Recently, we reported that Roche Pharmaceuticals (RHHBY.PK) had lost its court challenge to Australia’s ban on Direct to Consumer Advertising of over-the-counter Xenical (alli to us in the U.S., marketed here by GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK)) (Australian Court upholds ban on Xenical advertising). Now Roche reports that it expects sales of Xenical to fall, based on its inability to advertise the drug. What’s particularly telling is the quote from the story as reported on Forbes.com:

‘We feel we have done all we can and will now be considering the viability of supporting Xenical in the future,’ said managing director of Roche Products Fred Nadjarian after the judgement was announced at the end of last month.

How important, useful or effective could a drug be that cannot survive without aggressive promotion through direct-to-consumer advertising?

To paraphrase a quotation from Dr. Marcia Angell, author of The Truth About the Drug Companies, “Truly innovative drugs do not need promotion.” If Xenical were a wonder drug, it wouldn’t have to rely on TV ads.

Here’s the full item from From AFX News Limited (via Forbes.com):

Roche sees sales of weight loss drug Xenical dropping in Australia after ad ban
09.05.07, 8:20 AM ET

ZURICH (Thomson Financial) – Roche Holdings AG expects sales of its weight loss drug Xenical to fall in Australia after a federal court there banned direct advertising to consumers on concerns the drug was being sold to people who may not need it.

‘We’ve lost the ability to advertise using the brand name, which makes it very difficult to promote, so consumers will not ask for it by name in the pharmacies,’ a Roche spokeswoman in Australia told Thomson Financial News.

The pharmaceuticals group is considering its options in the wake of the court’s decision, added the spokeswoman.

‘We feel we have done all we can and will now be considering the viability of supporting Xenical in the future,’ said managing director of Roche Products Fred Nadjarian after the judgement was announced at the end of last month.

Xenical is categorised as a Schedule 3 drug, which means it is available without a prescription, but consumers should receive counselling as to its use.

sarah.fenwick@thomson.com

Back in May, PAL awarded one of our coveted Bitter Pill Awards to GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK), for its marketing of alli, an Over-the-Counter version of Xenical, a prescription weight loss drug. In our ‘With Allies Like This, Who Needs Enemas?’ Award, we called attention in particular to the risk that making this drug available Over-the-Counter would result in its being used by people for whom it was not appropriate or even dangerous, particularly children and teenagers.

Australia wisely banned Roche Pharmaceuticals from advertising Xenical directly to consumers. (GlaxoSmithKline distributes the Over-the-Counter version of Xenical in the U.S. under a licensing agreement with Roche), particularly after Roche ran an ad during Australian Idol, a show that particularly attracts a teenage audience. Roche challenged the ban in Australian Federal Court. The Age reported on August 30, 2007 that the Court has upheld the ban.

As The Age reported, Roche had made this rather laughable argument in its court filings:

Roche challenged the advertising ban in the Federal Court, arguing members of the National Drugs and Poisons Scheduling Committee had acted against the interests of public health.

In Australia, the drug is available without a prescription, but only “Behind the Counter.” This means that a customer must specifically request it from the pharmacist, who “are legally required to measure customers body mass index and age before supplying the drug.” Even with this requirement, the Australian consumer group Choice sent a young woman with a healthy weight into a sampling of drug stores to request Xenical, and found that 24 out of 30 pharmacies dispensed it to her inappropriately.

In the U.S., the drug is only approved for use by people who are both over 18 and overweight, but there are not requirements in place to prevent pharmacies from selling it to people who are younger, or who are not overweight.