of medicinal products.

While it is crucial for pharmaceutical companies to implement internal policies for their official social media presence, it is equally imperative that companies also implement effective social media policies for their employees. A 2017 case in Denmark provides a stark reminder of this. In this instance, an employee’s resharing and liking of a post from a related entity in another jurisdiction was found to be a breach of local Danish advertising laws. The post concerned a press release about the effectiveness of a medication in comparison to an alternative medication. This online interaction was viewed by Danish authorities as an endorsement of the product, and as the individual concerned was an employee of the manufacturer of the medication, this constituted a breach of the Danish advertising regulations. The case acts as a cautionary warning for companies to ensure they have stringent social media policies in force for both their internal use and for their employees.

This case also highlights the evolving meaning of what constitutes product endorsement and that liking, sharing and commenting could constitute promotion in this context. Companies therefore need to be vigilant to ensure that outside of any closed social media channels which they might deploy, their employees or related third parties do not inadvertently promote POMs to the public using social media.

The rise in promotion of GLP-1s on social media

The recent surge in social media advertisements for GLP-1s has brought increased media attention to the promotion of POMs. This advertising upsurge reflects the rising use of GLP-1s for weight management, and the increasingly competitive market for these products. This growing market has led to a more than thirty-five-fold increase in the seizure of counterfeit medicines by the Irish competent authority, the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) between 2022 and 2024. Social media platforms provide direct networks for consumers to source these products. The HPRA has responded to this recent surge by implementing measures to both monitor and remove such advertisements online. From January to November 2024, it has been reported that the HPRA removed or amended 456 web addresses linked to GLP-1 products: more than double the web addresses that had been removed or amended the previous year. The HPRA has also recognised and responded to a rise in online advertisements of medicines falsely claiming to be endorsed by the HPRA, including GLP-1s and has specifically requested certain social media platforms, to intervene and remove the product listings. In the UK the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has responded to this issue by designing machine-learning based tools that pre-assess posts that are likely to promote POMs and has used this technology to effectively filter online advertisements.

Notably, the UK Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency, the ASA and the General Pharmaceutical Council recently published an enforcement notice in direct response to the frequency with which advertisements for POMs are arising online. This enforcement notice reminded businesses that it is prohibited to promote POMs to the public and that GLP-1s are included in this prohibition. The enforcement notice also emphasised that companies face the risk of enforcement for indirectly advertising POMs, as well as direct promotion, including for content that may identify a POM without naming it, or imagery suggesting that it is promoting a POM. This enforcement notice makes it clear that businesses cannot use descriptions in online materials that are suggestive that they are referring to GLP-1s, such as using descriptions that identify the product in question, like ‘weight loss pen’ or ‘weight loss injection’. As part of its enforcement strategy in this area, the ASA also published a series of rulings on 9 July 2025 finding violation of the rules against advertising of POMs to the public.

It remains to be seen if the Irish regulators will adopt a similar joined-up approach, but it would be advisable for companies operating in the Irish market to also take note of these UK developments and to implement similar strategies.

Content creators and GLP-1s

In October 2025, The European Medicines Agency (EMA) launched a social media campaign to target users of GLP-1s to promote the safe and responsible use of these products. The EMA is partnering with content creators from seven EU jurisdictions (Ireland is not included in this list) to produce educational content on GLP-1s. The content creators will post audiovisual content and conduct interactive polls throughout the month-long campaign with a view to educating their audiences as to the safe and responsible use of GLP-1s. This is the first EU-wide initiative that is using social media itself to counteract the harmful effects of GLP-1 misinformation and illegal promotion of these products online. This reflects the rising sentiment that has been seen in Ireland, and other EU jurisdictions that the promotion of GLP-1s is predominantly occurring online. This campaign marks a shift toward more proactive and platform-specific regulation, highlighting a growing recognition among regulators that effective oversight of GLP-1 promotion requires direct engagement with digital environments where this unauthorised advertising is most prevalent.

The dividing line between promotion and awareness

The rise in popularity and promotion of GLP-1s has sparked another debate as to what substantively constitutes promotion in this space. This has come to the fore in online health awareness campaigns relating to chronic obesity that have been created by pharmaceutical companies that make or distribute GLP-1 products.

The HPRA Guide to Advertising Compliance clearly states that health/disease awareness campaigns are exempt from the prohibition on advertising of prescription-only medication if there is no reference, even indirectly to medicines

While these campaigns often do not specifically or even indirectly refer to weight-loss medications, they have been subject to complaints in different European jurisdictions, including Ireland and Spain. In one recent Irish case, the HPRA deemed one such obesity health awareness campaign as being within the boundaries of the Irish Marketing Regulations, given that the campaign material did not contain any reference, even indirectly, to medicinal products. The campaign (which took the form of bus and billboard advertisements directing to a website) included helpful tips and advice as to how to begin a weight-loss journey, including encouraging individuals to consult with their healthcare provider for advice. As the material did not specifically or indirectly allude to GLP-1s itself it was found that this did not constitute promotion of GLP-1s, even though it was paid for by a company that produces such products.

Moving forward in the digital age

The evolving digital landscape of social media presents both significant opportunities and challenges for companies in relation to the promotion of their medicinal products. While these digital platforms offer powerful tools for engagement, the strict regulatory framework in Ireland and across the EU demands careful navigation for industry, particularly in relation to the promotion of POMs. Companies must be vigilant: ensuring that they have carefully constructed social media policies in place, policies that are enforced and employees who are aware of the regulatory restrictions on the promotion of POMs.

While the online promotion of GLP-1s remains tightly regulated under the Irish Marketing Regulations, where even indirect references to weight-loss injections may risk breaching advertising rules, the landscape appears to be evolving. The outcome of the EMA’s recent initiative to engage social media influencers in educating the public about the risks and appropriate use of GLP-1s represents a possible way ahead. This shift towards proactive, informative outreach to these audiences may prove effective in reaching audiences that are being targeted and exposed to unauthorised promotional content. Nonetheless, until the way forward crystallises in Ireland and across the EU, companies must continue to exercise caution and ensure strict compliance when using social media platforms to communicate about medicinal products, especially POMs.

With thanks to Aoife O’Malley for her assistance with this piece.