-July 5, 2005
The drug industry spent $388.5 million on consumer drug ads on network TV in the first quarter, a decline of $44 million compared to the same time last year, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus. The 10 percent reduction on television ad spending might be reflecting the greater scrutiny on drug companies and big budget direct to consumer advertising that has been blamed with exposing a much greater number of consumers to drugs that are not necessarily the best treatment option.
Reflecting the sharpest quarterly fall in two years, most of the spending decline came from several big ad campaigns, including Viagra, Prevacid, Celebrex and Crestor. Pfizer pulled television ads for its anti-impotence drug Viagra after the FDA said in November that they were misleading. Pfizer spent about $11 million in the first quarter of last year on Viagra network TV spending.
Pfizer also spent little advertising its controversial painkiller Celebrex. In December, the company pulled ads for the drug after a study showed it was associated to increased risks of heart attacks and strokes. In the first quarter of last year, Pfizer spent $12 million on Celebrex TV ads, but the drug belongs to the same drug family as the now recalled drugs Vioxx and Bextra. Celebrex must now carry a black box warning, the FDA’s strongest issued drug safety warning, about the risks of cardiovascular events – the same reason Vioxx and Bextra were pulled from the market.
AstraZeneca spent just $1.1 million on TV ads for its anti-cholesterol drug Crestor in the first quarter, compared to $9.4 million at the same time last year. In March, the FDA approved revisions to safety labeling to advise doctors and patients that the use of Crestor is associated with an increased risk of myopathy and rhabdomyolysis. New Crestor TV ads, launched in April, put a greater focus on the drug’s risks.
TAP Pharmaceuticals didn’t spend any money on TV ads for its heartburn drug Prevacid in the first quarter, compared to $18 million in the same time period last year. The company decided last fall that 60-second TV spots could not adequately present the drug’s benefits and risks. According to Frank Ginsberg, chairman of ad agency Avrett Free & Ginsberg, drugmakers are trying to pursue more targeted consumer ads through more direct outlets, including the Internet, cable TV and direct mail.
For more information on drug safety information, please contact us to confer with an attorney.
More Recent Defective Drug News
