Spending on Direct-to-Consumer Drug Advertising Up $1.7 Billion; Remains Secondary to Other Marketing Strategies

icAendicnnual spending on direct-to-consumer advertising for drugs such as Vioxx, Viagra and Valtrex tripled between 1996 and 2000 to total nearly $2.5 billion, according to researchers at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Their study, published Feb. 14 in the New England Journal of Medicine, details patterns in spending on this relatively new form of marketing. Though drug makers appear to be using the strategy more and more, the researchers note that such advertising accounts for only 15 percent of the dollars spent on drug promotions.

Direct-to-consumer marketing has been an issue of widespread concern …