Building a blockbuster
without DTC
Jun/26/2007 06:34 Filed in:
DTC
Environment
With the annual
market for diabetes drugs expected to reach at
least $25 billion worldwide by 2011, up from $15
billion today, drug makers have been investing
heavily in new approaches to treating diabetes.
With the recent troubles of oral agents
injectable medications are now gaining more
attention including Byetta which has quietly seen
its market share increase without substantial DTC
because of world of mouth about one of Byetta's
side effects...weight loss.
Byetta,
introduced in June 2005, has stirred high hopes.
The drug causes significant weight loss in many
patients — in contrast to most existing diabetes
treatments, which cause weight gain that can
potentially worsen the disease. In addition, some
data in animal studies hints that Byetta may help
the pancreas regrow the cells that produce
insulin, a crucial process in slowing the course
of diabetes. A visit to message boards on Web MD
indicated that indeed patients are talking about
this medication; "I lost 6 pounds in one month"
one patient said another said "I lost 16 pounds
in 5 months". There are a lot of people who want
to try Byetta but are afraid because of another
side effect, nausea. Again patients are talking
to each other about this potential side effect,
"I got nauseous for a couple of days but then it
went it away, it really wasn't that bad", still
another said "I didn't have any nausea at all".
Judging from the
buzz in Consumer Generated Media I believe that
Lilly has a potential blockbuster on their hands,
all without a substantial DTC budget. As
the Times
recently said:
Even without a
big marketing push, prescriptions for Byetta are
soaring, as news of the drug spreads among
diabetics and doctors. From November to January,
monthly prescriptions rose almost 40 percent, to
almost 100,000, well ahead of analysts'
forecasts. Byetta costs about $170 a month, or
$2,100 a year, slightly more than most other
diabetes drugs, but most insurers cover it. In
addition despite the cautions and drawbacks, some
doctors appear to be prescribing Byetta primarily
as a weight-loss aid in people who do not have
elevated blood sugar. A visit to Google with the
keyword Byetta Blog and one finds that there are
a lot of diabetics who are talking about Byetta
and sharing information. This is the power of
Consumer Generated Media and should be lesson to
pharma that alternative channels can yield great
results when the Internet is used to get people
talking to one another.
Tags: Byetta
