Print health ad spend in US remains buoyant

Johnson & Johnson (J&J), top spenders in 2013, continued their spending spree, investing $3.3m in print advertising in the US in January, accounting for 8 per cent of market share across medical journals.

The next biggest spenders – Forest Laboratories, GlaxoSmithKline, Takeda and Roche – each spent $1m in January. Forest Laboratories spent 34 per cent less, year on year, while the others significantly increased their spend, according to data from Kantar Media.

Cancer therapy products – the most advertised segment in 2013 – accounted for the largest share of the 6,786 print advertising pages in medical journals in January 2014, in terms of both pages and dollars.

The second largest segment in dollar terms was oral anticoagulants, followed by oral diabetes treatments, insulin and antidepressants.

Print medical journals have long been a key place for drugs manufacturers to reach healthcare professionals, although research in the UK has suggested that doctors are increasingly turning to digital media to source clinical information.

Kantar's research indicates that print is still a main choice for pharma, however, with Johnson & Johnson's £3.3m January spend included advertisements for prostate cancer treatment Zytiga, the blood thinner Xarelto and type 2 diabetes treatment Invokana.

Invokana, was the top drug product advertised in medical journals in 2013, and held onto the top spot in January 2014, accounting for 4 per cent of advertising. Antidepressant Brintellix, launched late in 2013 by Takeda and Lundbeck, was the second most advertised drug in January.