Bayer tops most-visited European pharma web sites

Physician interest in live video detail from sales reps is growing, says Manhattan Research, a leading provider of access to physician and consumer opinions on the global health care market. It also reveals the top pharmaceutical web sites visited by European consumers. Bayer moves into the top spot from last year's ranking at two. Roche and Pfizer take this year's second and third spots respectively.

Following these top three in fourth to 10th places are: Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi-Aventis, Schering AG (now part of Bayer), Boehringer Ingelheim and AstraZeneca

"In the absence of direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising in European countries, the Internet plays an important role in how health care companies communicate with consumers. In 2008, 157 million European adults turned to the Internet for health information, and pharmaceutical marketers are looking to leverage the Internet and other technology to reach and build relationships with these consumers," said Meredith Abreu Ressi, vice president of research at Manhattan Research.