November 21, 2001

Report Links Consumer Drug Ads to Jump in Spending

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011121/hl/consumers_1.html

By Doug Macron

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A handful of prescription drugs that 
were 
widely advertised directly to consumers accounted for almost half 
the 
overall increase in pharmaceutical spending between 1999 and 2000, 
according to a study released by the National Institute for Health 
Care 
Management Research and Education (NIHCM) Foundation on 
Wednesday.

An NIHCM report released earlier this year found that retail 
prescription 
drug spending in the US jumped to about $131.9 billion in 2000, from 
$111.1 billion the year before. The NIHCM's newest findings indicate 
that 
sales of the 50 drugs most heavily advertised to consumers 
accounted for 
48% of this total increase.

The roughly 9,850 other prescription medicines sold in the US were 
responsible for the remaining 52%.

These 50 drugs--which include AstraZeneca's ulcer drug Prilosec 
(omeprazole), Pfizer's cholesterol fighter Lipitor (news - web sites) 
(atorvastatin) and GlaxoSmithKline's antidepressant Paxil 
(paroxetine)--also pulled in $41.3 billion in 2000, roughly 31% of 
the 
total Americans spent on all prescription drugs that year.

The study also found that drugmakers spent $2.5 billion on 
direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising, primarily in the form of 
television 
commercials, last year. This marks a 35% rise from 1999 and more 
than 
100% jump since 1997 when the US Food and Drug Administration 
(news - web 
sites) relaxed restrictions on prescription drug advertising.

Leading the pack of companies investing in DTC ads, according to the 
NIHCM report, is Whitehouse Station, New Jersey-based Merck for its 
arthritis drug Vioxx (rofecoxib). According to the report, Merck 
spent 
$160.8 million on promoting the drug in the mass media.

Vioxx generated sales of $1.5 billion in 2000, up 360% over the year 
before.

On the other hand, Pfizer and Pharmacia, which co-market Vioxx's 
biggest 
competitor Celebrex, spent $78.3 million on DTC ads for their drug, 
which 
pulled in $2.6 billion last year, a 78% increase over 1999....