Switch brands bring relief

Overall, there were $8.7 billion in sales of cough, cold and allergy products for the 52 weeks ended June 14 across U.S. multi-outlets, according to IRI, and allergy remedies are driving that sales bus. Zyrtec, Claritin and Allegra make up three of the top five cough-cold-allergy best-selling brands, which collectively generated more than $750 million.

(Click here for the full Category Review.)

And two new brands that have not cracked the top five list — yet — are Flonase and Nasacort. Taken together, those two brands generate more than $250 million, which means $1 billion in retail allergy sales can be found in five brands.

Aside from the recent switch activity in this space and the additional marketing dollars that it brings to the table, there is an underlying strong allergy season that is contributing to significant sales growth. “The biggest product we have is Claritin,” Werner Baumann, Bayer’s chairman, recently told analysts. “We have seen a very, very strong allergy season, and that has contributed to a strong start into the year for [the overall business].”