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March 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has sent warning letters to 30 telehealth companies for making false or misleading claims about compounded versions of weight‑loss drugs, the agency said on Tuesday.

The health regulator said the firms promoted compounded GLP‑1 products on their websites in ways that could mislead consumers into thinking the medicines were the same as approved weight-loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk's NOVOb.CO Wegovy or Ozempic and Eli Lilly's LLY.N Mounjaro.

The agency said some companies made claims that their compounded products were the same as approved GLP‑1 drugs, and also hid where the products came from by branding the drugs with their own names in a way that made it look like they were the manufacturer.

FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said the agency was entering "a new era of enforcement. We are paying close attention to misleading claims being made by telehealth and pharma companies across all media platforms — and taking swift action."

This marks the second group of warning letters sent to telehealth companies since the FDA launched a crackdown in September targeting misleading direct‑to‑consumer pharmaceutical advertising, the agency said.