Drug Companies Use Newspaper Coupons to Convince Consumers to Try New Drugs

As part of a "broader marketing blitz" to retain patients when the patents of Eli Lilly & Co.'s antidepressant Prozac and Bristol-Myers Squibb's diabetes drug Glucophage expire, the drug companies have begun offering coupons in newspapers to convince patients to try Glucophage XR, Glucovance and Prozac Weekly -- new versions of the old medicines, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The coupons, when used with a valid prescription, would allow consumers to receive a 30-day supply of a drug for free. Daniel Hussar, professor of pharmacy at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy at the University of the Sciences, said, "There have been coupons before in the doctor's office and in some pharmacies, but I have not seen anything previously that matches what's happening now." He added, "The 30-day supply, that's the hook to get patients to switch over, because once they switch, that's the medication they'll stay on." The pharmaceutical companies contend that the new formulations offer patients added benefits such as easier dosing schedules. Glucophage XR is a once-a-day version of Glucophage, which must be taken two or three per day, and Glucovance is a combination of Glucophage and a generic version of the drug. Prozac Weekly is the once-per-week version of Prozac. A 90-day supply of Glucophage XR costs $52.31 and Glucovance costs $62.39 at drugstore.com, compared with $59.76 for the older Glucophage. Prozac Weekly costs $71.04 per month at drugstore.com, compared with $75.04 for the older version of Prozac. Ray Esonis, director of communications at Pharmaceutical Partners Group, the marketing firm managing the coupon program, said that the strategy "combines direct-to-consumer advertising with the more traditional free-sampling done through doctors' offices." The coupons allow drug makers to get samples to patients whose doctors will not see pharmaceutical salespeople or whose doctors are located in remote areas and do not receive samples, he said. In addition, Esonis said that coupons shift the "administrative burden of sampling," which is strictly regulated by the FDA, out of physician's offices. However, he added that the strategy "was never intended to replace physician sampling, but to give manufacturers additional opportunities to enhance their marketing programs" (Warner, Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/31).