Homeopathic Remedies

A sour economy is affording sweet success to this decades-old healthcare industry segment.

By Joanna Cosgrove

Online Editor

With its origins dating back to the early 18th century, the practice of homeopathic medicine is based on the premise that “Like Cures Like” (from the Greek homeo, meaning similar, and pathos, meaning suffering or disease). Illnesses are addressed by stimulating the body’s self-healing abilities by giving small doses of substances that produce characteristic symptoms of illness in healthy people when given in larger doses.

Most homeopathic remedies are derived from natural substances that come from plants, minerals or animals. A remedy is prepared by diluting the substance in a series of steps, which results in products that are sold in liquid, pellet and tablet forms. Homeopathic medicines are regulated by FDA in the same manner as over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. Although they are not required to be tested and reviewed by FDA, they are required to meet legal standards for strength, quality, purity and packaging. In 1988, FDA took an additional step, mandating that all homeopathic remedies must list the ingredients, dilutions and instructions for safe use, as well as indications on the label.

“Homeopathic medicines have always been a mainstream choice in Europe, but in recent years, more and more Americans are making them an essential part of the family medicine cabinet,” observed John Durkin, vice president, sales and marketing at Boiron, Newtown Square, PA. “In 1990, it was estimated that 1% of the population used homeopathy in the U.S. and its growth has been estimated at about 20-30% a year since. Today, this means that about 3% of the population can be said to be using homeopathic medicines.”

J.P. Borneman, chairman and CEO of Los Angeles, CA-based Hyland’s, Inc., and spokesman for the National Center for Homeopathy, explained that the typical homeopathic consumer—female, upper income, well-educated—is expanding to include a variegated cross section of consumers thanks, in part, to the diversified marketing of the product and also to the down turned economy.

“Where we are seeing large amounts of activity are putting consumer products into segments where a homeopathic product can compete on its own merits with an allopathic alternative or even a nutraceutical,” he said.

He cited his company’s Teething Tablets as an example. “If you poll moms who purchase this product for their children, you’ll find that a large number of those moms aren’t even aware that the product is homeopathic, and those who know that it is homeopathic, can’t define the term,” he said. “We define our competitive landscape as OTC drug manufacturers as opposed to [only] other homeopathic companies.”

According to SPINS Inc., a market research and consulting firm for the Natural Products Industry, to-date sales of homeopathic products tally nearly $41 billion, with cold/flu and pain remedies among the top selling products. Mr. Durkin and Mr. Borneman attribute the category’s surging popularity to a variety of reasons.

“Homeopathic medicines have a long history of safety, are regulated as drugs by the FDA and do not have known side effects, drug interactions or contraindications,” said Mr. Durkin. “It also easily allows individuals to customize their treatment and this personalization appeals to the American sense of self-help.”

In today’s struggling economy, homeopathic medicines are also an affordable treatment option. “One of the unifying characteristics of all consumers—both cash-poor and financially well-off—is that they’re looking for value,” commented Mr. Borneman. “Upper income consumers are looking for high value related to cost per dose, and lower income consumers are looking for low ring. We’re benefiting to some extent because our cost per dose is very low.”

Both gentlemen concurred that climbing unemployment rates coupled with the collective loss of health insurance benefits has enabled the concept of self-treatment to become more significant than ever. “OTC drugs have a tendency to be counter-cyclical,” asserted Mr. Borneman. “If your [dietary supplement or homeopathic] product costs less than a co-pay you are probably going to see that customer before their doctor does. In fact, it’s possible now that you can go see a conventional physician for any of a number of health conditions and they are as likely to give you a dietary supplement as a prescription drug.”

Mr. Durkin added that because their scope of use is very similar to other OTC medicines, homeopathic medicines can be used as a first choice in treating many acute and chronic health conditions. “They can easily address allergies, coughs, colds, flu symptoms, stress, arthritis pain, sore muscles, teething pain, eye irritations, skin irritations, digestive issues, women’s issues and many other common conditions,” he said.

This was made all the more clear when the sales of homeopathic cold and flu remedies grew following the withdrawal of several popular OTC cough and cold products for children last year. He explained that homeopathic alternatives “do not contain any of the ingredients under question by the FDA. They are not body-mass dependent, so there’s no need to give more or less medicine depending on weight.”

Likewise, homeopathic medicines can be used safely in conjunction with allopathic or conventional treatments without fear of side effects or drug interactions. “They are…proving to be a big draw to Boomers who can’t afford to lose personal or professional productivity; seniors who are on multiple medications; and athletic types who need to avoid substances that might hinder their performance,” Mr. Durkin said.

Contemporized Channel Shifting

Increased channel shifting has played a large role in the homeopathic segment’s growth. No longer confined to health food stores, homeopathic medicines are readily found in all major food, drug and mass merchandising stores across the country. “These days, homeopathic medicines can be found in the mass market right alongside their traditional [OTC/allopathic] counterparts,” said Mr. Durkin. “Thus a broader range of consumers, not just those who frequent health food stores or independent pharmacies, are discovering their inherent benefits for the first time and are becoming loyal users and repeat buyers.”

Mr. Borneman credits a social attitude change and a demographic shift toward greener and healthier products with helping the industry make a more fine-tuned, responsive presentation to the consumer. “We are in the healthcare solutions business,” he said. “What we’re listening for is the gaps in healthcare that our consumers have, how we can help them. We’re not P&G or J&J—we’re not putting billions of dollars into advertising. The only way we can work and be successful as a company is to have an emotional relationship with our consumer.”

He noted that the changes Hyland’s has implemented have been evolutionary and incremental over time. “One of the things we have been doing over the last five years is slowly moving our key offerings into bilingual packaging,” he said. “Now most of our key offerings are available in bilingual packages and we’ve put the drug facts in Spanish in the inside of the box.”

On the whole, the segment’s packaging has changed dramatically over the last 20 years, trading monochromatic color schemes for more consumer-oriented designs. “There are lots of conversations within homeopathic companies about the differences between brand blocking and individual skus, having skus stand on their own—all of these conversations are part of the conversations our marketing departments have with consumers, trying to gauge what they want,” said Mr. Borneman.

As for what lies ahead, Mr. Borneman said he has no reason not to be optimistic. “We have a very linear growth trend in this business and what it’s mathematically sensitive to is stable right now,” he said. “We have an increasing consumer and class trade base. The total penetration of homeopathic medicines in the US is optimistically a little over 5% which means that we’ve got plenty of space to go.”