When marketing alone — not the merits of the product being marketed — creates a Billion Dollar market, that’s PROOF that marketing works!
The product I am talking about is LOVAZA, of which GSK sold more than $1 Bn worth in 2010 according to The Pink Sheet Daily!
Back in January 2010, I cited LOVAZA as an example of the sorry state of drug industry innovation because it was nothing more innovative than what you can buy over the counter in any drug store (see “Drug Industry Innovation: GSK’s LOVAZA Vs. OTC Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplements“).
I guess GSK is laughing at me all the way to the bank!
Of course, GSK can thank the daily TV ads aired during the evening news for much of this success. But physicians must be persuaded to prescribe the pills and insurance companies must be persuaded to cover the cost. How’d they do that?
There are more LOVAZA-like fish in the high triglyceride sea coming soon. Other companies are developing their own versions of LOVAZA to cash in on this cash cow.
Getting the raw fish oil will NOT be a problem — even if Japan is taken out of the equation due to radioactive contamination. “There are millions of tons of fish oil out there,” said an executive. Not much of it, however, will come from American fisherman — “70% to 90% of the supplies are harvested in Chili and Peru.”
