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AbbVie’s Humira was in an unfamiliar spot last month: second place.
The anti-inflammatory blockbuster ranked No. 2 in overall pharma TV ad spending, behind Pfizer’s Lyrica, for the month of September, according to data from real-time TV ad tracker iSpot.tv. Humira has only slipped from the top spot one other time since FiercePharma began tracking pharma spending via iSpot numbers in 2015. That was April, 2016, in another case of Lyrica outspending the best-seller.
Lyrica debuted a new spot at the beginning of the month, focused on a mother talking about her fibromyalgia pain, with spending on it alone topping $15 million.
Could this be the beginning of a wind-down in spending on Humira as it readies for biosimilar competition? Maybe.
At the end of August, the FDA approved Boehringer Ingelheim’s Cyltezo as the second biosimilar to Humira. Amgen’s competitor, Amjevita, was approved in September, 2016. But then again, it may not be. AbbVie has aggressively defended its patents and it last month struck a settlement with Amgen that will keep Amjevita off...