DXCM - Super Bowl ads boost sales of drugs yet only two companies advertising this year

Super Bowl LVII is on Sunday. If you aren't that interested in watching the game itself, perhaps you'll tune in for the halftime show featuring Rihanna...or the ads, which are the most expensive to air the entire year.

If you're a regular NFL viewer, you'll know that healthcare companies aren't shy about advertising during the season. Yet when it comes to the Super Bowl, there are relatively few.

This year isn't different. So far, only continuous glucose monitor company DexCom ( NASDAQ: DXCM ) has bought a spot ( featuring singer Nick Jonas ), while Astellas Pharma ( OTCPK:ALPMF ) is airing a disease awareness commercial geared at women for vasomotor symptoms, Endpoints News reported.

Astellas ( OTCPK:ALPMY ) has a Feb. 22 US FDA action date for fezolinetant to treat moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause.

Although large pharma, biotech, and medical device companies have big marketing budgets, the price tag of a 30-second ad during the Super Bowl could be off-putting: $7M, according to Forbes . They may think they could get more bang for their advertising buck elsewhere.

But they might be wrong. Direct-to-consumer ( DTC ) drug advertising has proven to be a successful strategy to drum up sales. And during the Super Bowl, especially so.

A 2020 study found that DTC drug spots aired during the Super Bowl do increase scripts written for that drug immesely. The study examined prescription trends for Bausch Health Companies ( NYSE: BHC ) toenail fungus treatment Jublia (efinaconazole) and tavaborole, a competitor and generic version of Pfizer's ( NYSE: PFE ) Kerydin. Jublia advertised during Super Bowls XLIX and L in 2015 and 2016.

Results showed that after Super Bowl XLIX, the number of prescriptions per 100,000 Medicare beneficiaries increased by 91% for Jublia, and 275% for tavaborole. An analysis found that without the ad, Jublia scripts would have increased by 40% and tavaborole by only 90%.

Excluding the Super Bowl, drug companies are known to spend during the regular season. Pfizer ( PFE ) is the 10th largest advertiser during the 2022-23 NFL season based on TV ad impressions with a 1.17% share, according to a report from iSpot.tv . (If you're wondering, insurer Progressive came out on top with a 2.51% share).

Much of Pfizer's ( PFE ) advertising came in support of boosters of its COVID-19 shot Comirnaty.

GlaxoSmithKline ( NYSE: GSK ) made another list in the report: #5 on the most seen new NFL advertisers with 248.3M ad impressions.

During the regular season, other pharmas with ads included Bristol-Myers Squibb ( BMY ) for Opdivo (nivolimab) and Zeposia (ozanimod), and AstraZeneca's ( AZN ) Farxiga (dapagliflozin).

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