Sleep Aids - Where are the best buys?
The sleeplessness of hot nights and pressure packed days is creating a boom in sleep aid sales.
France's Sanofi-Aventis introduced its Ambien sleeping pill to the United States in 1993 and now dominates the more than $2 billion market for prescription insomnia remedies. The generic name for Ambien is zolpidem tartrate.
Sepracor, a Massachusetts drug company, then released Lunesta, a rival sleep aid, in April 2002, it knew that its greatest challenge was to gain market share. The generic name for Lunesta is Eszopiclone.
Another new sleeping pill brand called Sonata, generic name Zaleplon was more recently released.
Sepracor's solution was to spend as much as $200 million on an ad campaign designed to convince consumers of two things: That they have a right to a decent night's sleep, and that Lunesta is a safe and simple way to get it.
David Claman, director of the UCSF Sleep Disorders Center in San Francisco, knew at the time that Lunesta was arriving but hadn't given the drug's premiere much thought. Then the commercials started, the ones with a glowing green butterfly that brings soothing slumber to a restless world.
Since that advertising the sales of sleep aids has boomed. As I reported by David Lazurus in the San Francisco Chronical last Wednesday, the first in a multipart look at the business of sleep, a record 43 million sleeping-pill prescriptions were written by U.S. doctors last year, according to market researcher IMS Health.
By 2010, according to estimates, the pharmaceutical industry will be reaping at least $5 billion from annual sales of so-called hypnotics. Americans are an increasingly sleepless people. The National Institutes of Health says more than 70 million people nationwide may be affected by sleep troubles -- and the total is expected to grow every year as Baby Boomers advance in age.
This represents an enormous opportunity for drug companies.
The commercials for Lunesta offer fast convenient relief from tossing and turning and a restless night. All consumers are invited to do is take a little pill. In response to this and ads for other insomnia remedies, more and more consumers are growing comfortable with the idea of medicating their way to sleep each night.
The market is growing so rapidly that according to Medco Health Solutions, a manager of prescription drug benefit programs, the number of adults ages 20 to 44 using sleeping pills doubled from 2000 to 2004.
Meanwhile, the number of kids ages 10 to 19 who take prescription sleep remedies jumped by 85 percent during the same period. Medco said its analysis of 2.4 million prescription drug claims found that the highest percentage of kids taking sleeping pills is in Western and mountain states -- Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
Ann Smith, a Medco spokeswoman, said it's possible that kids in these states lead more active lifestyles and thus need more help winding down at night. "Maybe they're all overstimulated at bedtime," she said.
Among adults under 65, use of sleeping pills is heaviest in the South -- Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee. "We're not quite sure about that," Smith said. "We're not sure why that part of the country uses more behavior-modification medications."
She does know this, though: It's obvious that consumers have been strongly influenced by the extensive marketing efforts orchestrated by drug companies. "It's a double-edged sword," Smith said. "Direct-to-consumer advertising can enlighten people, which is a good thing. It can also lead to overuse."
Ads for Viagra notwithstanding, drug marketing tends to resonate most with female consumers. As such, Medco found that women are far more likely than men to take sleeping pills. In 2004, 58 percent more women ages 20 to 64 took prescription sleep remedies than men. Thirty-seven percent more girls ages 19 and under took sleeping pills than boys their age.
Ambien has long dominated the market -- but that could soon change. Sanofi-Aventis' patent on the drug runs out later this year, opening the door to a flood of low-cost generic alternatives.
To keep its foot in the door, the company introduced longer-lasting Ambien CR in October.
Emmy Tsui, a Sanofi-Aventis spokeswoman, said U.S. sales of Ambien and Ambien CR totaled about $1.5 billion last year. "It's a safe and effective treatment," she said, "supported by 16 years of patient use."
For its part, Sepracor says sales of Lunesta reached $329.2 million in the eight months last year after the drug's introduction. It was the company's first profitable year. "To date, no other sleep medication, either prescription or over-the-counter, has shown consistent efficacy over a six-month treatment period," said David Southwell, Sepracor's chief financial officer.
But are the pills safe? Ambien's Web site acknowledges that "all sleep medicines carry some risk of dependency," while the Lunesta site notes only that "most sleep medicines carry some risk of dependency." The makers of both pills say side effects can include drowsiness and dizziness. They also say that memory problems are possible, but can be limited if the pills are taken as directed.
The reported side effects can be seen on forums across the web. In some cases, Ambien can cause diarrhea. Lunesta can leave users with headaches and an unpleasant taste in the mouth. (Some have described it as a metallic taste.)
These relatively new drugs are replacing older sedatives such as Halcion, known in the trade as benzodiazepines. Both types of drugs work through the same brain receptors, but researchers believe the newer ones are less likely to lead to abuse over extended periods.
Susan Carson, a senior research associate at Oregon Health and Science University's Evidence-Based Practice Center, led a recent study on the effectiveness of newer sleeping pills like Ambien and Lunesta.
She found that the drugs do tend to work as advertised but that no one pill stands out as working better than any of the others. She also found that while these medications appear to pose a lower risk of dependency than earlier sleeping pills, it's hard to say for sure.
"They're shown to be safe in short-term studies," Carson said. "There's little information about their long-term use."
The most convenient and inexpensive way to obtain sleeping aids is online. To avoid the pharmacy sharks and to find reliable suppliers, consumers are well advised to use a good comparison website with detailed evaluation of top online pharmacies.
The links provided here are directed to the best of the many good websites that offer tips on beating sleep disorders and insomnia and help with selecting the most reliable best price saving pharmacies for convenient online orders.
Used for reference in this article:
David Lazarus' writing for San Francisco Chronicle.
France's Sanofi-Aventis introduced its Ambien sleeping pill to the United States in 1993 and now dominates the more than $2 billion market for prescription insomnia remedies. The generic name for Ambien is zolpidem tartrate.
Sepracor, a Massachusetts drug company, then released Lunesta, a rival sleep aid, in April 2002, it knew that its greatest challenge was to gain market share. The generic name for Lunesta is Eszopiclone.
Another new sleeping pill brand called Sonata, generic name Zaleplon was more recently released.
Sepracor's solution was to spend as much as $200 million on an ad campaign designed to convince consumers of two things: That they have a right to a decent night's sleep, and that Lunesta is a safe and simple way to get it.
David Claman, director of the UCSF Sleep Disorders Center in San Francisco, knew at the time that Lunesta was arriving but hadn't given the drug's premiere much thought. Then the commercials started, the ones with a glowing green butterfly that brings soothing slumber to a restless world.
Since that advertising the sales of sleep aids has boomed. As I reported by David Lazurus in the San Francisco Chronical last Wednesday, the first in a multipart look at the business of sleep, a record 43 million sleeping-pill prescriptions were written by U.S. doctors last year, according to market researcher IMS Health.
By 2010, according to estimates, the pharmaceutical industry will be reaping at least $5 billion from annual sales of so-called hypnotics. Americans are an increasingly sleepless people. The National Institutes of Health says more than 70 million people nationwide may be affected by sleep troubles -- and the total is expected to grow every year as Baby Boomers advance in age.
This represents an enormous opportunity for drug companies.
The commercials for Lunesta offer fast convenient relief from tossing and turning and a restless night. All consumers are invited to do is take a little pill. In response to this and ads for other insomnia remedies, more and more consumers are growing comfortable with the idea of medicating their way to sleep each night.
The market is growing so rapidly that according to Medco Health Solutions, a manager of prescription drug benefit programs, the number of adults ages 20 to 44 using sleeping pills doubled from 2000 to 2004.
Meanwhile, the number of kids ages 10 to 19 who take prescription sleep remedies jumped by 85 percent during the same period. Medco said its analysis of 2.4 million prescription drug claims found that the highest percentage of kids taking sleeping pills is in Western and mountain states -- Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
Ann Smith, a Medco spokeswoman, said it's possible that kids in these states lead more active lifestyles and thus need more help winding down at night. "Maybe they're all overstimulated at bedtime," she said.
Among adults under 65, use of sleeping pills is heaviest in the South -- Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee. "We're not quite sure about that," Smith said. "We're not sure why that part of the country uses more behavior-modification medications."
She does know this, though: It's obvious that consumers have been strongly influenced by the extensive marketing efforts orchestrated by drug companies. "It's a double-edged sword," Smith said. "Direct-to-consumer advertising can enlighten people, which is a good thing. It can also lead to overuse."
Ads for Viagra notwithstanding, drug marketing tends to resonate most with female consumers. As such, Medco found that women are far more likely than men to take sleeping pills. In 2004, 58 percent more women ages 20 to 64 took prescription sleep remedies than men. Thirty-seven percent more girls ages 19 and under took sleeping pills than boys their age.
Ambien has long dominated the market -- but that could soon change. Sanofi-Aventis' patent on the drug runs out later this year, opening the door to a flood of low-cost generic alternatives.
To keep its foot in the door, the company introduced longer-lasting Ambien CR in October.
Emmy Tsui, a Sanofi-Aventis spokeswoman, said U.S. sales of Ambien and Ambien CR totaled about $1.5 billion last year. "It's a safe and effective treatment," she said, "supported by 16 years of patient use."
For its part, Sepracor says sales of Lunesta reached $329.2 million in the eight months last year after the drug's introduction. It was the company's first profitable year. "To date, no other sleep medication, either prescription or over-the-counter, has shown consistent efficacy over a six-month treatment period," said David Southwell, Sepracor's chief financial officer.
But are the pills safe? Ambien's Web site acknowledges that "all sleep medicines carry some risk of dependency," while the Lunesta site notes only that "most sleep medicines carry some risk of dependency." The makers of both pills say side effects can include drowsiness and dizziness. They also say that memory problems are possible, but can be limited if the pills are taken as directed.
The reported side effects can be seen on forums across the web. In some cases, Ambien can cause diarrhea. Lunesta can leave users with headaches and an unpleasant taste in the mouth. (Some have described it as a metallic taste.)
These relatively new drugs are replacing older sedatives such as Halcion, known in the trade as benzodiazepines. Both types of drugs work through the same brain receptors, but researchers believe the newer ones are less likely to lead to abuse over extended periods.
Susan Carson, a senior research associate at Oregon Health and Science University's Evidence-Based Practice Center, led a recent study on the effectiveness of newer sleeping pills like Ambien and Lunesta.
She found that the drugs do tend to work as advertised but that no one pill stands out as working better than any of the others. She also found that while these medications appear to pose a lower risk of dependency than earlier sleeping pills, it's hard to say for sure.
"They're shown to be safe in short-term studies," Carson said. "There's little information about their long-term use."
The most convenient and inexpensive way to obtain sleeping aids is online. To avoid the pharmacy sharks and to find reliable suppliers, consumers are well advised to use a good comparison website with detailed evaluation of top online pharmacies.
The links provided here are directed to the best of the many good websites that offer tips on beating sleep disorders and insomnia and help with selecting the most reliable best price saving pharmacies for convenient online orders.
Used for reference in this article:
David Lazarus' writing for San Francisco Chronicle.
posted by Clive Wallace at 4:03 AM
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