India DCC Tightens Curbs on GLP-1 Drug Advertising

India's Drugs Consultative Committee (DCC), at its 68th meeting, formally deliberated on curbing surrogate and misleading advertising of prescription-only GLP-1 receptor agonists, drugs including Semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy), Liraglutide, and Dulaglutide, used for obesity and metabolic disorders. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization had already issued a relevant advisory on March 10, 2026, anchored in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Drugs Rules, 1945, prohibiting any promotional communication directed at the general public for these medicines. The DCC's concern centers on promotional material that overstates weight-loss efficacy, guarantees outcomes, or minimizes lifestyle interventions, conduct that qualifies as misleading promotion under Schedule J of the Drugs Rules and triggers regulatory action. The committee's agreed recommendations assign enforcement responsibility to State and Union Territory Drug Controllers, who must monitor Marketing Authorization Holders for compliance with approved indications, labeling, ethical marketing, and Risk Management Plan obligations. Significant violations may draw enforcement action by respective state and UT authorities under intimation to CDSCO. Additionally, the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission will compile monthly or bi-monthly adverse event reviews for these drug classes, creating a structured pharmacovigilance feedback loop to inform further regulatory responses.