A Profile of Eli Lilly SSRI Drug Marketing

The following is a marketing profile of Eli Lilly. More specifically of Lilly's neuroscience drugs or anti-depression drugs. These include Prozac and Cymbalta with Prozac being the best selling drug of all time and Cymbalta being the replacement drug and currently the number two best selling drug in the U.S. Eli Lilly is a truly a giant company, they have operations all over the world and sell billions of dollars in drugs per year. Lilly has been the source of much controversy in recent years, due to their aggressive political lobbying and their numerous law suites. Despite all of this Lilly has seen major success. When Prozac went off patent the company lost their primary revenue stream. They were able to recover and with the help of Cymbalta and Ceflex they have had large revenues. The marketing for anti depressant drugs is global. With the acceptance of depression as a disease more people are seeking treatment. With the convenience of taking a pill over undergoing years on intensive psychotherapy drugs have become a very common treatment. Lilly is limited to in their marketing efforts because of the shape of the distribution channel as well as the Food and Drug Administration as well as the Federal Trade Commission. They employ drug reps to go into doctors offices and teach about Lilly drug products. They however have little influence when it comes to the doctor prescribing their drugs. They are able to advertise on TV and employ a pull strategy from drug takers. The drug industry is a large and growing industry and there is much opportunity for Lilly.
Introduction