US MARKET FOR FLU TREATMENTS

The proliferation of flu remedies currently appearing on US drugstore shelves is more a product of marketing than medical breakthroughs, according to industry analysts, who note that the active ingredients in these products are pretty much the same as can be found in regular cold products.

The products are simply repackaged, renamed and given an increase in price, which gives companies a new way of selling their products, according to analysts at Kline & Co."The contents of the flu medicines are actually the same as the multisymptom cold medicines. It's the marketing that's different," says Kline.

Flu-symptom medicines were the fastest-growing segment of the US market for over-the-counter cough, cold, allergy and sinus products last year, according to Gary Andrechak of Towne-Oller & Associates, noting that the value of the US market reached almost $2 billion in the year. Sales of flu medicines showed an increase of 67% in the stores monitored by his company, says Mr Andrechak, while sales of cough and cold remedies were up 13%. The flu category accounted for 3.8% of the total cough, cold, allergy and sinus market in 1991, with sales of $76 million, an increase of 2.6% over 1990's share of the market, which had totaled about $45 million.