Over-the-counter drug businesses in Europe require innovation in the form of new products and line extensions to drive growth--but this growth also could depend on OTC marketers' ability to educate pharmacists about their novel products.
That was the message from industry executives in early June at the annual meeting of the Association of the European Self-Medication Industry in Vienna, Austria, where several presenters discussed the changing role of pharmacists as learned intermediaries.
Rx-to-OTC switches such as GlaxoSmithKline's alli and the forthcoming Pantozol Control from Nycomed - each drug is a lower-dose version of a prescription product - underscore the role of pharmacists in educating patients.
Clear Need For Education
In Europe, OTC marketers luckily have a wealth of qualified, skilled professional pharmacists, noted Nycomed's OTC head, Etienne De Laroulliere.
During the regulatory process to get the OTC proton pump inhibitor Pantozol Control (pantoprazole) approved, "We've clearly seen the role of the pharmacy will be a key factor for success" to inform consumers about the various options available to control heartburn, De Laroulliere said at the AESGP meeting.
Pantozol Control, which received an advisory panel's recommendation for approval, awaits EU regulators' final decision (1 'The Tan Sheet' May 18, 2009).
Hans Regenauer, Boehringer Ingelheim's worldwide head of consumer care, agreed that growing OTC sales in Europe often requires pharmacist support.
"The pharmacist is important, was important and will remain important in helping the consumer or patient to responsibly use highly innovative substances," Regenauer said.
"We shouldn't underestimate the need from the consumer perspective to understand exactly what happens" when they use OTC medicines alone or in combination with other OTC or prescription products, he added.
Mutual Value For Consumers, Pharmacists
Consumers clearly value the interaction, Nielsen Co. survey results show.
In a survey Nielsen conducted to gauge attitudes and behaviors related to self-medication, Europeans placed "the advice of the pharmacist" as a factor second in importance only to "I know it works."
And that suits pharmacists just fine in many European markets, Nielsen's Robert Buckeldee said.
In countries where OTC medicines can be sold in a mass-market setting - for example, in a supermarket - pharmacists feel they need to provide a value-added service and engage more with the consumer, Buckeldee said.
Cavan Redmond, president of Wyeth Consumer Healthcare, said consumers value the price of their interaction with pharmacists.
"Consumers are looking more often not for paid advice from a doctor, but for free advice on which product to take and when to take it," he said.
At the close of Pfizer's takeover of Wyeth, Redmond is slated to head up Pfizer's diversified business unit, which will oversee Wyeth's consumer health and nutrition businesses. The unit also will include both Pfizer's and Wyeth's animal health businesses (2 'The Tan Sheet' April 13, 2009).
Alli - A Model Case
The recent European launch of GSK's weight-loss product alli illustrates the importance of educating pharmacists, as well as the preparations necessary to roll out a concerted educational campaign (3 'The Tan Sheet' Oct. 27, 2008).
Manfred Scheske, president of GSK Consumer Healthcare, Europe, noted that public relations and advertising could only get the company so far in communicating the product's profile to consumers.
"We have one pack and one name and one pill," he said.
On the national level in Europe, however, firms face marketing a single brand to 27 different populations. GSK aired a different TV commercial for alli in every EU member state and set up 24 different Web sites, Scheske said.
However, "there's one thing in common" across the continent, he added.
"It was clear to us from day one that we had to incorporate the pharmacist into our strategy."
"For us it was quite clear that we have to drive interested consumers into well-prepared pharmacies where they'll meet motivated and well-trained pharmacists," he said.
Pharmacists were ready to engage with consumers on weight management and weight control, Scheske said, "but we had to train them."
GSK spent months in advance training, including face-to-face sessions with more than 150,000 pharmacy staff, Scheske said.
Including other methods of training, GSK reached out to 270,000 individuals.
"We've done a lot here, at a scale at which we had never done it before," said Scheske. "It was our most comprehensive training with pharmacists ever."
Sales figures for alli, which has been on the market in Europe for about nine weeks, were not available.
But Scheske says he hopes GSK's outreach will pay off immediately. "There were queues in front of the pharmacies the day we started selling," said Scheske.
GSK's U.S. launch of alli in 2008 drew a consultant's praise for effectively integrating marketing well before the product reached stores (4 'The Tan Sheet' April 28, 2008).
Sales were the primary proof of the U.S. launch's success. GSK reported higher sales for alli's first six months on the market than the previous 12 months of sales for the Rx Xenical (orlistat 120 mg) product.
However, U.S. sales of alli slipped significantly, and GSK recently moved the advertising contract for the product to a different agency.
- Chris Morrison (c.morrison@elsevier.com)
This article first appeared in The Tan Sheet on June 22, 2009.
