Healthy Skepticism Library item: 13879

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Publication type: news

Pettypiece S.
Glaxo Boosts Marketing of Smoking Aids Amid Pfizer Pill's Woes
Bloomberg.com 2008 Jun 25
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601202&sid=apm.FUwCjPkE&refer=healthcare

Full text:

GlaxoSmithKline Plc, maker of nicotine patches, gums, and lozenges, is targeting smokers in the cockpits of airplanes and at home on their computers, aiming to gain from safety concerns over Pfizer Inc.‘s rival product.

Glaxo has been giving away samples of its nonprescription stop-smoking lozenge to pilots and taxi drivers since January when U.S. regulators warned about suicides associated with Pfizer’s quit-smoking pill Chantix. In its latest marketing effort, Glaxo reported that 31 percent of 500 smokers who responded to its online survey said they decided not to quit smoking or delayed quitting after learning of the side effects associated with Chantix.

London-based Glaxo’s anti-smoking products, which generated $625 million last year, lost sales after Chantix came on the market in 2006, the company said. Glaxo also competes with generic drugstore brands of stop-smoking aids. The company says it’s trying to reverse that trend amid sliding demand for Pfizer’s Chantix, which has lost one-third of its sales this year since the U.S. regulators’ warning.

``We have to keep getting the message out because when a new product enters the market it is often the one that gets the attention of patients and doctors,’‘ said Howard Marsh, vice president and head of the medical group for Glaxo’s consumer products division. ``Our products have a heritage of safety. Just because something has been out there longer doesn’t mean it is any less effective.’‘

Glaxo sells the nicotine-replacement gum Nicorette, the Commit lozenge, and Nicoderm CQ patch, all of which quell nicotine cravings by gradually weaning the body of nicotine. Chantix works by blocking nicotine’s stimulating effects in the brain, taking away the pleasure derived from smoking.

Challenging

Reviving sales amid the negative news on Chantix may prove to be more challenging than expected, said Gwyn Cready, senior marketing manager of smoking cessation products at Glaxo. The online survey in May by Glaxo showed two-thirds of smokers incorrectly attributed the side effects reported from Chantix to other smoking therapies.

Sales of Glaxo’s smoking products, which were starting to increase, have been unchanged recently, Cready said. The drugmaker also is running advertising campaigns in markets, such as New York City, where there have been cigarette tax increases.

Chantix wasn’t significantly more effective than the nicotine patch after a year, with 26 percent quitting on Chantix compared with 20 percent on the patch, though the drug was more effective in the short-term, according to a 676-patient study funded by New York-based Pfizer. Patients talking Chantix were less likely to have nicotine cravings and withdrawal symptoms though more likely to experience nausea, the study also found.

Pfizer has said there is no data proving a definitive link between Chantix and suicides and other behavioral changes, though one couldn’t be ruled out.

Suicides

The number of suicides and suicidal thoughts reported by people taking Chantix since it went on the market in 2006 was greater than Pfizer would have expected, promoting the company to change its prescribing information to alert users of the possible side effect. The drug has been prescribed more than 5 million times generating $883 million in sales last year.

Glaxo said 50 million people have used its nicotine- replacement treatments and there has been no increased risk of suicides reported.