Posted on 03/07/2011 7:06:02 PM PST by smokingfrog
Chattanooga-based Chattem has carried out the biggest product launch in its 130-year history and one of the largest ever in the city.
“It’s an exciting time for us,” Chattem President Bob Bosworth said about the massive rollout of allergy drug Allegra last week to more than 25,000 stores nationwide.
First-day shipments to stores hit about $100 million, according to the company.
Bosworth said Allegra, shifting from a prescription drug to an over-the-counter medicine, is targeting the No. 1 slot in its segment by lapping competitors Claritin and Zyrtec.
Zan Guerry, Chattem’s chief executive, said the company is aiming for annual Allegra sales of $250 million to $350 million.
Before Allegra, Chattem’s sales for all its other products were more than $400 million.
In January, Chattem and its parent company, French pharmaceutical titan Sanofi-Aventis, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Allegra family of allergy medication products for over-the-counter sales.
Chattem, Sanofi’s consumer health care division, was acquired by the Paris-based company for $1.9 billion in cash in a deal that closed in 2010.
Bosworth said locally based Covenant Transportation Group marshaled about 660 trucks to transport the medicine to retailers.
“It required an extraordinary effort between key people at Covenant and our internal operational people,” he said.
Robert Long, Chattem’s chief financial officer, said retailers had been preparing for Allegra’s arrival late last week. Stores were providing promotional support such as displays and banners announcing the product was coming soon.
Bosworth said the effort by Chattem was significantly bigger than it ever has undertaking for a product.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesfreepress.com ...
I hope you have some stock.
Did you agree to this trip?
She does own sock if that counts.
I’d be careful. I started taking Zyrtec for Summer Hayfever, and found that if I stopped, the allergy would resume, even in WINTER!.
It took 6 months to SLOWLY taper off the zyrtec so coming off didn’t cause the symptoms.
Yes, drug manufacturers are incentivized to create drugs that you need. And they’re getting better at it.
How many of you are taking something right now? And you probably don’t need it.
I bet that ticket from Baghdad is a doozey!.....
LOL!
LOL...I was driving through a town Sunday, and saw a billboard that said “ALLEGRA IS HERE!”
I wanted to pull my car over and take a picture to post...people are always asking Allegra where she is!
>> How many of you are taking something right now?
Here in Central Texas, nothing really works. I gave up. I don’t fight it any more; I just bottle the snot and sell it at the flea market as an environmentally friendly lubricant.
It's not any better on the Gulf Coast. The pine pollen is killin' me.
Maybe I should try some Allegra?
>> Maybe I should try some Allegra?
Hey, try it! What do you have to lose?
One thing I found that helps during our cedar pollen season is a respirator mask.
It’s uncomfortable as all get-out and certainly doesn’t make a fashion statement. (Unless the fashion statement you’re seeking to make is “dork with allergies”.)
But it DOES work, at least for me. I can even go outside and work in the yard without being miserable.
HELPFUL HINT: put the mask on BEFORE your nose starts to flow. :-)
Allegra is the only allergy medicine that doesn’t make me really drowsy, and it works pretty well for me. Zyrtec and Benadryl make me fall asleep about an hour after I take either of them.
My son frequently travels to Canada on business, and he became my Allegra drug mule, since it has been OTC there for a long time. I guess I can fire him now.
Waiting for the Costco generic version of Allegra. Generic Zyrtec and Calaritan both work for me too. Each of those is 365 tabs for $13 and $16.
Branded Allegra at Costco is 90 tabs 180mg tabs ofr $35.
Wish I had thought of that! Now, if we can just find a way to make grasspurs into a cash crop...
btw, I find that Allegra helps, and Allegra-D is even better- and now I think I know why my insurance isn't covering them this year.
Allegra is the only allergy med that really works for me. Claritin doesn’t seem to do much, and Zyrtec has some really weird side effects that bother me. It makes me irritable to the point of losing my temper and going into a rage over insignificant things. This happened to others, too, so I’m not the only nut out here. ;-)
It’s about time Allegra went OTC. It will be expensive for a while until they allow production of the store brands. Our crappy insurance makes it expensive to get a prescription, even for the generic, so I’m very happy about the news.
I wanted to pull my car over and take a picture to post...people are always asking Allegra where she is!
I hang out with Waldo and Carmen Santiago. :)
lol
Benadryl does that to me. I thought my doctors would think I was nuts when I told that but they said it has that effect on some people. It's well known among doctors.
This is great.
All the city girls can now venture out of the city limits without fear of an allergic reaction to the foul country air.
They can go visit their boyfriend’s grandmother and help her shuck corn.
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