Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk is ramping up TV advertising for Wegovy to capture demand for obesity treatment during the summer.
U.S. pharmaceutical industry publication Fierce Pharma reported on the 7th that Wegovy, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) class obesity treatment, recorded the highest TV advertising expenditure in June.
According to U.S. TV advertising analysis firm iSpot.TV, Novo Nordisk spent about $40 million (approximately 54.6 billion won) on a single ad in June. This marks a 65.9% increase from the $24.1 million spent on Wegovy TV advertising in May, and is similar to the level in March when it also ranked first in advertising expenditure at $40.4 million.
In particular, the Wegovy ad targeted basketball games, which are popular among Americans. The program that aired the Wegovy ad the most was the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals.
Zepbound from Eli Lilly, which is competing in the obesity drug market with Wegovy, ranked 7th. Eli Lilly also increased its expenditure on Zepbound TV advertising by $1 million from the previous month, spending $15 million (20.5 billion won).
Wegovy and Zepbound are drugs that mimic GLP-1 hormones secreted in the intestine after meals. GLP-1 promotes the secretion of insulin hormones that lower blood sugar and inhibits glucagon, which raises blood sugar, increasing the feeling of fullness.
The second and third largest pharmaceutical advertising expenditures on U.S. TV last month were AbbVie's autoimmune disease treatment Skyrizi and Rinvoq, respectively. In May, Skyrizi was ranked first.
The fourth place was Johnson & Johnson's autoimmune disease treatment Tremfya, the fifth was Lundbeck and Japan's Otsuka's depression and schizophrenia treatment Rexulti, and the sixth was Eli Lilly and Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim's diabetes treatment Jardiance.
According to iSpot.TV, the total expenditure of the top 10 pharmaceutical brands on TV advertising in June was $219.4 million, a 45% increase compared to the same month last year. However, it was noted that the monthly advertising expenditure has been consistently decreasing since January of this year ($305 million).
Korea only allows advertising of prescription drugs in medical publications according to its Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, while the U.S. legally permits advertising of prescription drugs aimed at the general public. Advertising that compares competing drugs and their efficacy is also possible. This is intended to enable patients to access drug information more easily and actively communicate with healthcare professionals during the drug selection process.
Celltrion, which has entered the U.S. market, began airing TV ads for Jimpendra (autoimmune disease treatment) last year. SK Biopharm has launched a direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising campaign this year for Cenobamate (epilepsy treatment) alongside TV ads, as well as through YouTube and social media.
This is a strategy to increase brand awareness and expand patient prescriptions. In fact, in the U.S., many patients obtain drug information through advertisements and request prescriptions through consultations with healthcare professionals.
An SK Biopharm official said, 'In a preliminary market survey in the U.S., more than half of the patients who were exposed to DTC advertising expressed a willingness to consult with healthcare professionals about the drug, and it was also found that healthcare professionals have a high likelihood of prescribing it when requested by patients.'