By some reports, direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug advertising is beginning to stagnate — a trend suggested by Sepracor’s recent decision to cut back on TV spots involving its Lunesta moth. Stepping into the breach: More direct-marketing advertising, particularly involving the Internet.

According to a recent report from the Direct Marketing Association, which admittedly has a vested interest in the subject, spending on pharma direct marketing should rise 35 percent in the next four years. The DMA estimates that drug companies will spend $1.39 billion on direct marketing in 2012, up from $1.03 billion this year.

The DMA’s definition of “direct marketing” doesn’t seem to include DTC. Although there doesn’t seem to be a single authoritative figure on how much Big Pharma spends on DTC, a January report in the journal PLoS Medicine puts it at $4 billion in 2004.

Instead, those direct-marketing figures apparently include a great deal of doctor-directed mailings, magazine and journal inserts, Internet outreach, patient “starter kits” and “loyalty cards,” and assistance in designing conventions and continuing medical-education programs. (Although I have to admit it’s hard to know for sure how the DMA defines pharma direct marketing, since I don’t have access to the full report — it’s available online, but it costs $240, or $135 for DMA members.)

The fastest-growing part of drug-related direct marketing, unsurprisingly, involves the Internet. The DMA report predicts that Internet drug advertising will almost double in four years, rising to $173 million in 2012 from $93.6 million this year. According to a recent report by Cegedim Dendrite, a consultant and data provider to the pharmaceutical industry, two-thirds of pharma marketers want to see more spending on targeted Internet marketing, including email, Web sites and search keywords.

(Hat tip: Modern Healthcare)

Image courtesy of Flickr user jbcurio, CC 2.0