Get a Detailed Picture of the Medicated Skin Care Industry in the US and Identify Factors Driving Change

Business Wire,  April 2, 2008  

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DUBLIN, Ireland -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c87326) has announced the addition of Euromonitor International's new report: Medicated Skin Care in the US to their offering.

Our Medicated Skin Care in the US report offers a comprehensive guide to the size and shape of the market at a national level. It provides the latest retail sales data (2001-2006), allowing you to identify the sectors driving growth. It identifies the leading companies, the leading brands and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market - be they new product developments, distribution or pricing issues. Forecasts to 2011 illustrate how the market is set to change.

Product coverage: acne treatments, antipruritics, topical germicidals/antiseptics, topical allergy remedies/antihistamines, topical antifungals, vaginal antifungals, antiparasitics/lice (head and body) treatments, medicated shampoos, hair loss treatments, lip care treatments, haemorrhoid treatments, child-specific medicated skin care, nappy (diaper) rash treatments

Data coverage: market sizes (historic and forecasts), company shares and brand shares

Why buy this report?

* Get a detailed picture of the medicated skin care industry

* Identify factors driving change

* Understand the competitive environment, the market's major players and leading brands

* Use five-year forecasts to assess how the market is predicted to develop

With a network of over 600 analysts worldwide, we have the unique capability to develop reliable information resources to help drive informed strategic planning.

Executive Summary OTC from Healthcare in the US

OTC sales growth remains consistent

Sales of OTC products grew at a consistent pace in 2006, despite flat growth in some sectors. The US market for OTC healthcare remains very mature, but dynamic growth in fairly recently switched brands, like Prilosec OTC and Mucinex, continues to drive overall sales. In the absence of new product categories and formulations, many manufacturers turned to new delivery formats in 2006, such as Tylenol Soft Chews, Sudafed Quick Dissolve Strips, and Gas-X Thin Strips. Such innovations helped drive new consumer interest in established brands.

Mergers and acquisitions continue to change competitive landscape

As in previous years, 2006 was marked by continued merger activity among OTC manufacturers. By far the largest deal was Johnson & Johnson's purchase of Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, combining the first and third ranked companies in the market. As a corollary to that deal, Chattem Inc also picked up some former Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer brands, including ACT mouthwash, Balmex diaper rash treatment, Cortizone anti-itch treatment, Kaopectate antidiarrhoeal, and Unisom sleep aids.

Pfizer's exit from the US OTC market was just the latest in a series of recent company exits in recent years, including Bristol-Myers Squibb selling its OTC portfolio to Novartis in 2005, Boots International selling its US healthcare division to Reckitt Benckiser in 2005, Roche going to Bayer in 2004, and Pfizer acquiring Pharmacia in 2003. Such deals continue to be the primary growth strategy for major OTC manufacturers as they deal with an increasingly mature marketplace.

New regulations

Two major regulations were passed by the Food and Drug Administration in 2006 and 2007. The first, in September 2006, directed that sales of products containing pseudoephedrine be conducted behind the counter, in an effort to control the illegal use of the ingredient in methamphetamine production. Rather than force consumers to show identification to purchase their products, most cough, cold and allergy remedies manufacturers reformulated their products, and the temporary change in product mix led to a slight sales decline for the sector in 2006.

The second new regulation, proposed in June 2007, overhauls the existing guidelines for dietary supplement production, and would require the adoption of current good manufacturing practices. This would force supplement manufacturers to institute procedures guaranteeing ingredient quality, dosages, correct labelling and other quality control procedures, and would help to establish greater consumer confidence in dietary supplement products.

New switches to create new markets

The review period saw very little OTC switching activity, but that changed in 2006 and 2007 with FDA approval of Plan B and Alli. The Plan B "morning after" contraceptive was approved in late 2006 after several years of delays and a final intervention from the US Senate. As a compromise, sale of the pill without a prescription was only approved for women over the age of 18. GlaxoSmithKline's Alli orlistat pill was approved in February 2007 and represents the first OTC obesity remedy in the US. Both of these products create new categories for growth in the US OTC market and represent the most significant OTC switches in many years.

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