Company: Novartis 
2007 Ad Spending: $665.6M
2006 Ad Spending: $950.8M
Breakdown
Where Novartis is spending money: Like a lot of other Big Pharma companies, Novartis cut back on its ad spending in 2007, allocating $665.6 million versus almost $1 billion in 2006. Unlike the others, it parceled out that budget to a larger number of brands, with fewer dollars going to each. Of the measured spending, over-the-counter pain reliever Excedrin got the biggest budget, with $60,916. Enablex, a prescription med for overactive bladder, came in second with a $53.5 million ad spend.
Other OTC brands got between $11.3 million and $25 million each, including Theraflu, Lamisil, and Gas-X. And Novartis spent $17.5 million on corporate advertising, slightly more than in 2006.
How did the company's prescription-drug ads pay off? Enablex racked up $147.4 million in U.S. sales last year, according to Drug Patent Watch. Other brands performed better, obviously, such as the blood pressure med Diovan and cancer treatment Gleevec. But those sales grew-16 percent and 14 percent respectively-with the support of unmeasured ad spending, presumably doctor-oriented promotions.
Where Novartis isn't spending money: The only other prescription drug to make the list was the ill-fated Zelnorm, and spending on it dropped 88 percent, to $10.2 million from $85.2 million. The reason behind that drop is no surprise: Zelnorm was withdrawn from the U.S. market in March 2007 because of concerns about cardiovascular safety. Since then, the company has been able to offer Zelnorm only via a treatment-access program and only to "appropriate patients."
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercepharma.com/special-reports/astrazeneca-top-13-advertising-budgets
[2] http://www.fiercepharma.com/special-reports/top-13-advertising-budgets
[3] http://www.fiercepharma.com/special-reports/boehringer-ingelheim-top-13-advertising-budgets