Cambridge Sciences Pharmaceuticals (CSP) was preparing to launch its newest

weight loss prescription drugs, Metabical. In order to penetrate the market, CSP was
developing its positioning strategy because there are already weight loss drugs
competitors in the market. The competitor came from both prescription drugs
(Xenical) and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs (Alli). Both of them had differences and
also similarities to Metabical, here are the important points for developing the
positioning strategy.

Points of Parity

In the market, Alli was already approved by the FDA for weight-loss use, even it is
OTC drugs. Approval from the FDA could make the brand gain more trust in the
market and Metabical was planned to get approval in the next year. The CSP needs
to put this task into main attention because this approval issue is fundamental to the
Metabical drug.

The second is that Alli is already proven as a weight-loss drug with BMIs of 30 or
greater. The target segment for Metabical are people with a BMI of 25 to 30 and
CSP needs to make sure that Metabical is potent to weight loss.

Competitor (Their) and Our (Metabical) Point of Difference

Alli is an OTC drug and the FDA stated that it is a dietary supplement. Because of
this, this drug could be consumed one pill with each meal. Metabical pill could be
consumed one pill per day. Metabical pill work in low-dose formulation than other
OTC drugs and producing less stress to the liver or heart if compared to the OTC
drugs. The Metabical contains a combination of calosera and meditonan that could
produce dramatic weight loss for the target segment of overweight individuals.

The side effects of OTC drugs is another level. Some of the dietary supplements are
linked to the sudden cardiac attack and for Alli, the negative side is affecting the
gastrointestinal and abdominal pain. This could happen in Alli users if their diet
included too much fat and this side effect also happened in Metabical but in a lower
level. Coming up from this issue, CSP developing a support program to help the
users achieve better results and their diet could become a healthier eating habit that
could prevent the negative side effects. From their point of differences (Alli), they
have an online support plan for the users. But the CSP wanted to make this support
program more comprehensive because the plan for Metabical users is for 12 weeks.

Another point of difference is our prescription drug could be covered by the

insurance. Since OTC users need to buy dietary supplements, our positioning could
gain more strength for insurance members. Insurance will reimburse or cover the
drugs and health care could make Metabical their program.