There’s a familiar name at the top of iSpot.tv’s top 10 drug ad spending list in AbbVie’s Rinvoq, but newly approved meds from the likes of Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly are storming up the rankings.
Rinvoq, AbbVie’s big-selling JAK inhibitor, took its normal top spot in March with a spend of $32.4 million for the month, up from $24.8 million from February.
AbbVie made it a front-row lockout, with its second blockbuster immunology drug Skyrizi also claiming second, with spend hitting $30.5 million, up from the month before, when AbbVie spent $25.6 million on TV ads for the immunology drug.
Claiming the final podium place was Pfizer’s COVID-19 antiviral Paxlovid, which just last week nabbed a positive recommendation from an FDA advisory committee that it should gain full approval.
Pfizer, which is expecting to see sales of its COVID-19 vaccine-drug franchise dwindle this year, has been pushing promotion of Paxlovid hard, and spent $30 million last month in an attempt to boost sales.
In at an unaccustomed fourth place was Sanofi and Regeneron’s immunology drug giant Dupixent. Ads for this med are typically vying for the top spot by spend. In March, the companies spent $22.3 million on TV ads for Dupixent, up less than $1 million from February.
In fifth place we see a newcomer in the form of Eli Lilly’s diabetes drug Mounjaro, which received FDA approval last year. Eli Lilly spent $21.4 million in March on Mounjaro TV ads, landing it square in the middle of the top 10 spenders list on its first full month of airing its first ad “What If?”
In at No. 6 we see yet another new drug and new TV spot for Bristol Myers Squibb’s plaque psoriasis therapy Sotyktu. The DTC “She Found It” ad was debuted at the Grammys in February, with BMS spending $17.2 million on the ad in March.
In seventh position is top 10 regular Rexulti, the bipolar and depression drug from Otsuka and Lundbeck. In eighth we see a new regular in ViiV Healthcare’s HIV/AIDS treatment Dovato.
Ninth and tenth places belong to diabetes drugs, with Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim taking ninth with their therapy Jardiance and Novo Nordisk rounding out the top 10 with its GLP-1 drug Ozempic.
Total spend for March was $177.1 million, up from February’s $151.6 million. March's total was massively down on the $207.4 million we saw in January.
But March’s 2023 figures compare well to last March, when total spend was a very low $126 million for the top 10.
Check out the top 10 below.
1. Rinvoq
Movement: Up one spot
What is it? AbbVie JAKi immunology drug
Est. national TV ad spend: $32.4 million (up from $24.8 million in Feb.)
Number of spots: Three (one eczema, one arthritis, one UC)
Biggest-ticket ad: “Disrupts My Skin” (est. $20.1 million)
2. Skyrizi
Movement: Down one spot
What is it? AbbVie interleukin immunology drug
Est. national TV ad spend: $30.5 million (up from $25.6 million in Feb.)
Number of spots: Five (three psoriasis, one Crohn’s disease, one psoriatic arthritis)
Biggest-ticket ad: “Roller Coaster” (est. $15.2 million)
3. Paxlovid
Movement: Up two spots
What is it? Pfizer COVID-19 antiviral
Est. national TV ad spend: $30 million (up from $16.3 million in Feb.)
Number of spots: One
Biggest-ticket ad: “If It’s Covid, Paxlovid” (est. $30 million)
4. Dupixent
Movement: Down one spot
What is it? Sanofi and Regeneron immunology drug
Est. national TV ad spend: $22.3 million (up from $21.4 million in Feb.)
Number of spots: Nine (six eczema, three asthma)
Biggest-ticket ad: “Firefighter and Surfer” (est. $5.9 million)
5. Mounjaro
Movement: Not listed last month
What is it? Eli Lilly diabetes drug
Est. national TV ad spend: $21.4 million (up from $416.5K in Feb.)
Number of spots: Two
Biggest-ticket ad: “What If?” (est. $19.6 million)
6. Sotyktu
Movement: Down two spots
What is it? Bristol Myers Squibb plaque psoriasis drug
Est. national TV ad spend: $17.2 million (up from $16.5 million in Feb.)
Number of spots: One
Biggest-ticket ad: “She Found It” (est. $17.2 million)
7. Rexulti
Movement: Up three spots
What is it? Lundbeck and Otsuka bipolar and schizophrenia drug
Est. national TV ad spend: $12.4 million (up from $8.9 million in Feb.)
Number of spots: Two
Biggest-ticket ad: “Build on Your Progress” (est. $7.3 million)
8. Dovato
Movement: Down two spots
What is it? ViiV Healthcare HIV treatment
Est. national TV ad spend: $12.2 million (up from $10 million in Feb.)
Number of spots: Three
Biggest-ticket ad: “Detect This” (est. $7.4 million)
9. Jardiance
Movement: Down one spot
What is it? Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim’s diabetes drug
Est. national TV ad spend: $10.9 million (up from $9.3 million in Feb.)
Number of spots: One
Biggest-ticket ad: “On It” (est. $10.9 million)
10. Ozempic
Movement: Not listed last month
What is it? Novo Nordisk GLP-1 diabetes drug
Est. national TV ad spend: $10.1 million (up from $7.8 million in Feb.)
Number of spots: Two
Biggest-ticket ad: “Discover the Ozempic Tri-Zone” (est. $5 million)