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Bayer/Glaxosmithkline and Cialis from
Eli Lilly will have a significant impact in growing the market and providing
additional treatment options in a much maligned disease area. These two new
products are following the trend of a recent shift in focus by pharmaceutical
companies into lifestyle therapy areas (such as erectile dysfunction, obesity
and smoking cessation). It is believed that these two new products could be
more effective than present therapies.
However we must acknowledge the
impact that firstly Viagra (sildenafil), launched in 1998, and then Uprima
(apomorphine), launched in 2001, have had in treating a serious and sensitive
condition. The hype surrounding the launch of Viagra, the little blue pill, was
impossible to escape; never before has a product had this type of public media
attention.
This article aims to study the success of the launches of
Viagra and Uprima into a novel market. The dynamics and opportunities for
prescribing in the erectile dysfunction market will be researched using Launch
Essential and Isis DSL; both are syndicated research services available from
the Healthcare Intelligence Systems department at Isis Research.
Launch Essential is an advanced usage
and awareness tracker that combines the key parameters for launch success in
one database. It provides a complete overview of 15 years worth of product
launches past and present and is an ideal competitor intelligence tool. Isis
DSL provides continuous information on the opportunity prescribing by UK GPs
across a broad range of therapy areas.
The Launch Essential data shows
that there was a marked difference in GPs post launch awareness of Viagra and
Uprima. Mainly as a result of the media hype surrounding Viagra's launch, it is
unsurprising that over 82% of GPs were aware of Viagra twelve months post
launch compared to a lesser 62% awareness of Uprima. Viagra's impact on the
erectile dysfunction market was vast, as it was a novel treatment option in a
stagnant market. Although the media was active in promoting this new compound
and raising public awareness of the condition, Pfizer was also responsible for
increasing GPs awareness of the product through a high volume of sales visits.
The data from Isis Research shows that 68% of the panel had been called on at
least once by a Viagra rep in the initial 12 months post launch. During
Uprima's first 12 months post launch a lower level of GP coverage was achieved,
with 40% of our panel reporting a detail.
One of the additional
features of the Launch Essential database allows you to monitor the messages
that the sales force are communicating about your product. The analysis that we
have carried out on key message response within the erectile dysfunction market
looks at the most recent six months of data we have for each product. The data
is averaged for the purposes of this article to give a percentage figure in
each category for the time period.
We notice that the messages for Uprima
are broad ranging and focus on product type, indications, competitor
comparisons and dosage. The key messages for Viagra focus solely on product
type and efficacy. This difference may be due in part to the impact Viagra had
and the subsequent need for Uprima to differentiate itself.
The launch
of Uprima into the erectile dysfunction market in the last year has impacted on
the share of opportunities enjoyed by Viagra . This is unsurprising, as until
this time Viagra had enjoyed almost exclusivity within this market as the only
available oral treatment. However, although the share of opportunities for
Viagra has fallen, the total number of opportunity scripts written for Viagra
has remained fairly constant over the last 12 months.
This is as a
result of a continued growth in the market with total opportunities increasing
from approximately 45,000 in the April 01 MQT (Moving Quarterly Total) to
approximately 52,000 a year later. This increase can be attributed to both an
increase in the volume of newly diagnosed patients, as well as a rise in the
number of switches between therapies.
Ongoing media coverage regarding
this previously taboo condition continues to prompt patients to seek treatment
for the first time from their GP. Viagra continues to enjoy the majority of
these opportunity scripts for newly diagnosed patients. In the MAT to April
2002 of the 101,000 opportunities for newly diagnosed patients, Viagra received
82% of this total in comparison to 15% for Uprima. For a large number of
doctors the blue haze of the Viagra publicity lingers on and Viagra remains the
gold standard for erectile dysfunction treatment, being used automatically as
first line treatment in new patients.
The launch of Uprima has opened up
the options available to GPs for treating erectile dysfunction, and as a result
we have seen an increase in the switch opportunities. The majority of these are
occurring when GPs switch patients from Viagra to Uprima. For patients who were
previously unsatisfied with Viagra, Abbott has provided an alternative option,
which these GPs are exploiting. DSL data provides us with the GPs verbatim
reasons behind an opportunity prescription. The majority of switches from
Viagra to Uprima are reported to be as a result of ineffective treatment with
Viagra; "Viagra is partly effective", or side effects. The increased public
awareness of the condition, and treatments is also seen here with patients
requesting a change to this newer therapy; "Patient heard about Uprima and
wants to try". Uprima has also offered an alternative treatment to those
patients for whom Viagra is contraindicated, for example patients have been
switched to Uprima as "nitrate [treatment is] needed"
The forthcoming
launches of Cialis and Vardenafil will effectively double the treatment options
available for this condition and it will be interesting to see how these
products are absorbed into the market. Will they be able to take the shine off
Viagra's gold standard for new patients? Or will Uprima suffer as a result of
these new entrants splitting the opportunities for those unsatisfied, or
contraindicated for Viagra? The impact on the total opportunities enjoyed by
current products will to some extent depend on the potential there is to expand
the pool of new patients through increased public awareness exercises, and
if/when DTC comes into play advertising to consumers. Whatever lies ahead the
dynamics of this market are set to change quite considerably over the next 12
months.
About the author
Isis
Research plc is the parent company of Isis Research, Fieldwork International
and Maxis Research. Isis Research has its global and regional headquarters in
London. Working together with our affiliated companies, Fieldwork International
and Maxis Research, we can provide our clients with all their healthcare market
research needs - from early product development through to sales force
effectiveness; fieldwork and data processing in one integrated package.
For further information on Isis Research plc,
click here.
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