A clever marketing strategy:
Branding pharmaceuticals to block generics
Interesting discussion today in the branding/positioning class about branding in the pharma industry.
We talked about how the patent on Prilosec (anti-heartburn) was expiring. It was selling for $3.95 per pill. Instead of accepting that generics would kill the market share of Prilosec, Pfizer pulled a marketing sandwich approach.
Prizer knew that the generics would sell at 61 cents each. Pfizer headed them off at the pass by releasing an over-the-counter version of Prilosec called Prilosec OTC and selling for 71 cents each. At the same time, Pfizer modified the formula/molecule, applied for a new patent, and released the new formula as Nexium, “The Purple Pill,” selling for $4.95 per pill. Prilosec users went to Nexium and paid the premium. And, the OTC version attracted new users and blocked the generics.
Basic marketing pricing strategy, but genius nonetheless.
So, Viagra will soon have a generic version to contend with. The generic name is mydixafloppin.
Yes, that was a long way to go for a short joke.
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3 comments:
It was astrazeneca that has nexium as the purple pill
Ya it was not Pfizer, but AstraZeneca. in the case: "Market Leader Strategies: AstraZeneca Defendingits Turf"
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