Woefully underspent

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Another reminder on Mr Macks BLOG that pharma is has not invested in the online channel and continues to lag behind consumer packaged goods marketers. According to the chart on Mr Macks BLOG pharma has only spent 3.1% of their budgets online while the overall trend is double that. No matter where you go, there you are ! Read More...
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Delayed health care access problems

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It should come as no surprise that 69% of people cited “worried about costs” as the number one reason for delaying or going without needed care. When the economy takes a downturn, like it is now, people tend to put off as many expenses as possible. That means a move from preventative care to going to a physician when they absolutely need to. However what was also troubling was that 81% of people who cited the health system said that they could not get an appointment soon enough, could not get to the doctor’s office when it was open or said it takes too long to get to the doctors office. While this sounds like excuses it means that a lot of people are not getting preventative care which could lead to higher costs on an already taxed healthcare system. Read More...
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Prescription drug abuse next on media radar screen?

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Prescription meds are the new drug of choice for rock and movie stars, some of whom have fallen prey to lethal doses. Hawthorne Heights guitarist Casey Calvert was felled late last year after mixing opiates with Vicodin, and Dark Knight star Heath Ledger overdosed in January from a deadly cocktail of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine. Eva Mendes reportedly entered rehab earlier this year for prescription drug abuse, and the new film Charlie Bartlett is about a kid who sells drugs at school to become popular. And he doesn't sell weed, coke or smack; he sells prescription pills. So will it be only a matter of time before the media and Congress start to blame drug companies and DTC for prescription drug abuse? Read More...
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"Dumbest quote of the year"

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"If you start putting a greater emphasis on doing [testing] premarket, you greatly increase the cost of clinical trials, which may lead companies to rethink developing new drugs in this area," said Alan Goldhammer, deputy vice president at Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Of all the dumb things to say this has to rank up at the top. Mr Goldhammer is talking about the the Food and Drug Administration considering tougher standards for new and current diabetes drugs. Read More...
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Evista Ad Offensive?

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I have to admit the more I see the Evista ad the more I believe it is one of the strangest ads I have ever seen. Granted TV ads should grab your attention but is showing a bunch of post menopausal women wrapped in nothing but a towel the way to do this? I have received a lot of eMails from people who thought that the ad is both strange and offensive. Of course the bottom line will be the new Rx’s that this campaign generates before Evista comes off patent. Read More...
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Risk Evaluation & Mitigation Strategies

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So what is REMS and how is it going to affect DTC and drug sales? Well here is a short primer on this new FDA legislation and word of warning “doctors don’t like it..in fact they hate it” ! At it’s best REMS is meant to protect patients but at it’s worst it scares the hell out of physicians and adds more paperwork to medical practices that already have too many paperwork. Read More...
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Another Monday

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Monday’s usually mean the start of another work week but for pharma the start of a work week can bring lots of headaches. Let’s see we have the Justice Department looking into the marketing and approval of Paxil, Lilly is waiting on word from the FDA on it’s competitor to Plavix (currently handicapped at 60% approval) and as more information comes out about the untimely death of Tim Russert many are asking the question “so even taking my cholerestol medication may not prevent heart disease?”. Yep just another Monday of challenges that pharma continues to be proactive about. Read More...
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Beware the eMail trail

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Pharma should be watching the recent arrests of two Bears Stearns executives very carefully. The case revolves around two executives who said, in eMails, that the bond market that funded the housing market was near collapse even though they told investors that everything was normal and on track. Pharma should be watching this trial very carefully as the eMail exchanges within the organization could potentially lead to a windfall for the legal profession. Read More...
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Pfizer keep's Lipitor for awhile longer

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Pfizer managed to add another $5 billion to their bottom line yesterday by announcing that they have reached agreement with a generic company to end litigation over patent disputes. The agreement still has to be reviewed by the the FTC which has taken a hard look at anything involving drug companies but if it stands Lipitor will not be generic here in the US until 2011. Read More...
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Throwing in the towel and retreating

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If you believe that DTC serves a purpose, to inform patients and consumers about treatment options and be proactive in their healthcare choices, than the agreement of some drug makers to limit DTC for new products for six months after approval is a copout and stinks of executives who are not willing to walk the walk and talk the talk when it comes to DTC. This is a bad agreement for everyone but perhaps the biggest losers in this agreement are consumers. Read More...
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Why pharma should outsource marketing and branding

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When the model is broken fix it ! When you can’t fix it and the pieces don’t fit together anymore look to the outside for new pieces. If you go to the DTC conventions and seminars you are sure to see a lot of new faces because pharma feels that in order to be good marketers people need to spend time in sales or other functions. This outdated six-sigma process is due to the belief that marketing is a process not an art and thus you have the problem at hand. Read More...
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Beware of the "I"

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Over the years I have read a lot of resumes and talked to a lot of people in the pharma business. It always surprises me when I hear of people that say “I launched Zoloft” or any other big drug. You launched? You mean you were alone and did it all by yourself? Given that 95% of most pharma organizations are matrix organizations the statement that “I launched” is not only wrong it does a discredit to a lot of hard working people who don’t get to talk about their accomplishments or hard work. Read More...
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