BY MICHAEL JOHNSEN
All those concerns that some significantly embarrassing treatment effects would render the latest over-the-counter diet aid just the latest diet fad to flash and flop can be officially laid to rest.
Not only is GlaxoSmithKline’s 1-year-old fat-blocking solution alli today’s No. 1 diet aid on the
BRAND
PERCENT SALES*
CHANGE
CATEGORY TOTAL
ALLI
HYDROXYCUT SLIMQUICK
ZANTREX 3
RELACORE
MEGA T METABOLIFE
AAKAVAR 20/50
DEXATRIM MAX
APPLIED NUTRITION
$387.4
160. 3
32. 9
15. 3
11. 9
11. 3
8. 9
6. 8
6. 7
6. 3
6. 1
35.7%
N/A
- 1. 8
19. 9
15. 2
43. 7
- 13. 4 - 35. 1
N/A
- 11. 6
51. 9
market, it’s still growing. Who knew there would be a significant “niche” for an OTC diet pill that made no promises of quick and easy weight loss? A product that actually suggested that, in fact, it wasn’t for everyone—only those truly committed to sticking to an actual diet?
GlaxoSmithKline believed consumers were ready.
In its first year, Alli has generated more than $160 million in food, drug and mass, according to Informaton Resouces Inc. For an encore, in year two, Alli has the potential of becoming the only diet aid sold in self-care aisles that can make any kind of weight-loss claim.
GlaxoSmithKline, along with a host of weight-loss-related consumer advocacy associations—the American Dietetic Association, Shaping America’s Health and the Obesity Society—filed a citizen’s petition with the Food and Drug Administration to define any weight-loss claim as a disease state claim—the disease being obesity—a factor that would prevent any supplement-based diet aid from running before-and-after ads, unless they invested in
* in millions
Source: Information Resources Inc. for the 52 weeks ended May 18, 2008, for food, drug and mass, excluding Wal-Mart
the clinical research to secure a qualified health claim. If the FDA chooses to define weight loss as a disease-state claim, it would seriously impact Alli’s competitors’ ability to tell their story.
BY DREW BUONO
Almost 70 million Americans suffer from hypertension. In response, Calpis USA late last year brought Ameal bp—which has proven highly successful in Japan—to America.
AmealPeptide, the active ingredient in Ameal bp, is a proprietary formula that helps maintain healthy blood pressure levels.
Prior to the fourth-quarter 2007 U.S. launch, the company spent three years working with medical associations to help spread the word about Ameal bp and AmealPeptide in the United States.
The product has become very recognizable to the public, recently being ranked as high as No. 89 in Amazon.com’s vitamin/mineral supplement category, and has consistently ranked in the top 100 products of the category since its launch.
Calpis bills it as the first and only pre-hyper-tensive supplement on the market. And while the product has gotten out of the gates quickly, it has only just scratched the surface.
According to Curt Behrens, president of P2B Inc., which is the marketing/sales management force behind Ameal bp. the product has almost reached $3 million in “truly incremental” sales, bringing to the drug store new customers who for the first time are looking for a supplement to treat their pre-hypertension. The company is forecasting sales to
BRAND
SALES*
PERCENT CHANGE
CATEGORY TOTAL
PRIVATE LABEL
NATURES BOUNTY
$1,384.5
391.4
149. 1
9. 3 %
5. 6
34. 6
NATURE MADE
133. 1
22. 7
OSTEO BI FLEX
796.6
13. 2
SUNDOWN
34. 7
9. 5
SCHIFF MOVE FREE
33.0
5.0
OS CAL
28. 8
1. 7
NATROL
24. 9
-0.1
CALTRATE 600 PLUS
24. 5
12.0
VIACTIV
21. 8
- 10. 1
... AMEAL BP**
2. 72
27.0
* in millions
** does not reflect actual sales ranking
Source: Information Resources Inc. for the 52 weeks ended May 18, 2008, for food, drug and mass, excluding Wal-Mart
eventually reach $70 million, and is betting a $20 million, three-year marketing campaign to promote the drug to consumers will get them there.
References:
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