The Trump administration is weighing measures that would make it more expensive for pharmaceutical companies to conduct direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Trump and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are considering a move that would prevent drugmakers from writing off DTC advertising as a business expense for tax purposes, sources told Bloomberg.
Another policy under discussion within the administration is to require drug ads to include a more thorough disclosure of side effects. That measure “would likely make the ads longer and therefore more expensive,” analysts from ODDO BHF wrote in a note to clients.
News of the administration’s efforts comes days after Independent Senators Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Angus King (Maine) unveiled The End Prescription Drug Ads Now Act, which would prevent pharma companies from conducting DTC advertising through television, radio, print, digital platforms and social media.
Dating to the 1970s, similar sweeping efforts to ban DTC advertising have been derailed by legal challenges as U.S. courts have ruled that ads are protected under the First Amendment’s guarantee of the right to free speech.
Enacting piecemeal regulatory tweaks are more realistic. For example, last year, the FDA revamped TV and radio ads requiring a “major statement” detailing a drug’s side effects to be presented “in a clear, conspicuous, and neutral manner.”
Going after pharma ads was a theme for Kennedy during his unsuccessful 2024 presidential campaign. Two days before the election, he posted a video of his speech from a Trump rally and wrote on social platforms Instagram and X, “Let’s get President Trump back in the White House and me to D.C. so we can ban pharmaceutical advertising.”
Shortly after the election in November, research firm Intron Health identified a potential ban on drug advertising as “the biggest imminent threat from RFK and the new Trump administration.”
The analysts noted that the return on investment for DTC drug ads is significant—with “estimates ranging as high as 100%-500%, depending on the drug.” Intron added that pharmas would “almost certainly” see their drug sales take a hit from a DTC ban, even as they save money on marketing spending.
On Wednesday, ODDO BHF analysts wrote it was “difficult to quantify the potential impact of this measure if it were to be implemented,” of the potential side effect disclosure policy for pharma ads.
Companies that would be especially affected by a ban include AbbVie, which promotes Skyrizi and Rinvoq; Regeneron and Sanofi, with their ads for Dupixent; and Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, which market their diabetes and obesity products.
Additionally, in the first quarter of this year, TV ad spending rose 30% compared to the same period in 2024, with major advertisers including Johnson & Johnson (Tremfya), Novartis (Pluvicto), and Lundbeck and Otsuka (Rexulti).
“We think such restrictions will undoubtedly have an impact, particularly on the growth of sales of treatments with less targeted advertising and potentially slightly higher costs,” ODDO BHF wrote. “The impact of this measure is set to remain limited for blockbuster drugs such as Dupixent and Ozempic, which are widely known among the medical community and patients. Conversely, new treatments in the launch phase, during which promotional operations play an important role, will be penalized as they will be forced to maintain significant marketing.”