Revealed: massive PR drive to sell ‘skinny jab’

The drug giant behind weight loss injections newly approved for NHS use spent millions in just three years on an “orchestrated PR campaign” to boost its UK influence..

As part of its strategy, Novo Nordisk paid £21.7m to experts and charities that went on to praise the treatment without always making clear their links to the firm, an Observer investigation has found.

Among the vocal champions of the Wegovy jabs whose organisations received funding was a clinical expert who gave evidence to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) and others who publicly praised the so-called “skinny jabs” as a “gamechanger”.

The revelations come as the Danish drug giant is investigated by the UK’s pharmaceutical watchdog after it was found to have breached the industry code seven times in relation to a “disguised promotional campaign” of another of its weight loss drugs via online webinars for healthcare professionals.

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry said it had ordered an audit of the firm’s company culture to establish whether the breaches were a one-off or part of a wider web of compliance failures.

The 3,600 payments from Novo Nordisk in 2019-21 include dona

tions, event sponsorship, grants and other fees to prominent obesity charities, NHS trusts, royal colleges, GP practices, healthcare education providers, and universities.

The Observer can reveal: a professor who promoted the benefits of the jab on the BBC Today programme last week is a former adviser to Novo. Jason Halford is also president of an obesity organisation which was paid more than £3.6m by the firm. Listeners were not told of these links.

A second expert, Nick Finer, a former honorary professor at University College London, was a senior clinical scientist at Novo until last July and owns shares. A third prominent scientist, Prof John Wilding, who gave evidence to Nice, was president of an organisation paid more than £4.33m by Novo in three years. His declaration of interests to Nice shows these donations were not disclosed.

There is no suggestion the payments broke any rules, and the company says it has never “deliberately acted” outside ethical or legal standards. Recipients of the funding say they were not influenced by it and they properly declared their interests. While independent experts have described the recommendation to make the drug available on the NHS as “welcome news”, there is concern the public debate may be influenced by drugs industry funding.

Simon Capewell, emeritus professor at the Institute of Population Health, Liverpool University, said the Novo payments were an effort to “buy influence and favourable opinion”.

Among the biggest recipients of cash were obesity charities, according to Observer analysis of pharmaceutical industry disclosure logs.

The World Obesity Federation ( WOF), was paid £ 4,326,698 by Novo between 2019 and 2021. The European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) received £3,666,574 in the same period. The donations made up a substantial proportion of the charities’ income but Novo is not mentioned in their accounts.

Both organisations are affiliated to the UK Association for the Study of Obesity (ASO), which gave evidence to Nice, saying Wegovy was “by far the most effective treatment for obesity at the current moment”. The ASO, which had received a £100,000 donation from Novo in 2021, said its interests were appropriately declared.

Nice said it had a “robust policy” for declaring interests and that openness around potential conflicts was “vital” so they could be properly managed. “We will review the information provided against our policy on declaring and managing interests for Nice advisory committees,” the watchdog said.

Novo Nordisk said it was “committed to working in a transparent and ethical manner with policymakers and adheres to the strict regulatory and legal frameworks that govern both our industry and parliamentary best practice”. “The insinuation that Novo Nordisk has deliberately acted outside of ethical or legal standards and proper processes is unfounded and misleading,” it added.

In relation to its webinars, it said its intention had been to educate health professionals on weight management but accepted significant mistakes were made.

Leeds University, where Halford works, said his published papers “contain full disclosure” of his interests. A spokesperson said Halford did not receive remuneration for consultancy work, and any Novo payments were made to the university.

Finer said he had always correctly disclosed his interests and had made clear when providing comment last week to the Science Media Centre, which provides comment for news outlets, that he was a former employee of Novo. The WOF and EASO say their decision-making processes and activities are not influenced by industry donations. Wilding said he “strongly refuted” the interpretation of his relationship with Novo and his role in the Nice process.