Race-based pill puts niche marketing to the test

updated 7:18 p.m. ET April 11, 2006

LEXINGTON, Mass. - After services at a predominantly black church in Atlanta, parishioners in their Sunday best roll up their sleeves to get their blood pressure checked at a health screening where they learn about symptoms of heart failure and a new drug approved only for use in blacks.

At another black church in Detroit and a black health fair in Chicago, participants pick up pamphlets about the drug BiDil that are filled with patients’ smiling black faces — not the usual sea of white faces with just a smattering of minorities.

In the nine months since BiDil became the first drug approved for a specific racial group, NitroMed Inc. has been sticking with narrowly targeted, homespun-style pitches as it tries to turn around disappointing initial sales that led two top executives to resign last month.

There’s no plan to abandon NitroMed’s grassroots-style marketing in favor of mass-media ad campaigns that accompany many drug launches. Meanwhile, NitroMed’s sales force is focusing only on 144 U.S. metropolitan areas that have large black populations.

Targeted approach
Such targeted marketing approaches are expected to become more common as technology continues to advance so treatments are more frequently tailored to individuals’ genetic make-ups.

“In a sense, BiDil is a trial balloon for personalized medicine,” said B.J. Jones, NitroMed’s vice president of marketing.

In the near future, drug makers could get medications initially approved for a single racial group — then eventually seek even more narrow clearance for use among people with specific gene types. NitroMed said last month that researchers have identified gene variations that may determine which patients are most likely to benefit from BiDil — variations that aren’t exclusive to blacks, meaning the drug might someday be approved for people of other races as well.

“Race is only a surrogate for ultimately looking at one’s particular genes and proteins,” said Dr. Flora Sam, a Boston Medical Center cardiologist who has prescribed BiDil.

That could have big implications for drug marketing in an era of personalized medicine.

“The more specialized the medicine gets, the smaller and smaller the target audience for a drug gets,” said Nancy Barlow, president of Xchange, a firm specializing in highly targeted drug marketing.

'Not a hard-core pitch at all'
While mass media campaigns aren’t likely to disappear, industry experts say so-called “opt-in” marketing — in which patients respond to more-direct pitches via e-mail or at seminars — could become more common with personalized medicine, along with community events like those promoting BiDil.

“It’s going to require a different approach — more technology-based, one-to-one marketing, where you really do get to speak to individuals one-on-one,” said Sheri Rosenblatt of ad agency FCB HealthCare, whose clients include large drug companies.

The Rev. Cecelia GreeneBarr dislikes mass-media drug ads, so when an acquaintance who is also a BiDil sales representative asked her about hosting a session at her church, Trinity African Methodist Episcopal Church in Detroit, she signed up.

A NitroMed medical liaison discussed heart health and BiDil with two-dozen parishioners at what was billed as “Dinner with the Doctor,” also featuring a low-fat meal.

“It was not a hard-core pitch at all,” said GreeneBarr. “It was 90 percent educational. The people walked away with more than they would ever get from a commercial.

“When you see a TV commercial for a drug, it’s not informational except for the blurb at the end about who shouldn’t be taking it. A commercial is just pushing a drug, they’re not pushing the educational piece.”

MORE FROM HEART HEALTH

Heart health Section Front

Few survive cardiac arrest, even with CPR Jackson’s hospital known for ‘raising the dead’ Ignored cholesterol blamed for heart attacks Too little sleep may raise blood pressure Group expands window for clot-busting drugs Study: Stockings don't help stroke patients Big NFL players prone to high blood pressure Virus spurred high blood pressure in mice More docs needed who can remove heart wires FDA takes issue with Cheerios health claims Heart health Section Front   Add Heart health headlines to your news reader: