Muscat: The Ministry of Health on Sunday issued Ministerial Resolution No 135/2025, which specifies the conditions and procedures for advertising or promoting medicines.
The resolution bans advertising or promoting medicines by any entity other than pharmaceutical companies, local agents, or pharmaceutical consulting offices, with the exception of scientific offices, unless they have obtained prior authorization from the Drug Safety Centre (DSC).
In order to obtain a license, the resolution requires that the medicine be officially registered and that the advertisement content be consistent with the internal leaflet and the Summary of Drug Properties (SmPC) specifying the target groups for the advertisement.
According to the decision, the advertisement must also adhere to public order and public morals and be free of any content that could harm public health or contain misleading information, exaggerations or insults to other medicines in accordance with the DSC’s approved advertising guide.
The DSC allows a period not exceeding 60 days to review and decide on the license application. Failure to respond within this period shall be considered a rejection of the application.
In case of missing documents or information, the applicant will be notified and given 30 days to complete the missing information, otherwise the application will be cancelled. The applicant may submit a new application 30 days after the date of the rejection decision.
The license term is set at 3 months, renewable with the same conditions. The renewal application must be submitted at least 20 days before the license expires.
The decision allows for the submission of a grievance to the Minister of Health within 60 days of the rejection decision. A decision must be made within 30 days. Failure to decide within this period constitutes a rejection of the grievance. The DSC also has the right to suspend the license if health risks or the drug’s ineffectiveness are identified.
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