Pfizer has hired an advertising agency to begin pitching its anti-smoking drug, Chantix, to consumers. The drug giant will work with McCann HumanCare to launch direct-to-consumer advertising for the smoking-cessation drug and its GetQuit support program.

In financial reports and analyst presentations, company executives have made it clear that the success of the drug depends on their ability to portray smoking as a "chronic, relapsing medical condition"--an illness that requires pharmaceutical intervention--rather than a weakness of character. This four-word phrase will be key to getting physicians to prescribe additional courses of Chantix (varenicline) when they don't see immediate results and in helping to garner insurance reimbursement for a drug still largely seen as a lifestyle product. It's a message that is also designed to help motivate the large "cold-turkey market" to consider using a prescription drug to cure their addiction.

A spokesperson at McCann referred all calls to Pfizer. A Pfizer representative could not be reached for comment. Yet it is fair to say that Chantix's launch will involve heavy consumer and physician education to not only drive awareness of the product but to change the understanding of nicotine addiction.

Pfizer will also promote its GetQuit behavioral support program. The program, which patients can join for free with a 12-week prescription, includes a step-by-step guide to quitting, a personalized Web site, regular phone call or e-mail check-ins, and a cravings hotline. It also helps physicians counsel patients on how to quit.

Billings for the account were not disclosed. Chantix earned a modest $101 million last year, but Pfizer counts the drug as one of the products that will contribute significant revenue to its bottom line. Chantix is currently priced for a cash market, but Pfizer has been relentless in pitching managed care plans with the message that higher smoking rates among young people could eventually lead to higher medical costs down the line.

Pfizer's marketing team has been feverishly working to unveil new campaigns for its key growth drivers after the high-profile failure of HDL-raising drug torcetrapib. The company spent $2.6 billion on advertising last year, compared with $2.7 billion in both 2005 and 2004. Executives are paring down the company's sales force and looking for new ways to reach consumer and physician audiences, but it remains to be seen how much Pfizer's advertising budget will change this year.

Articles

McCann HumanCare will launch Pfizer anti-smoking drug Chantix.

Getting Their Fix

GlaxoSmithKline last week launched a new program to provide educational information to the 60 largest AIDS service organizations (ASOs) in the US. As HIV patients with access to treatment are living for many years--and HIV becomes more of a chronic than an acutely deadly disease--a crowded field of companies are looking for new ways to reach new patients and build brand loyalty.

The initiative--dubbed "A Positive Life"--complements GSK's Positive Action umbrella program for HIV education. The firm last year spent more than $39 million on public health programs, including HIV outreach in 17 countries.

According to Marc Meachem, manager of communications, the largely unbranded program is a comprehensive "HIV 101" course--with basic information about prevention, testing positive, general health, care giving, and HIV treatment, including different drug classes, how combo therapy works, and the importance of compliance. The British drug giant currently markets six of the 27 available HIV drugs.

Meachem added that since chronic care is a growing focus of treating HIV patients, a significant portion of the program centers on living well with HIV over the long term. The initiative includes print material for ASOs, a Web site at APositiveLife.com, and specially trained clinicians who can speak to patients about the disease.

GSK is promoting the program through media relations with reporters who cover HIV. "One of the most compelling things is patient stories," Meachem said, describing the site. "Some of these personal stories are very meaningful."

While early industry efforts focused on raising awareness--driving home messages like "get tested"--newer programs are concentrating on building community, especially as stigmas are breaking down and the nature of the disease has changed.

Market factors might also be driving the shift. Where the HIV sector once had a comfortable compounded annual growth rate of 13.3 percent, growth is expected to slow to 4.1 percent by 2015, according to research firm Datamonitor. The loss of patent protection on older antiretrovirals and increased competition are two of the main factors squeezing companies in this space.

At GSK, the HIV franchise brought in $2.9 billion last year, down 1 percent since 2005. The company was particularly hard hit in the United States, where its portfolio of therapies posted a loss of seven percent--mainly due to decreased revenue from lead product Combivir (lamivudine/zidovudine, down 9 percent to $1 billion) and Epivir (lamivudine, down 21 percent to $396 million).

Yet GSK boasted double-digit growth for its newcomers, including Epzicom (abacavir/lamivudine, more than doubling to $473 million) and Lexiva (fosamprenavir, up 18 percent to $257 million). It also has three compounds in development, including an early-stage vaccine.

Changing nature of disease, market pressures shape how companies communicate about HIV drugs.

GSK Builds HIV Community

Consumers are attracted to drug Web sites that engage them with educational info rather than fluff or hype--and they're likely to log off if they believe they're getting a hard sell, a new study has found.

The Web sites for erectile dysfunction (ED) drugs Cialis (tadalafil) and Viagra (sildenafil) motivated the highest percentage of visitors to ask their doctors for a prescription--and not just because of their sexy content. "Consumers want more understanding of their condition," said Meredith Abreu, vice president of Manhattan Research, which tracks the online behavior of patients and physicians. "They want tactical information."

Eli Lilly's Cialis.com, for instance, features sections such as "About ED," "Talking to Your Doctor," and "Help for Partners"--complete with several videos and excerpts from a physician-authored book on ED. Pfizer's Viagra.com similarly features a sexual health quiz, a video, and conversation starters for broaching the subject of ED with a doctor.

Manhattan Research's annual survey of 4,965 consumers (who visited about 180 different product sites) revealed a high correlation between self-reported Web-motivated prescription requests and the amount of information companies provide about side effects, the product's mechanism of action, and even alternative treatment options.

For instance, the Web site for Sanofi-Aventis' Allegra (fexafenadine)--the fifth most successful site for generating prescription requests--offers a feature that compares the allergy drug with three other products. (Allegra, not surprisingly, wins the race, but consumers nevertheless seem to value the head-to-head.)

In the same vein, drug makers are increasingly addressing the issue of price and reimbursement on their Web sites, Abreu noted. Coupons and e-newsletters can also help get consumers to try a drug and then stick with it, but rank lower in importance than disease and price information.

On average, among the sites that have more than 1.5 million visitors, roughly 7 percent ask for a prescription. The top-performing sites spark script requests in the double digits (although Abreu declined to disclose exact figures.)

Rounding out the top five were AstraZeneca's heartburn drug Nexium (esomeprazole) and Sepracor's insomnia drug Lunesta (eszopiclone), at numbers three and four respectively.

The study also looked at what drove visitors to a particular product site. Sites for lifestyle products typically receive visitors that are not taking any treatment but had their interest piqued by a TV or print advertisement. Sites for serious conditions like hypertension often receive hits from patients currently on therapy and researching disease-management tools.

The sheer volume of visitors should command manufacturers to pay attention to the information they present on their Web sites, Abreu noted. "The numbers keep exceeding our expectations," she said. "Your product site really is a critical tool that consumers are using. It is the reality today."

Product sites need to offer consumers more than just a hard sell.

Pharmaceutical Executive-03-28-2007

Getting Their Fix

GSK Builds HIV Community

The Most Convincing Drugs on the Web