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The hit parade: medical/surgical journals have seen better days but there is a silver lining in the sector that has been hit hard the past few years. Anthony Vecchione reports on some of the industry's bright spots.

Article Excerpt
Make no mistake about it. The current course of medical journal advertising is continuing on a downward spiral. The chronic economic downturn has taken its toll on the medical publishing industry. However, in the medical/surgical sector, there are some signs that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

But first, the stark facts. According to PERQ/HCI's 2009 Journal Advertising Review [Jan.-June 2009] med/surg ad dollars declined 32% to $155 million, down from $228 million in 2008 and $258 million in 2007. Medical/surgical advertising pages declined 34%.

In the total healthcare publication universe, ad spending dropped 28% to $291 million dollars down from $403 million in 2008, while total healthcare pub ad pages declined 31%.

Among the changes in the top five medical journals; the Journal of Clinical Oncology replaced American Medical News in the fourth-place slot. The New England Journal of Medicine held on to the top spot followed by the Journal of the American Medical Association and American Family Physician. Family Practice News rounded out the top five.

The Leading Advertisers

Forest Pharmaceuticals knocked Pfizer out of the top spot as the leading advertiser in medical/surgical journals. Despite the good news, Forest's journal advertising spending dropped 32% while Pfizer's ad spend declined 61%. Wyeth moved from the number nine spot in 2008 to the number three position with a 15% increase in journal ad spending. Abbott, ranked number four, realized a 2% increase in its ad spending. Fifth-place Lilly journal advertising spending dropped 63%. Genetech/BioOncology, made a substantial jump from number 17 in 2008 to number 10 with a 15% increase in ad expenditures. Merck, which saw ad expenditures decline by 58%, dropped from 7th place in 2008 to number 13.

The Top Products

Forest also garnered the top two most advertised products with its antidepressant offering Lexapro and Bystolic, an antihypertensive. Wyeth's antidepressant Pristiq, which wasn't in the top 25 last year, took the number three position while Pfizer's cholesterol-lowering agent Lipitor (scheduled to come off patent in 2010) dropped from the number three slot to number four. Forest's Alzheimer's drug Namenda, Amylin/Lilly's, type 2 diabetes drug Byetta and Genentech/ Biogen Idec's Rituxan, used to treat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis, moved into the top 10.

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