Nov/29/2007 06:21 Filed in:
Pharma
Business
Sidney Taurel is
the CEO of Eli Lilly and Company so it would come as
no surprise that he would post a letter in the Wall
Street Journal on “The Media on Drugs”. While the
letter is interesting it seems that Mr. Taurel needs
a lesson that in today’s ultra competitive market
rumors and hearsay can cause the gain or loss of
billions of dollars in market capitalization. This is
the competitive beast which the pharma industry has
unleashed when it decided to cater to Wall Street
rather than patients. For years now Wall Street is
only interested in "what can you do for me and why
should I invest in you". As such they are not
interested in "a long term strategy" but rather short
term instant gratification. Read
More...
Nov/29/2007 06:22 Filed in:
DTC
Environment
Can you believe
that it's almost 2008? Yes another new year is almost
upon us and here are some predictions and trends for
the coming online year of 2008 that I would like to
share with my readers. Read
More...
Nov/28/2007 06:35 Filed in:
HCP
Marketing
Well there has
been quite a bit of buzz around the article in the
Sunday Times Magazine about a physician who said that
he became addicted to money for working with Wyeth to
promote one of their products. His story is probably
not unique among doctors but I believe that
physicians are entitled to compensation for talking
to other doctors about medications they talk about on
behalf of drug companies much the same way that
politicians earn money for speaking while in
office. Read
More...
Nov/27/2007 05:31 Filed in:
Internet
& DTC Marketing
Segmentation is
an important tool for marketers but in the age of
information overload trying to be everything to
everyone can lead to an unpleasant Web experience as
demonstrated by Lyrica.com. The home page has so many
different calls to actions that it's hard to know
where to start and as a result website visitors may
become frustrated and leave the site that is intended
to help them. It's obvious that Pfizer did not do any
user studies on this website and it shows.
Read
More...
Nov/26/2007 09:17 Filed in:
HCP
Marketing
Cardiologists
have been awaiting the results of the trial, called
Enhance, to learn how well Zetia and Vytorin work. If
they are not as effective as other cholesterol
medicines, patients taking them may be putting
themselves at unnecessary risk of heart attacks. Of
particular concern in this case is that Merck and
Schering-Plough said yesterday that they had changed
the trial’s “primary endpoint” — the main medical
result being measured. The companies now say that
they will use only partial results to assess the
trial’s success in deterring the formation of plaque
that can cause artery blockages and lead to heart
attack according to the New York Times. This is about
as transparent as a block of steel.
Read
More...
Nov/25/2007 08:53 Filed in:
HCP
Marketing
"I was willing to
dance around the truth in order to make the drug reps
happy. Receiving $750 checks for chatting with some
doctors during a lunch break was such easy money that
it left me giddy. Like an addiction it was very hard
to give up." So is the quote from Dr Daniel Carlat
who in 2001 jumped over to the dark side and started
to take money from Wyeth to talk to other physicians
about Effexor. The article in Sunday's New York Times
magazine highlights just how easy it is
for physicians to become attached to the
"supplemental income" for speaking and promoting
drugs. Read
More...
Nov/20/2007 09:53 Filed in:
In The News
You
have to love the increased patient power ! Now comes
word that some states may require physicians to
disclose which companies they have accepted payments
from before treating patients. Patients may ask "are
you prescribing this medication because it's the best
for me or because you are a thought leader for this
company"? The advice meanwhile to patients is seek a
second opinion if your doctor is recommending a
product from a company for which they are on the
payroll.
Read
More...
Nov/19/2007 11:44 Filed in:
HCP
Marketing
The
report this morning that GSL intimidated a thought
leader could not have come at a worse time for the
drug industry. While GSK was trying to mount a
defense of Avandia it obviously thought that one of
their thought leaders had inaccurate information and
tried to silence him through what he and the
government say was "intimidation". If GSK really
wants to make this right than the people responsible
should immediately be terminated with a "don't let
the door hit you on the way out" mentality.
Read
More...
Nov/15/2007 06:09 Filed in:
Pharma
Business
RLS..is
it real or is it a "symptom" induced by creative
marketing? That was the segment that aired last night
on
Wired Science
on which this author was lucky enough to be
interviewed. The segment on Restless Legs had a fair
and balanced approach with physicians from both sides
of the argument discussing whether this was a "real
issue" for patients or made up by creative marketers.
As someone who has suffered with restless legs for
quite a while I can in fact tell you that this IS a
real problem Read
More...
Nov/14/2007 04:56 Filed in:
Pharma
Business
From
today's Wall Street Journal comes this tidbit:
Presidential hopeful John Edwards is floating an idea
that may get the drug industry’s attention: No more
patent protection for breakthrough medicines. Instead
of patents that hand pharmaceutical companies
monopolies for years, Edwards (pictured) wants to
give cash rewards to drug makers that come up with
innovative new medicines for certain key disorders.
Anybody would then be free to make the medicines. He
expects the approach would contain drug prices while
still encouraging innovation. Mr Edwards, who by the
way has taken a lot of money from the trial lawyers
lobby, is either so stupid that it fathoms the
imagination to think that he could be a candidate for
President or is just one ignorant person.
Read
More...
Nov/14/2007 05:35 Filed in:
DTC
Environment
Amgen
is pouring millions of dollars into a lobbying
campaign to get Congress to change a Medicare rule
that dealt a big blow to the company's lucrative
anemia drugs. Amgen's argument: Federal guidelines
limiting payments for anemia-fighting drugs could
hurt cancer patients. So who knows better the FDA,
pharma or physicians? Read
More...
Nov/10/2007 11:28 Filed in:
Pharma
Business
The
marketing environment in this country is in the midst
of an evolution that has not been seen this the onset
of mass media. The Internet, coupled with new
consumer power, has transformed brands taking the
power away from marketers. Boomers, as they age, no
longer have loyalty to any brand that does not live
up to their perceptions and smart brands are
embracing social media. Meanwhile pharma continues to
business as usual using outdate models that are no
longer sustainable in today's economy which is
information driven. Why are they stuck in neutral and
what can be done about it? Read
More...
Nov/07/2007 05:44 Filed in:
Life inside
pharma
According
to
Pharmalot
Lilly's President of the US took a swipe at online
forums that attract disgruntled sales reps,
describing sites such as CafePharma as “outlets for
people who don’t have the courage to speak out with
their ideas” for improving their role and the
performance of their companies. We prefer to think of
the site as an electronic bathroom wall, but as you
know, the truth is sometimes learned in the most
unexpected places. Ms Connelly is so removed from
reality in her enclosed office. I can personally tell
you that at Lilly people are NOT rewarded for
speaking out and voices of reason often go
unheard. Read
More...
Nov/06/2007 09:42 Filed in:
Pharma
Business
Perception
is reality and there is a LOT of buzz already about
Lilly's Prasurgel on the Web even before the NDA is
submitted to the FDA. This is a classic example of
how influencers are speaking up and spreading the
word while others read, watch and wait. Given what I
have read from salespeople, physicians, analysts and
others I do not believe that Prasurgel will be a
blockbuster and actually could wind up like another
of Lilly's products like Xigris. Read
More...
Nov/05/2007 05:32 Filed in:
Pharma
Business
Lilly
presented data this weekend on their potential rival
to Plavix, Prasurgel and although there was some good
news there is are also a number of hurdles that may
delay approval by the FDA. In the head-to-head study,
9.9% of patients on prasugrel suffered either a heart
attack, stroke or death from a cardiovascular cause,
compared with 12.1% of those given Plavix, that's the
good news since that is a 19% reduction in risk
favoring prasugrel. Heart attacks were reduced by
24%, and the rate of clots forming in stents was cut
by 52%, favoring prasugrel. On the other hand, major
bleeding events occurred in 2.4% of patients on
prasugrel, compared with 1.8% on Plavix, a 32%
increased risk and that is bad news
Read
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Nov/04/2007 07:33 Filed in:
Pharma
Business
According
to a report from Price Waterhouse Coopers health
information technology can save more than $160
billion a year from the $2 trillion each year
Americans spend on health care. Since nearly 80% of
physicians and 75% of hospitals still rely on paper
there is a major opportunity to develop new DTC
interactive tools NOW instead of waiting on the
sidelines waiting to see what happens.
Read
More...
Nov/03/2007 08:01 Filed in:
DTC
Environment
Lipitor
is the biggest selling prescription drug of all time
and even though it does not come off of patent until
2010 it is already seeing a decline in sales because
of generic competition. In an effort to save money a
lot of health providers are strongly recommending to
their patients and physicians that they switch to the
generic simvastatin. Pfizer's sales of Lipitor are
decreasing and Pfizer is fighting back with more DTC
advertising and clinical study information.
Read
More...
Nov/03/2007 07:52 Filed in:
The agency
side
When
Rozerem wins an award, any award, for their really
bad campaign featuring Abe Lincoln and the talking
beaver you know that the sun now rises from the west.
Yet that was the case at the recent Medical Marketing
& Media awards in New York. If this industry is
ever to acknowledge their shortcomings they are first
going to have to ditch these “pat on the back”
self-promotional awards. Read
More...
