Cialis banks on a promise
ICOS Corp. hopes a new marketing effort leads to more users of the company's erectile dysfunction drug.
By Eric Fetters
Herald Writer
BOTHELL - The makers of Cialis, including Bothell's ICOS Corp., hope to boost new prescriptions with a new program that guarantees patients' satisfaction with the erectile dysfunction drug.
The program, called the "Cialis Promise," allows patients who try Cialis for free and don't like it to get a free prescription for one of the rival drugs, Viagra or Levitra.
The program, called "a first in the pharmaceutical industry in the United States" by ICOS and its pharmaceutical partner, Eli Lilly & Co., will be touted in new television and print ads set to launch today.
Paul Clark, chairman and chief executive officer at ICOS, said the program backs up what studies have shown and what he believes: that Cialis is the preferred drug among the three competitors on the market.
"We're putting our money where our mouth is," he said.
Earlier this year, ICOS ran a similar promotional program, called the Cialis Challenge, in which patients who had tried Cialis and then filled out a survey could receive a prescription voucher for the drug or its rival. But because that was aimed at prescribing physicians, it was not advertised directly to the consumer like the new program will be, Clark said.
Under the earlier program, the "overwhelming majority" of vouchers were used to purchase Cialis, Leonard Blum, senior vice president for sales and marketing for ICOS, reported two months ago.
To get started with the Cialis Promise program, ICOS and Lilly allow patients to download vouchers to try Cialis for free, with a valid doctor's prescription, at www.cialis.com.
The new promotion comes at a time when the drug's market share growth seems to have stalled. According to figures from IMS Health Care, Cialis accounted for just less than 19 percent of new prescriptions written for erectile dysfunction drugs and had an overall market share of 14.1 percent as of late June.
For comparison, Viagra's share of new prescriptions was 65 percent and its overall market share was 74 percent. Levitra's overall market share was at about 12 percent.
Paul Latta, an analyst who tracks ICOS for Seattle-based McAdams Wright Ragen, said the slowdown in Cialis' market share growth has caught the eye of some investors.
"That's been a problem. It's clearly weighing on (ICOS') stock," he said.
Clark, on the other hand, said he's encouraged by the drug's growth in the market since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it last November.
"There have been weeks within the 30 weeks since we launched when we haven't gone up, but our total month-over-month total prescriptions have grown," he said.
Still, unless Cialis gains new prescriptions at a faster rate during the second half of this year, the drug will fall short of grabbing a 20-percent overall share of the market, Latta said.
Latta projected earlier this year that the drug would end 2004 with just less than 21 percent of the market and then grow to overtake Viagra's share in 2007.
"In the long run, the total number of prescriptions is more important," Latta said. "But in the short run, everyone's looking at that new prescription number."
Latta said the Cialis Promise program could make a difference, as promotional programs seem to have helped both Viagra and Levitra so far this year.
Clark said he sees two benefits.
"It will help us with the patients who choose to actually participate in the program," he said.
"And with men who may not participate, but they see there's a product out there out there that's confident enough that it will pay for a rival prescription."
While the Cialis Promise program is a limited-time offer, Clark said ICOS and Lilly haven't announced any date on which they plan to end the promotion.
Today's kickoff of the Cialis program underscores the marketing battle between erectile dysfunction drugs. Pfizer Inc., not happy with losing market share to Cialis and Levitra, recently hired a new agency to produce its U.S. advertising campaign for Viagra.
Also, Pfizer has introduced its own campaign that gives Viagra patients one free prescription for every six that are paid for.
Last year, Viagra recorded sales of $1.7 billion last year. Cialis could generate up to $600 million in sales during its first year on the market.
While Viagra and Levitra have made noticeable changes to their advertising campaigns during the past six months, Cialis' ads have maintained a common theme since debuting during the Super Bowl, Clark pointed out.
"If you look at what we've done over the past several months since the launch," Clark said, "we've been very consistent since day one."
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