Botox v. Reloxin: Market Share Battle May Revive DTC Spending Late in 2009

If you thought the DTC advertising sleep aid (Lunesta v. AmbienCR v. Rozerem) advertising war was excessive, wait until Reloxin is approved for marketing by the FDA, which may happen during the second half of this year according to Bloomberg.com (see "Medicis's Reloxin May Vie With Botox in U.S. to Clear Wrinkles").

“The results of the study [published in the March/April issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery] show that it’s as good as Botox," Ronald Moy, the lead author of the study and a professor in the medical school at the University of California, Los Angeles, in a March 13 telephone interview. "The side effects are the same as Botox."

So...how's Medicis going to capture 25 percent to 30 percent of market share from Botox as one analyst claims it will? And how will Allergan, which markets Botox respond?

Advertising of course!

"It's important that people just recognize that these are different products," said a spokeswoman for Allergan.

And to make people "recognize" the difference you'll need lots and lots of advertising! And I don't mean the reminder DTC ad crap that Allergan has been getting away with for years (see "Botox BS Piled Higher and Deeper" and "Allergan Doesn't Comply with PhRMA Guidelines, Wins Kudos Anyway").

But there's going to be those nasty side effects to deal with and include in any "above-the-board" DTC ad. "The researchers found that 804 of the 2,838 adverse events reported by patients were probably or possibly related to the treatment."

According to Moy "Many of our patients liked it [Reloxin] even better." Maybe Medicis can stick with reminder ads and use "You'll like it even better!™" as a tag line? I think I'll trademark that!

P.S. As pointed out in a comment to this post, Johnson & Johnson has agreed to acquire breast-implant maker Mentor for $1.07 billion. The deal could also give Allergan a big rival in the wrinkle-fighting space, as Mentor awaits FDA approval for a Botox competitor. So there could be THREE anti-wrinkle meds out there soon vying for market share!