Subj: MedImmune Unveils Needle-Free Flu Vaccine
Date: 9/11/03 11:24:02 AM Mountain Daylight Time
From: AOL News

MedImmune Unveils Needle-Free Flu Vaccine

.c The Associated Press

GAITHERSBURG, Md. (AP) - MedImmune Inc. is launching the first needle-free flu vaccine this fall with an aggressive advertising campaign aimed at convincing consumers they can't afford to get sick. The nine-week print and TV campaign for FluMist, a prescription nasal spray, recasts the flu as a major life disruption instead of a bothersome seasonal illness.

``Who would replace you if you got the flu?'' is the slogan of the $25 million campaign designed by the New York advertising firm Saatchi & Saatchi.

``We are trying to change the view of the flu,'' said Armando Anido, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Gaithersburg-based MedImmune.

``This is not designed for the older person who was the traditional target of the shot. This is appealing to healthy adults who will not rely on health care plans to cover the costs,'' he said.

Marketing analysts said the ads, spanning the September-to-November vaccination period, represent the most intense direct-to-consumer marketing campaign ever waged for a vaccine.

``As much as you see Claritin on TV year-round, you will see FluMist in 2 1/2 months,'' Anido said. ``It will be a very intense campaign.''

For MedImmune and its FluMist partner, Wyeth, a lot is riding on the message. MedImmune bought FluMist's creator, Aviron, nearly two years ago for $1.5 billion. But the vaccine is approved only for healthy people between the ages of 5 and 49. That excludes the strongest potential market: the very young and very old.

The government recommends that people in those groups get a flu vaccine every year. But unlike the standard shot, which contains a dead virus, FluMist contains a live but diluted one that regulators worry could endanger people with weakened immune systems.

FluMist's potential market is still huge. There are 160 million healthy Americans ages 5 to 49, all of them vulnerable to the flu and a considerable number of them averse to needles, medical experts say.

The possibility of pain-free immunity to the flu has led some Wall Street analysts to say FluMist could become one of biotechnology's biggest drugs and reach $1 billion in sales. MedImmune predicts it will sell all 5 million doses of FluMist that it can manufacture this year, bringing in revenue of $120 million to $140 million.

The vaccine, which must be squirted into both nostrils by a medical professional, is arriving at doctors' offices and pharmacies. MedImmune said Wal-Mart, the nation's biggest retailer, will carry FluMist, a strong endorsement of the product in its first year.

But FluMist faces significant barriers to widespread adoption. After adding delivery costs, the vaccine could cost as much as $70 a dose, quadruple the price of a flu shot.

What's more, people think they can dodge the flu. In 2002, only 13 percent of healthy Americans between 5 and 49, about 17 million people, got flu shots, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

MedImmune counters those attitudes with this message: Flu inconveniences more people than the infected one, and immunity is priceless.

In one 60-second television spot, set to air on the major broadcast and cable networks, a woman is shown in bed with the flu while her husband futilely attempts to manage the morning routine of clothing and feeding two children.

In another commercial, a team of executives, whose leader is sidelined with the flu, mangles an important presentation.

On the Net:

MedImmune Inc. http://www.medimmune.com
 

 
09/11/03 16:40 EDT
 
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