Direct-to-Consumer Drug (DTC) Pharmaceutical Advertising Really is Big Business!
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No doubt that many of you already know that DTC advertising is an effective way for pharmaceutical companies to “push” their drugs. However, when I saw the amount of money that was spent on DTC in 2007 I was shocked! In 2007 alone, drug companies spent $5,375,117,382 on advertising. Yes, that's $5.375 billion dollars (think of how many research grants could have been funded or how much money could have been spent on universal healthcare!). The aggregate ROI for 25 pharma companies examined was impressive–totaling about $32 billion or roughly 7-fold!
A table published by Consumer Reports AdWatch highlights 25 of the biggest spenders along with their sales, giving an indication of how much their ad spending has paid off —or not! The drugs that received the biggest bang for the buck are bolded. Despite the conflict of interest and false advertising DTC flap over Lipitor, it still managed to have the third best return among the 25 products analyzed.
|
Drug |
Approved for1 |
DTC advertising |
Retail sales |
Sales per ad dollar spent |
|
Lunesta |
Insomnia |
$294,180,616 |
$712,740,000 |
$2.42 |
|
Ambien CR |
Insomnia |
$204,065,972 |
$876,028,000 |
$4.29 |
|
Cymbalta |
Anxiety, depression, diabetic neuropathy pain |
$183,336,687 |
$1,732,827,000 |
$9.45 |
|
Lipitor |
High cholesterol |
$180,866,960 |
$6,165,531,000 |
$34.09 |
|
Plavix |
Stroke risk reduction |
$174,942,656 |
$3,082,712,000 |
$17.62 |
|
Rozerem |
Insomnia |
$171,466,210 |
$116,658,000 |
$0.68 |
|
Cialis |
Erectile dysfunction |
$151,649,663 |
$453,233,000 |
$2.99 |
|
Vytorin |
High cholesterol |
$140,715,035 |
$1,938,882,000 |
$13.78 |
|
Nasonex |
Seasonal allergies |
$131,220,183 |
$892,534,000 |
$6.80 |
|
Advair Diskus |
Asthma |
$121,197,100 |
$3,390,766,000 |
$27.98 |
|
Boniva |
Osteoporosis |
$112,958,755 |
$404,109,000 |
$3.58 |
|
Zetia |
High cholesterol |
$110,357,144 |
$1,405,066,000 |
$12.73 |
|
Requip |
Restless Legs Syndrome, Parkinson's disease |
$106,271,994 |
$407,665,000 |
$3.84 |
|
Abilify |
Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia |
$105,768,412 |
$1,781,562,000 |
$16.84 |
|
Flomax |
Enlarged prostate |
$100,969,013 |
$1,002,163,000 |
$9.93 |
|
Nexium |
Heartburn and GERD |
$96,960,417 |
$4,355,901,000 |
$44.92 |
|
Valtrex |
Herpes and shingles |
$88,409,332 |
$1,395,313,000 |
$15.78 |
|
Spiriva |
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease |
$84,002,514 |
$868,226,000 |
$10.34 |
|
Yaz |
Contraceptive pill |
$83,566,746 |
$254,592,000 |
$3.05 |
|
Viagra |
Erectile dysfunction |
$83,064,378 |
$824,946,000 |
$9.93 |
|
Lyrica |
Fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain |
$70,663,685 |
$1,000,069,000 |
$14.15 |
|
Chantix |
Smoking cessation |
$63,979,755 |
$764,723,000 |
$11.95 |
|
Singulair |
Asthma and seasonal allergies |
$63,289,786 |
$2,863,326,000 |
$45.24 |
|
Celebrex |
Pain from conditions like osteoarthritis |
$55,230,236 |
$1,416,084,000 |
$25.64 |
|
Zyrtec |
Seasonal allergies |
$38,476,595 |
$1,302,807,000 |
$33.86 |
1Consumer Reports Consumer Drug Reference, 2008.
2Data compiled by Nielsen Media research, March 2008.
3Data provided by Drug Topics and Verispan, March 2008.
No wonder why everybody wants to work for a pharmaceutical company–despite the downsizing there is still substantial money to be made!
Until next time….
Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!
Valuable information!
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Enjoy.