A view of a plastic model of a stomach during an interview with Doctor Thomas Horbach, specialist in surgery, visceral surgery and dietary medicine on Novo Nordisk, which is able to start selling its hugely popular obesity drug Wegovy in Germany later this month, in Munich, Germany, July 17, 2023.
Christine Uyanik | Reuters
Drugmakers spent nearly $500 million on advertisements for obesity and diabetes treatments within the U.S. in the course of the first seven months of this yr, up 20% from the identical period a yr ago, in line with recent data released Friday.
The info, from promoting analytics firm MediaRadar, demonstrates the frenzy by corporations to capture recent customers after months of hype around Novo Nordisk‘s diabetes drug Ozempic and weight reduction counterpart Wegovy.
Those drugs and similar treatments have soared in demand this yr for his or her ability to assist patients lose unwanted kilos. The medicines, referred to as GLP-1s, mimic a hormone produced within the gut to suppress an individual’s appetite.
U.S. health-care providers wrote greater than 9 million prescriptions for Ozempic, Wegovy, and other obesity and diabetes drugs in the course of the last three months of 2022, up 300% from early 2020.
MediaRadar compiled ad spending from national TV broadcasts, print publications, newspapers and web sites, and social media platforms from Jan. 1, 2022 to July 31, 2023.
The highest 4 drugs advertised were Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, Wegovy and diabetes pill Rybelsus and Boehringer Ingelheim’s own diabetes treatment Jardiance, which is ready to face drug price negotiations with the federal Medicare program.
Together, those treatments accounted for $358 million, or about three-quarters, of total ad spending for obesity and diabetes drugs in the course of the first seven months of this yr, in line with the information.
Spending on Ozempic ads was $120 million during that point period, up 23% from the identical period last yr.
MediaRadar said in a press release that Ozempic’s rise in popularity has had a “positive impact on similar medications.”
“It is a classic case of ‘a rising tide lifts all boats,'” MediaRadar CEO Todd Krizelman said within the statement. “As Ozempic’s popularity grows, so does the demand for other weight reduction and diabetes drugs, especially Wegovy, which has made a major mark this yr, particularly from Q2 onwards.”
Wegovy accounted for greater than $20 million in ad spending in the course of the first seven months of the yr, primarily because of a spike in spending from April to July, in line with MediaRadar.
But MediaRadar noted that Novo Nordisk in May paused some key promotional promoting for Wegovy, specifically local and national TV promoting.
MediaRadar said a lot of the spending on the drug was for digital promoting, similar to online video.