Jul/03/2008 07:07 Filed in:
Internet
& DTC Marketing
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...
Jul/01/2008 06:25 Filed in:
Healthcare
in America
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...
Jun/29/2008 07:31 Filed in:
Pharma
Headlines
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...
Jun/28/2008 06:48 Filed in:
DUH !
"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...
Jun/26/2008 06:35 Filed in:
Current
DTC
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...
Jun/25/2008 04:07 Filed in:
New FDA
Policies
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...
Jun/23/2008 05:36 Filed in:
Pharma
Headlines
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...
Jun/20/2008 05:48 Filed in:
Legal
issues
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...
Jun/19/2008 05:35 Filed in:
Pharma
Business
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...
Jun/17/2008 03:32 Filed in:
Regulatory
Environment
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...
Jun/15/2008 12:20 Filed in:
Pharma
Business
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...
Jun/14/2008 06:29 Filed in:
Working in
pharma
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...
