Biogen's Desperate & Possibly Illegal Attempt to Improve Tecfidera Sales By Reaching Out to Consumers and Patients Directly

It seems that $8.3 Bn in worldwide sales of Biogen's MS drug Tecfidera is not enough to satisfy Biogen's investor overlords.

For the first quarter of 2016 Tecfidera brought in sales of $744 million. Analysts expected $750 million -- close, but no cigar! Even more disconcerting to investors is the fact that compared to last quarter, Tecfidera sales are down 5% (see here).

This mystifies Biogen marketers who hyped the fact that not so long ago, social media mentions predicted great sales of Tecfidera (read, for example, "Using Social Media as an Early Predictor of a New Drug's Market Share"). Biogen CEO George Scangos told investors “We were surprised... by the low awareness among patients of Tecfidera,” despite social media mentions.

To correct that, Biogen went direct to consumers and patients. STATnews, for example, reports that Biogen has gone "big with its first TV ad blitz" for Tecfidera. "It has bought nearly $39 million worth of TV airtime over the past seven months, vaulting Tecfidera into the top 20 most advertised drugs on US television for that period, according to the media research firm iSpot.tv," reports STATnews (read "Inside Biogen's Tecfidera 'Ad Blitz'").

But in its attempt to heighten Tecfidera awareness, Biogen may have mis-stepped and even crossed the line into illegal activity.

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