Propecia
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PROPECIA as a brand name for treating male pattern hair loss (MPHL) contains the drug Finasteride, which was originally developed to treat enlarged prostates. Merck, one of the top leading pharmaceutical companies in the world, was set to develop a marketing strategy for PROPECIA, which contains 1mg dose of Finasteride. Numerous clinical trials were performed to ensure that PROPECIA worked and to study side effects that may be prevalent from the usage of the drug. Approximately 83% of the participants maintained their current hair count, but there were about 66% of the males in the study that showed a visible regrowth within the first year of taking it. There were some sexual side effects shown by a few number of men and birth defects could be caused by pregnant women.
Merck traditionally manufactured drugs that were geared toward curing an ailment, not for cosmetic drugs. They have previously had products for the treatment of AIDS, elevated cholesterol, hypertension, etc. that have received over $250 million in sales in 1997. The introduction of PROPECIA, while not fitting the traditional curing ailment drug, has the potential to draw in a substantial amount of revenue. MPHL occurs in 30-40 million American men, so the potential market for PROPECIA would be at least half of the male population. However, men are usually reluctant to seek treatment for hair loss, often waiting for years. A lot of men affected are concerned about the problem, but most think of it as a future problem and do not seek treatment. The hair loss market does account for approximately $1.5 billion in annual sales that comes from one of the following solutions: hair replacement surgery, mechanical solutions, or topical interventions. Rogaine is by far the best example of a topical solution to hair loss. When Rogaine was only available by prescription, it failed to meet marketing expectations, however, when it became available over the counter, the usage rate increased significantly. Rogaine was also able to create a valuable brand awareness that helped to stage off generic versions of the drug.
The marketing of prescription drugs can be complicated because of regulations imposed by the FDA. A prescription drug must be approved by the FDA as “safe and effective” and any side effects needed to be included in all advertisements and promotions. Marketing directly to physicians is very common among pharmaceutical companies. This requires finding the time a physician has available (usually very limited, less than 2 minutes) and pitching the promotion, that is very detailed oriented. Because of this limited time available, there is usually a primary drug to campaign and maybe a secondary and tertiary product that gets much less time spent on detailing.
If a pharmaceutical company marketed directly to the consumer, as Merck believed it should do, full disclosure of side effects and contradictions had to be spelled out prior to 1997. This required additional printing and excess time to describe during advertisements. There were two types of advertisements that were excluded from the full disclosure: unbranded help seeking, and branded reminder. In 1997, the FDA decided to be less stringent and allow the airing of broadcast ads without full disclosure as long as the major side effects were discussed. Information on where to find the full disclosure also had to be mentioned.
As you see, there were choices as to which marketing strategy Merck should embark on. Merck had previous experience marketing