Tobacco companies have seen their cigarette sales go up in smoke with increasing numbers of municipalities imposing higher excise taxes on tobacco products, including New York City, where the retail price of a pack of cigarettes recently reached $7.50.
However, sales of smoking cessation products are rising--perhaps directly out of the ashes of those lost cigarette sales.
According to the Minnesota Medical Association, for every 10 percent increase in the price of tobacco, overall tobacco use drops some 4 percent among adults and 7 percent among teenagers and pre-teens. GlaxoSmithKline, measuring sales growth for the eight weeks following implementation of a new tobacco tax in select markets, realized overall sales growth of 1 percent in drug stores for its Nicorette gum and a 17 percent climb in sales of its Nicoderm CQ nicotine patch.
Overall, sales of smoking cessation products are up these days, primarily driven by private label quit-smoking products. For the 12 weeks ending Oct. 6, sales of private label anti-smoking gum products increased 15.4 percent to $19.3 million in drug stores, according to Information Resources Inc. Private label nicotine patches were up, as well, climbing 20.2 percent to $10.6 million during that period. Sales of all antismoking products rose 3.1 percent, reaching $81.8 million in drug stores.
In recent months, branded manufacturers have been stoking interest in smoking cessation with new product launches, reformulations and repackages. GSK introduced its Commit Lozenge late last month; Pharmacia Consumer Healthcare in October rolled out its new Nicotrol Step-down Patch; and Novartis in July combined the three steps of its Habitrol Take Control quit system into a single box.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group
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