WILMINGTON, Del., July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- More than a third
of the people who contacted AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) to inquire about the
company's prescription savings programs learned of the programs from their
doctors or pharmacists, according to a year-long survey of more than 12,000
patients.
The survey found that 35 percent of the patients who called
AstraZeneca's information center regarding prescription savings programs
said they were referred by healthcare professionals. Another 14 percent
learned of the program from brochures, which also are available in doctors'
offices, hospitals, clinics and pharmacies.
"AstraZeneca understands that our medicines don't do patients any good
if they cannot afford to pay for them," said Tony Zook, President and CEO,
AstraZeneca North America. "We connect families with our patient assistance
programs in a variety of ways, but our most valuable tool is providing
doctors and pharmacists with the information they need to help their
patients."
As they meet with healthcare providers, AstraZeneca's pharmaceutical
sales specialists share up-to-date clinical information on medicines and
other issues impacting patient care, including adherence, educational
materials and prescription savings programs.
The study's data shows that the message on patient assistance programs
is getting through in a variety of ways. AstraZeneca asked 12,487 patients
who contacted its information center between April 2007 and March 2008
where they learned about the company's patient assistance programs. The
results:
-- Doctor/pharmacist 35 percent
-- Brochure 14 percent
-- Advertising 9 percent
-- AZ Web sites 7 percent
-- Community programs 6 percent
-- Family/friend 5 percent
-- Other/don't know 24 percent
Patients who cited advertising said they learned of the program from a
variety of newspaper, radio and television ads. AstraZeneca was the first
in the industry to promote its prescription savings programs in its product
television ads. Television ads for NEXIUM started carrying the message in
April 2005, and all of AstraZeneca's product television ads have included
the information since then. Previous research shows that including this
information in our advertising significantly raised awareness and the
impact of AstraZeneca's patient assistance program among the public.
AstraZeneca has offered prescription savings programs side by side with
its medicines for three decades and now offers one of the industry's most
generous programs. People without insurance who earn up to $30,000 for an
individual and $60,000 for a family of four may be eligible for help from
AstraZeneca.
In 2007 alone, AstraZeneca helped nearly half a million people fill 2.8
million prescriptions, resulting in more than $500 million of savings to
patients. AstraZeneca offers help under the AZ&Me Prescription Savings
programs, including support for people without insurance, people with
Medicare Part D and a third program that provides medicines to healthcare
facilities.
Patients can learn more about the AZ&Me Prescription Savings program at
http://www.azandme.com.
About AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in the
research, development, manufacturing and marketing of meaningful
prescription medicines and supplier for healthcare services. AstraZeneca is
one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies with healthcare sales
of $29.55 billion and is a leader in gastrointestinal, cardiovascular,
neuroscience, respiratory, oncology and infectious disease medicines. In
the United States, AstraZeneca is a $13.35 billion dollar healthcare
business with 12,200 employees committed to improving people's lives.
AstraZeneca is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Global) as
well as the FTSE4Good Index.
For more information visit http://www.astrazeneca-us.com .
SOURCE AstraZeneca
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Related links:
http://www.astrazeneca-us.com
http://www.azandme.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/985887.html/
CONTACT:
Tony Jewell of AstraZeneca, +1-302-885-4594,
Tony.Jewell@AstraZeneca.com
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