Reconfiguring DTC with Patient Behavior in Mind

While DTC ads work when the end consumer is an able judge of product performance, as with medications for seasonal allergies, sexual dysfunction, or hair loss, they don't work nearly as well for asymptomatic illnesses. For these conditions, DTC may help increase patient acquisition and trial, but often fails to improve long-term use, thus under-performing both clinical expectations for patients and financial expectations for manufacturers. Optimal DTC programs should integrate patient acquisition strategies with direct-to-patient support strategies such as, disease-state web sites, refill reminder programs, and financial incentives able to drive ongoing product use.

by Mark Vanelli, MD, MHS, Susan Adler, and Jim Vermilyea, PhD

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of pharmaceuticals is both big and relatively new. Since the FDA in 1997 allowed drug companies to...

Read the full article – start your free trial today!

Join thousands of industry professionals who rely on In Vivo for daily insights

  • Start your 7-day free trial
  • Explore trusted news, analysis, and insights
  • Access comprehensive global coverage
  • Enjoy instant access – no credit card required

More from Archive

Final Chance To Have Your Say: Take Our Reader Survey This Week

 

Editor’s note: This is your final call to participate in the survey to better understand our subscribers’ content and delivery needs. The deadline is 20 September.

Early Development Deals: Ipsen's Strategy For Biomarker-Driven Success

 

Mary Jane Hinrichs, Ipsen’s head of early development, talks to In Vivo about getting ahead of the competition by securing deals for candidates before they enter Phase I trials.   

Shape Our Content: Take The Reader Survey

 

Editor’s note: We are conducting a survey to better understand our subscribers’ content and delivery needs. If there are any changes you’d like to see in the coverage topics, content format or the method in which you receive and access In Vivo, or if you love it how it is, now is the time to have your voice heard.

In Partnership with Cerba Research

Prioritizing Safety in CAR-T Therapy: Patient Monitoring with Cerba Research’s Testing Portfolio

The cell and gene therapy (CGT) clinical trial landscape in general and CAR-T cell clinical trials in particular are a special focus for the FDA, EMA, and other regulatory agencies. The whole industry is thus aware of the recent FDA safety investigation and requirements for labeling CAR therapy products.

More from In Vivo

EU Medtech Outlook: The View From MedTech Europe Experts

 
• By 

MedTech Forum 2025 was less MDR-focused than in previous years, as macro issues and exogenous threats were forced further into the center of medtech business thinking.

‘Confident In Lorundrostat’s Promise’: Mineralys CEO Talks Trials And Next Steps

 

In a conversation with In Vivo, CEO Jon Congleton discusses Mineralys’s data-rich journey toward an NDA filing, the significance of recent trial wins and how its candidate may offer a dual benefit in blood pressure and renal protection.

BioBytes: Qubit Pharmaceuticals Unveils Quantum AI Model For Drug Discovery

 
• By 

Qubit Pharmaceuticals and Sorbonne University launched a quantum AI model that could slash drug synthesis requirements and enable exploration of previously undruggable targets.