Upjohn Corp

Upjohn Corp. has launched the first-ever program-length commercial for a prescription drug, pushing pharmaceutical marketing to a new level but raising anew concerns about the appropriateness of pitching such drugs directly to consumers. The infomercial is for Rogaine, an anti-baldness drug that has never met the sales expectations that accompanied its introduction seven years ago.

Upjohn Corp. has launched the first-ever program-length commercial for a prescription drug, pushing pharmaceutical marketing to a new level but raising anew concerns about the appropriateness of pitching such drugs directly to consumers. The infomercial is for Rogaine, an anti-baldness drug that has never met the sales expectations that accompanied its introduction seven years ago.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a popular prescription arthritis drug for marketing as an over-the-counter pain reliever--a move that will cause competitive headaches for the makers of Advil, Tylenol and other pain remedies. The drug, naproxen sodium, is the first non-prescription pain reliever to win FDA approval since ibuprofen a decade ago.

To get Rogaine, the only federally approved drug for treating hair loss, a person must see a doctor for a prescription. But many people apparently think that visiting their doctor about a problem that is usually more cosmetic than medical is too much trouble--or maybe a little too embarrassing. "You usually go to a doctor because you're sick; you usually don't go just to discuss hair loss," said Jeff Palmer, a spokesman for Upjohn Corp., which manufactures Rogaine.

THE MOUSE FORMULA The threat was delivered to Hal Z. Lederman's attorney: "Inform your client that if he continues to steal the formula, I'm not just going to sue, I'm going to take drastic action." It came from one Robert Murphy. Lederman, the marketing mastermind behind a hair-growth product called the Helsinki Formula, didn't let it bother him. He had been getting the same message for months.