Allergy medicine Allegra, launched as an over-the-counter drug by Chattem in March, hit about $204 million in U.S. sales in the first half of the year and climbed to second place in its segment.
“In mid-February it wasn’t even on the shelf,” said Robert Long, Chattem’s chief financial officer, noting Allegra has leapfrogged other brands such as Zyrtec to trail just market leader Claritin.
Introducing the former prescription-only Allegra at the start of allergy season helped drive sales, official said.
Blair Ramey, Chattem’s vice president of marketing, said it was key that Allegra hit store shelves in the first week of March.
“We were hitting retailers [Thursday] March 3 … so consumers could buy it through the weekend,” he said. “By March 7, it was in full national distribution.”