LITTLE FALLS, N.J., June 22 /PRNewswire/ -- An ounce of prevention is worth millions in sales, as the makers of vitamin and herbal supplements touted to prevent the common cold have found. The success of this product class helped boost sales of nonprescription cold medications in the U.S. by more than 12% in 2005, according to the latest study by Kline & Company.

"When it comes to cold remedies, consumers are willing to try whatever they think will work, so the category supports many new, innovative product types," says Laura Mahecha, industry manager of the Healthcare practice for Kline's research division.

These include vitamin and herbal products like Knight-McDowell's Airborne, which claims to prevent the onset of colds and boost the immune system despite the lack of any pharmaceutical active ingredients. Despite a tiny advertising budget, sales of Airborne jumped from $20 million to $100 million in just one year, according to Kline's NONPRESCRIPTION DRUGS USA 2005.

Other innovative product forms introduced recently include vapor products like Pfizer's Sudacare Nighttime Vapor Plug, a diffuser product that plugs into wall outlets. Pfizer also introduced SudaCare Shower Soothers Vaporizing Shower Tablets, which react with warm water to let off decongestant vapors. These products helped drive the vapor products category up by 18% from 2004, according to Kline's study.

"Other marketers will likely launch similar products to try to capture some of this market, but because cold and flu activity is so difficult to predict, it's hard to say whether they will be as successful," Mahecha says.

Still, Mahecha adds that further innovation remains one of the most consistent factors in forecasting sales for the upcoming cold and flu season.

Innovation may also be the key for some manufacturers in contending with the nationwide legislative trend toward limiting the sale of decongestants that contain pseudoephedrine. Many of these products have already been reformulated and relaunched by their manufacturers in order to maintain shelf space.

"One would think that the restrictions on pseudoephedrine would hurt sales of these brands, but instead, sales actually went up for the new formulations that contain phenylephrine," says Mahecha. "A lot of advertising dollars were spent to let people know about the new active ingredients and the availability of the products, which created a lot of buzz."

Despite the uncertainty of cold and flu activity, Kline's study projects that innovation and the requisite ad spending will hold the market fairly steady, even in the case of a mild cold and flu season.

"Consumers are always looking for more effective cough and cold medications in more convenient product forms. And now they're also looking for cold prevention," says Susan Babinsky, senior vice president and head of Kline's consumer products consulting practice. "Companies that create new products with better options for dosing and usage will be well positioned for the cold and flu season, regardless of its severity."

"We expect to see other products replicating Airborne in terms of prevention claims for the common cold," she adds.

NONPRESCRIPTION DRUGS USA 2005, due to be completed in July, analyzes 35 product categories and 15 leading suppliers of OTC medications to the U.S. market. It provides comprehensive brand and segment sales data through all consumer outlets, including drug stores, food stores, mass merchandisers, convenience stores, health food stores, mail order, and the Internet.

For information on this study, go to http://www.klinegroup.com/cia3.htm or contact Laura Mahecha at +1- or . In Europe, contact Erin Durham at or .

To learn more about Kline's customized healthcare consulting capabilities for the healthcare field, contact Susan Babinsky at 1+ or .

Established in 1959, Kline & Company (http://www.klinegroup.com) is an international business consulting and market research firm serving the life sciences, consumer products, specialty chemicals, and energy industries. It has published its NONPRESCRIPTION DRUGS USA market study since 1965.

    For more information, contact:
     Laura A. Mahecha
     Industry Manager, Healthcare
     +1-
     

SOURCE Kline & Company