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The U.S. OTC market has enjoyed solid momentum in recent years, increasing far beyond the typical 2% to 3% annual growth it used to experience. Strong advertising and promotional investments, several new products, and Rx-to-OTC switch brands, as well as the steady distribution of major brands that had been off the market for several years,
While the U.S. OTC market is not highly dynamic in terms of growth, its competitive landscape has changed significantly over the past five years, with the top 10 rankings shifting in 2015. Market leaders Johnson & Johnson and Bayer have remained the #1 and #2 OTC marketers, respectively, for many years. Bayer’s bolt-on acquisition of
According to Kline’s Nonprescription Drugs USA study, the U.S. OTC market grew over 3.0% during 2013 to reach $23.5 billion at the manufacturers’ level. Driven by strong sales gains in analgesics, upper respiratory, nutritional, and topical products, the market appears to be showing signs of recovery. This is partly due to the long-awaited rejuvenation of
In the not so distant past, the U.S. FDA has taken a rather conservative stance concerning Rx-to-OTC switches. Many potential categories have been discounted as not safe and/or effective without a physician’s prescription. This has compelled drug manufacturers to judiciously consider which drugs, if any, they would seek to switch given the necessary multi-million dollar
Rx-to-OTC switch brands continue to be major game changers on the OTC market, whether promoting strong gains or causing steep declines. Traditional OTC lines are delivering growth as they have expanded to meet consumer needs with the Centrum (Pfizer) and One-A-Day (Bayer) vitamin lines. Both of these lines using broad reaching marketing campaigns have had success with new product launches.
The U.S. OTC market is often a challenging market to make predictions about. There are so many instances where companies, brands, consumers, and even regulators buck trends that there are often reasons to look at things on a case-by case basis. However, when it came to predicting the impact the economic recession of 2008-2009 would
