Last month, Hill and Knowlton merged its ethical and consumer
healthcare divisions to create a single offering, reflecting the
increasingly consumer-driven focus of the drugs market.
As UK law stands today, it is illegal to market, advertise or promote
prescription only medicines (POMs) to the general public. This is backed
by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), which
has a self-policed, but rigorously enforced, code of practice.
The ban aims to protect the interests of patients and ensure that GPs
have a free hand to offer the most appropriate medical advice. However,
last year the US began allowing controlled DTC (direct to consumer)
advertising for pharmaceutical products and many would like to see the
European market go the same way.
’We have many drivers for change, mostly from patients who want to know
more about their medicines and their healthcare in general,’ says ABPI
head of media Richard Ley. In the UK, this is reflected in the growth of
media doctors and a decline in public confidence in GPs.
But change is also being driven by the current contradictions in
accessing drug product information. For example, a search on the
internet for the latest date about anti-impotence drug Viagra, throws up
a confusing wealth of web sites - some good, some utter junk. It would
seem a safe bet that Viagra manufacturer Pfizer would offer the one web
site where such information would be ethically presented. But legally,
Pfizer’s hands are tied over how much data it can present in a public
forum.
While the majority of players in the debate on the future of POMs
promotion agree that the current situation in Europe will have to
change, some have reservations about the long-term implications. Dr
James Kennedy, prescribing spokesman for the Royal College of General
Practitioners, says:. ’What concerns us about DTC advertising is that it
is potentially confusing if information is incomplete or data biased
towards one product.’
In addition, GPs could face patients demanding medicines they have seen
advertised, which are inappropriate to their specific condition.
But a far wider concern is the prospect of market forces governing
public health. Take diabetes for example, which currently goes
undiagnosed in a significant number of the UK population.
Under current legislation, if a pharmaceutical company is looking to
promote its diabetes product, a disease awareness campaign would be a
sensible option. With DTC advertising, a more cost-effective option may
be a product-driven campaign, limited to diabetes sufferers only.
However, it seems inevitable that legislation, which is governed by
Europe, will change and estimates on the timing range from two to five
years.
Drugs companies are already actively marketing to consumers. With
products such as Benecol and Yakult on the market that offer health
benefits backed by clinical trials, there is a steady blurring of the
lines between what is a pharmaceutical company and what is not.
’Traditionally, the main audiences for POMs has been healthcare
professionals and the purchasers within the Department of Health, with
the end users stuck in a grey box,’ says Dr Martin Godfrey, head of
H&K’s European health and pharmaceutical practice. ’Combining ethical
skills with FMCG expertise and techniques for building brands will bring
huge benefits to the pharmaceutical industry,’ he adds.
Indeed, in PR terms DTC has been around for years, with opinion leaders
staying within the rules, but effectively promoting drugs within the
media.
For example, although Pfizer could not promote Viagra to consumers, it
hired Ruder Finn Worldwide to ensure journalists had a reliable source
of information on the drug.
Dr Godfrey believes that if a consensus could be found between the
health professionals, the Department of Health and the pharmaceutical
industry, DTC advertising would bring benefits to all. ’But advertising
should be purely for giving information, it must not undermine the
doctor-patient relationship,’ he warns.
However, no matter how much the pharmaceutical industry itself talks
about legislative changes bringing greater freedom of information, it is
hard to ignore that its bottom line is profit.
Could advertising prescription drugs directly to consumers mean less
business for PR agencies? Cohn and Wolfe executive healthcare director
Angie Searle thinks not.
’DTC will never happen in isolation,’ she says. ’Clients will still need
an integrated marketing approach. It depends how far legislation goes,
but DTC advertising can only ever say so much, because it has to feature
contra-indications and side effects. So PR will be needed even more to
put the facts into context and drive home the product benefits and
differentials by using third parties to get the endorsement you can’t
get from an ad.’
As the Government struggles to foot the bill for the NHS, many predict
that a strong Labour showing at the next general election will usher in
a new era of co-payment for prescription drugs. If people are forced to
make a greater financial contribution, then they will want to know that
they are receiving the best possible medicines.
In such a scenario, it seems inevitable that advertising to consumers,
where it is backed by high quality media campaigns, would be in
everyone’s best interests.
