HUMIRA MARKETS FOR PEDIATRIC CROHN'S APPROVAL

Friday, September 26, 2008

(note: Roger and Tony are fictional characters. Always talk to your doctor regarding medication questions.)

Covering the competitive landscape of biologic marketing since Feb. 2008 . . .

Please welcome back Roger Seco (RS) and Tony Ventris (TV). They will be assisting in segments on inflammatory bowel disease marketing.

Roger, Tony, tell us about your favorite marketers this season.

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Roger Seco (RS): This team has no fear, there's a devil-may-care attitude about them.

Tony Ventris (TV): You're talking about the Humira marketers.

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RS: Right. They're trying to get approval for pediatric Crohn's disease--to give Humira to kids with Crohn's.

TV: It's barely been a week since the FDA issued an alert¹ on all the biologics--Remicade, Humira, Tysabri, Enebrel. That's a tough environment to work in. What't the Humira teams' strategy?

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RS: Pure balls. They're going direct to consumer. They're running bogus stories on local TV news stations.

TV: These stations will do anything for revenue. But what's a bogus story?

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RS: Check out this "story"² on Humira featuring 15 year old Taralyn.

TV: Not a bad story. Cute girl. Learning to drive. Talking about how bad her disease is--then cutting to "Crohn's doesn't exist in me anymore."

I like how the "Crohn's doesn't exist in me anymore" is positioned near contact information to enroll in clinical trials.

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RS: If I was a parent, I'd want to try that.

TV: Me too. But in reality, the drug is not approved for kids and the reported side effects continue to worsen.

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RS: So you go right to the consumer--give them the image of the little girl getting better. It tugs at the parents' emotions. The parents start asking their doctors for the meds. It's a proven formula.

TV: Brilliant. No FDA approval board can argue with a group of pissed-off parents--forget about your studies and statistics.

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RS: Do you think any news services will balk at carrying the stories?

TV: We'll see. They ran the first segment on the local ABC station Las Vegas, Nevada.

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RS: I'm impressed. They're not letting the FDA warnings let them down. Go team Humira!

TV: I'm also putting them at number #1 this week. They tend to run these pilots in Nevada and Florida, well keep a eye-out for the campaign spreading further.

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TV: Until next week .. .

Latest Standings:

1. Humira
2. Remicade
3. Cimzia
4. Tysabri

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References

¹ WebMD.com, Sept 4, 2008, Deaths Heighten Arthritis Drugs Warning Enbrel, Humira, Remicade, and Cimzia to Get Stronger Warning About Fungal Infections

² ABC News, Las Vegas, NV, Sept. 15, 2008, Kids Fighting Crohn's Disease