Obesity Drugs Ready for DTC

?Qsymia meets all the criteria for a broad awareness campaign.? -Bob Ehrlich

Vivus, maker of obesity drug Qsymia, said that they completed formulating a DTC strategy for implementation in fall of 2013. This comment was made at an investor presentation June 18th. I have previously urged Vivus to do DTC because this drug is the ideal candidate.

Obviously, the obesity market is one of those juicy targets for DTC. Qsymia provides about 10% weight loss and most American adults could stand to lose that 10% or more. Vivus has been very careful to slowly build physician experience with Qsymia since its launch July 2012. FDA required a REMS (risk mitigation) strategy to carefully monitor the initial patient drug experience. In April 2013, FDA approved a REMS modification to allow wide distribution through retail pharmacies.

Now that Qsymia is widely dispensed, Vivus decided this is the time to start DTC. I do not know what media will be used but I assume to be effective, a broad multi-media campaign would be indicated including television. Qsymia meets all the criteria for a broad awareness campaign. It has broad age targeting, affects men and women, and affects all ethnic and racial groups.

I expect a very straightforward campaign. Ideally, it should use real patients who have had success with Qsymia. In this category, testimonials work. Qsymia has the unenviable task of competing with all the diet programs, OTC pills, exercise and equipment videos that all promote weight loss. These do not have the same FDA requirements for accurate claims. In fact, many are cited for extreme effectiveness claims.

I think in a few years, this category will include several DTC drugs as more get on the market. Given the enormous blockbuster potential of an effective, low risk weight loss pill, the obesity category should be in the billions. Those at the media companies should enjoy a new high-spend category replacing some of what was lost due to patent expirations.

I do not know the status of the agency assignment and assume this is one of the most widely coveted DTC assignments. This is one account “mad man” Don Draper would certainly covet more than his latest mistress. I look forward to seeing the fall campaign. Good luck Qsymia and I certainly would expect a robust ROI.

Bob Ehrlich, Chairman

DTC Perspectives, Inc.

Bob Ehrlich

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer at DTC Perspectives

Bob Ehrlich has over 20 years marketing experience in pharmaceutical and consumer products. Bob is the CEO of DTC Perspectives, Inc., a DTC services company founded in 2000. DTC Perspectives, Inc. developed the DTC National Conference, the largest DTC conference in the industry. DTC Perspectives, Inc. also publishes DTC Perspectives, a quarterly journal dedicated to DTC issues and practices. In addition DTC Perspectives, Inc. does DTC consulting for established and emerging companies, and provides DTC marketing plans for pharmaceutical companies.