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DTC-In-Perspective by Bob Ehrlich

Trump and Pharma

November 12, 2024 0

The election of Donald Trump is having pharmaceutical companies evaluate how things may change in terms of legislation and regulation. Trump is not yet clear on his moves regarding pharma. In his first term, he criticized the drug companies for pricing higher in the U.S. than other developed countries. Republicans in Congress have generally not allowed punitive legislation on price controls. They understand the negative impact price controls would have on R&D. Trump wants lower prices and that is publicly popular.  Acting on PBMs would be one option. Another would be allowing and promoting reimportation of drugs.

The DTC Industry should be nervous about Robert Kennedy Jr. being given a large role in healthcare policy. He said on 11/4 that he wanted to get Trump back in D.C. so they can “ban pharmaceutical advertising on TV.”  Scary comment. Kennedy is known for anti-vaccine sentiment and the desire to get corporate influence reduced. He is anxious to focus on prevention of disease which he feels is neglected in budgetary decisions. Kennedy thinks DTC advertisers exert influence on editorial coverage. Anyone who has watched news coverage knows the drug industry has not historically been favorably covered.

I doubt Trump will act on DTC advertising. He did not in his first term and a Republican Congress will recognize the free speech rights to advertise. I do expect Trump to speed up the regulatory drug approval process and that should be a net positive for innovation. In fact, expansion of drug use and DTC ads promoting such should help in the disease prevention goal of Kennedy.

Will FDA be asked by Kennedy and Trump to make DTC harder to execute? It is already harder with the latest OPDP rule recently implemented. Can it be made so restrictive that DTC ads are impractical? That is certainly a possibility, but the drug, media, and advertising agency lobby is strong and persuasive. Usually, the pro advertising forces have prevailed. Republicans have historically been pro-advertising, and I expect Trump not to act even if Kennedy proposes a ban.

Uncertainty is never helpful in DTC planning and the anti-DTC proponents will make a lot of noise. I remain confident, however, that no actions will be taken to ban or further restrict DTC.

Bob Ehrlich

DTC-In-Perspective by Bob Ehrlich

DTC in Perspective: Cosentyx DTC Joins Psoriasis Battle

February 5, 2016 0

The television campaign for plaque psoriasis fighter Consentyx started in January. The new drug from Novartis is joining Humira, Otezla, Stelara, Remicade and Enbrel. All have been DTC advertisers in a market affecting about 7.5 million Americans.

Cosentyx is taking an interesting DTC creative approach. It is using testimonials from real patients who ask others to see them, not just their psoriasis. The “See Me” campaign asks people to recognize that people suffering from psoriasis do not want to be stared at, or avoided out of fears psoriasis is contagious. The patients want others to see them as fighters searching for something to clear their skin.

Bob Ehrlich
“Cosentyx is taking an interesting DTC creative approach…”
-Bob Ehrlich

The opening 20 seconds sets up nicely the sell copy on the drug itself. It says Consentyx is a different kind of treatment that results in 80% of people seeing 75-90% skin clearance after three months. In a very crowded DTC market, I think the new Cosentyx spot breaks through nicely. The “See Me” headline superimposed over the patient faces on screen is a nice way to carry the approach through print and Internet ads.

The ending, after the usual warnings, ends with a nice tag line, “Find a clearer path forward.” It is also interesting that instead of ask your doctor, they say ask your dermatologist. It seems they want to get specialists on board before getting generalists to prescribe it. Cosentyx, as with most of these new drugs is expensive, costing thousands to treat. The higher prices are what is the incentive to do heavy DTC spending in a relatively small patient population.

Like all these newer premium priced drugs, the advertisers will face sticker shock from those patients who have problems getting reimbursement or have high co-pays. The recent trend for drug makers has been to advertise drugs regardless of price. They want to create demand as this helps push reluctant payers to cover the drug. Most insurance companies would prefer patients use much cheaper, albeit, less effective old line treatments. DTC for newer drugs is trying to create patient awareness that there are very effective treatments now available. Cost/benefit will be debated by the payers and patient demand has been an important dynamic in pushing payers to cover the newer treatments.

Would payers cover these new premium priced drugs if DTC did not exist? My guess is it would take much longer for coverage and be available to many fewer patients without patient awareness and requests.

Bob Ehrlich