The Washington Times
  • Subscribe
  • Times News Services
  • RSS
  • Mobile Headlines
  • e-edition
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • REGISTER
  • LOG IN
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • WELCOME
  • Your Profile
  • Log Out
  • Front Page Image
  • Classifieds
  • Autos
  • Real Estate
  • Jobs
  • Special Sections
  • Customer Service
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Sports
    • NFL
    • NBA/WNBA
    • MLB
    • NHL
    • Tennis
    • Golf
    • Motorsports
    • Soccer
    • NCAA
    • Olympics
    • Outdoors
    • Other
  • Culture
    • Home & Living
    • Family & Kids
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Washington Visitors
    • Books
    • Military History
    • Life
    • Auto
    • TV Listings
    • Movie Listings
    • Death Notices
    • Entertainment
  • Themes
  • Communities
  • Shopping
    • Stores
    • Coupons
    • Daily Double
    • Promotion
    • How It Works
  • Videos
    • Two Guys
    • Birnbaum on Washington
    • Liz Glover
    • Amanda Carpenter
    • Morning Briefing
    • Documentaries
    • Joe Giganti
    • Video Game Minute
  • Podcasts
    • About Headlines
    • Audio and Radio
    • America's Morning News
  • National

    PULLEN: GOP came unmoored in last decade – it hurt

  • National

    WILLIAMS: Finding gratitude in difficult times

  • Sports

    Leonsis in line to buy Wizards, Verizon Center

  • National

    3 airlines fined $175,000 for stranding passengers

  • National

    Ruling hanging was a suicide leaves bloggers at loss for words

  • Business

    Low-cost buses fill holiday travelers' needs

  • Politics

    A-listers, fundraisers attend White House state dinner

Sunday, August 1, 2004

FluMist campaign overhauled

Rate this story

Average 0.00
after 0 votes
Login or register to rate this story

  • Font Size -+
  • Print
  • Email
  • Comment
  • Tweet this!
  • Share
  • Article
  • Comments ()
  • Click-2-Listen
  • Videos

More Stories

  • D.C. sports icon, Wizards owner Pollin dead at 85
  • Leonsis in line to buy Wizards, Verizon Center
  • Medical pot gets social
  • Soccer fans' ire stoked

By

GAITHERSBURG, Md. (AP) -- MedImmune Inc. has scaled down and refocused its marketing plans for FluMist after a disappointing first year for the influenza vaccine.

The Gaithersburg-based company has cut the price in half for the vaccine, hoping to eliminate a major barrier to sales from last year, and plans to produce about 1 million doses this year.

The strategy is a departure from last year, when MedImmune staged a $25 million television and print ad campaign to convince consumers that its flu vaccine, delivered through a squirt in the nose, was better than the traditional needle in the arm.

The result? The drug once thought to be a blockbuster flopped. Only a fraction of the 4 million doses made were sold, and thousands ended up being distributed free of charge despite a harsh flu year.

Now the big ad campaign is gone, and MedImmune will pitch the drug to doctors and pharmacies -- not the general public.

By keeping FluMist on the market, even at a loss, MedImmune is laying the groundwork for a reformulated version of the drug, expected to be ready by 2007.

The company hopes to move beyond the simple appeal that FluMist developed among many physicians: as a pain-free alternative to flu shots.

MedImmune says the vaccine, made of a weakened, live flu virus, provides better protection than shots made with a dead virus. But by marketing the drug to consumers, said Armando Anido, senior vice president of sales and marketing, it missed a chance to convince doctors that FluMist was a better drug.

"We had patients asking about FluMist, and the physician would say, 'It's just a nasal spray,'" Mr. Anido said. "It basically lost all of its advantages by just saying it was a nasal spray. That gave us the biggest evidence that we had not done a very good job at educating."

By the end of the flu season, MedImmune and Wyeth had sold only about a quarter of the 4 million doses produced. It ended up giving away some of them to public health agencies. The company predicts FluMist will reduce earnings between 10 cents and 20 cents per share every year until 2007.

12Next »

Post a comment

There are comments on this article, submit your opinion!

Commenting is disabled for this entry.
If you feel there is still something worth mentioning about this entry please contact the author or the site admin.

Ask a Question

You Report

Do you have another point of view, photos, audio, video or more information about a story?

Top Stories

Most Read

  1. EDITORIAL: Hiding evidence of global cooling
  2. Top Republican lawmakers not attending State Dinner
  3. Fenty trails Gray in D.C. poll
  4. Conservatives seek test for RNC funds
  5. Food snobs fork over $225 for taste of heritage turkey
More Top Stories »
  1. Religious leaders vow civil disobedience on anti-life issues
  2. Company that repaired Chairman Gray's house lacked license
  3. PRUDEN: Obama's due process doctrine
  4. KELLNER: New Apple mouse really is 'Magic'
  5. Green energy stimulus growing few jobs

Most Shared

  1. EDITORIAL: Hiding evidence of global cooling
  2. The United Socialist States of America
  3. PRUDEN: Obama's due process doctrine
  4. Top Republican lawmakers not attending State Dinner
  5. Fenty trails Gray in D.C. poll
More Top Stories »
  1. Conservatives seek test for RNC funds
  2. EDITORIAL: Terrorists use Democratic talking points
  3. Food snobs fork over $225 for taste of heritage turkey
  4. LETTER TO EDITOR: When family ties die
  5. Religious leaders vow civil disobedience on anti-life issues

Most Commented

  1. EDITORIAL: Hiding evidence of global cooling
  2. Top Republican lawmakers not attending State Dinner
  3. Conservatives seek test for RNC funds
  4. PRUDEN: Obama's due process doctrine
  5. Lobbyists spending big to shape health care debate
More Top Stories »
  1. Schumer: Dems will pass health bill alone
  2. EDITORIAL: Terrorists use Democratic talking points
  3. WH: Obama Afghan decision 'within days'
  4. EDITORIAL: Schumer's change of heart
  5. Green energy stimulus growing few jobs

Listen to Washington Times Radio

  • America's Morning News

    with John McCaslin and Melanie Morgan

Blogs & Columns

  • Hot Button Blog

    RNC: Breast cancer recommendations may lead to 'rationing'

  • Belief Blog

    Evangelicals OK civil disobedience

  • Out of Context

    Foods that might kill libido

  • On the Fly

    United lifts some 'award' blocking

  • Technology

    Facebook wins round against phishing spammer

  • Redskins 360

    Gray spends day in Memphis

  • SNOBlog

    Beyond 'Woody'

Videos

Advertising Links
TWT Store
  • e-edition
  • Print Edition
  • Weekly Washington Times
TWT Affiliates
  • Middle East Times
  • Golf
  • UPI
  • Arbor Ballroom
  • Washington Times Global
  • About TWT
  • Press Room
  • F.A.Q.
  • Work for TWT
  • Advertise
  • Sponsors
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site Map

All site contents © Copyright 2009 The Washington Times, LLC.