Big Pharma spends a lot on marketting – isn’t that a waste?
It’s true that competiton has led to there being many drugs with quite similar qualities. Arguably, it is right that firms should spend a lot explaining to doctors and patients the subtle distinctions between them all. There has been a lot of debate about how much firms should be allowed to spend on this activity, and the rules have been tightened up. But it has been the case until recently that firms felt the more they spent on marketing, the more they got back. Now, bosses are wondering if there aren’t cheaer and clever ways of getting people to understand and like their products.
