Novel Look at a Direct-to-Consumer Drug Ad

Researchers used Google Trends to analyze whether TV advertising stimulated interest in a drug for thyroid eye disease.

In watching network television just a few hours weekly, I've been struck by the sheer volume of direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug advertising. A recent advertising blitz for Tepezza (teprotumumab) — a medication for thyroid eye disease, or Graves orbitopathy — is particularly striking. The manufacturer obviously wouldn't spend money on these ads if they weren't influencing drug sales, but still I wondered about their impact. Researchers addressed this issue indirectly using Google Trends, a tool that tracks Google searches over time.

Findings were as follows:

Between 2004 and early 2019, a steady, but low-level, volume of searches was performed for “thyroid eye disease.”
In late 2019 (before Tepezza's U.S. FDA approval in January 2020), the compan…

Reviewing Author

Allan S. Brett, MD

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose

Allan S. Brett, MD

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose

Novel Look at a Direct-to-Consumer Drug Ad

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Reviewing Author