Lipitor U.S. Sales Tank 70% in 2012 vs 2011!

According to Drugs.com, Lipitor U.S. sales in Q2 of 2012 were only 30% of what they were in Q2 2011 ($579 million vs. $1,949 million, respectively (see chart below; Source: http://www.drugs.com/stats/lipitor).

Meanwhile, sales of Crestor (a competitor anti-cholesterol drug) increased only somewhat during the same period (see chart below; Source: http://www.drugs.com/stats/crestor).

I conclude that most of the loss of Lipitor sales was due to direct competition from generic versions of Lipitor now currently available, which is further proof that Pfizer's "innovative" attempts to stem the generic Lipitor tide has failed (see also "Pfizer Throws In the Lipitor Marketing Towel").

Lilly Overtakes Pfizer as Biggest DTC Advertising Spender!

According to cegedim Strategic Data, Lilly overtook Pfizer in total direct-to-consumer (DTC) spending in April, 2012. The chart below shows the top 10 DTC spenders between July 2011 and April 2012.

Pfizer spent nearly $900 million in DTC advertising in 2011. $220 million of that was for Lipitor. I predicted that Lipitor would hold the "Key to DTC Ad Spending in 2012" (see here) and this chart proves it.

Lilly's Cymbalta and Cialis were the #2 and #3 highest in DTC ad spending in 2011. It looks like they will be #1 and #2 in 2012.