All too often we
hear about people being laid off in pharma and some
really believe the good times are over for the pharma
industry. In the last couple of days both GSK and
Pfizer have announced major cutbacks in staff as a
result of the changing business environment but today
I received an eMail from someone who has worked in
pharma marketing for over 10 years and, after
launching a new drug successfully, is looking at the
end of her career in pharma. I believe that she is
one of the best marketers I have ever met and she
really knows the science behind the molecules but if
pharma continues to lose people like this than the
industry is indeed in real trouble. I want to keep
her name out of this but what follows is a copy of
her eMail to me.Read
More...
LOVAZA is the name
of a new prescription medication that is made from
natural fish oil for high triglycerides According to
GSK the fish oil is put through a five-step
refinement process to help remove toxins and fats.
This gives it a high concentration of nutrients known
as EPA and DHA. Also according to GSK "by prescribing
LOVAZA, your doctor is giving you the only
prescription Omega-3 medication. A prescription
medication is a drug that has passed the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration's (FDA) rigorous review and
approval process to evaluate its safety and
effectiveness. Dietary supplements do not undergo
rigorous FDA reviews for safety and effectiveness,
and the FDA does not require dietary supplements to
follow the same manufacturing standards as
prescription medications like LOVAZA". In a
healthcare system that is already burdened with high
costs why would someone at GSk believe that that fish
oil capsule at $1.28 (average wholesale price) is
viable. Maybe fish oil does work to lower high
triglycerides but there are so many OTC versions
available I doubt consumers are going to fall for the
argument that prescription capsules are better than
OTC version.Read
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Influencer marketing
is a form of marketing that has emerged from a
variety of recent practices and studies, in which
focus is placed on specific key individuals (or types
of individual) rather than the target market as a
whole. It identifies the individuals that have
influence over potential buyers, and orients
marketing activities around these
influencers.With social media
growing in double digits the number of influencers
could be hard for marketers to track but Google could
be working on a ranking system to identify key
influencers. If this is in indeed going to happen
than it could be a valuable tool for
marketers.Read
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Just how bad is the
economy? Well the President went on national TV last
night to urge passage of the $750 billion bailout
package and the stock market has been on a roller
coaster ride. According to an article earlier this
week people are are cutting back on going to the
doctor and now patient empowerment is taking a new
turn as in"My Healthcare is Killing
Me", a new book that
urges patients to work with medical providers and
hospitals to lower health care costs. Other
websites are urging patients to ask for generics
as a way to reduce costs as pressures of an aging
population and rising healthcare costs conflict
with an economy in trouble.Read
More...
This week I went to
both Forrester Research and eMarketer to see what was
new and although they had a lot of great information
it was of course pay for report or per client access.
When I checked with several colleagues at pharma
companies I was surprised to learn how many did NOT
have access to this information or purchased these
reports. When I asked why it was the same response
"too expensive". It seems that pharma is cutting back
big time on everything to do with "e" including
research that could provide some great
insights.
Read More...
Social media, it's
growing and its estimated that in the U.S. over 44%
of all Internet users use social media to some
extent. Pharma and medical device companies have not
embraces social media because of the risks involved.
DDMAC currently states that pharma product websites
are promotional and as such any content contained
within the sites can also be considered promotional.
Well that might have been relevant in the 90's when
pharma advertising was starting but it's not relevant
now and it is preventing consumers, patients, pharma
and medical device companies from connecting and
really sharing good information to help in healthcare
decisions.Read
More...
Editors Note:
This is from todays Wall Street JournalThe
number of prescriptions filled in the U.S. fell 0.5%
in the first quarter and a steeper 1.97% in the
second, compared with the same periods in 2007 -- the
first negative quarters in at least a decade,
according to data from market researcher IMS Health.
Despite an aging and growing U.S. population, the
number of physician office visits also has been
declining since the end of 2006. Between July 2007
and 2008, the most recent month for which data are
available, visits fell 1.2%, according to IMS. In a
survey by the National Association of Insurance
Commissioners last month,
22%
of 686 consumers said that economy-related woes
were causing them to go to the doctor less
often.
About
11% said they've scaled back on prescription drugs
to save money.
Some
of the areas being hit include hip and knee
replacements, mammograms, and visits to the
emergency room, according to a survey.
Amgen's stock has
been going up on the clinical trial results of their
new drug called denosumab to treat osteoporosis and
why not? It could be the primary and secondary
osteoporosis treatment of choice for many patients
and physicians but there are some hurdles that will
need to be cleared, especially with payers. Read
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There has
been a lot of talk about the Microsoft Seinfeld-Gates
campaign with the consensus of opinion that it was a
disaster. There are some lessons that every marketer
can learn from this gaff that apply to all industries
including the pharma and medical device industries.
Read
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Is there a
numbers war coming in the osteoporosis and psoriasis
markets? J&J this week said that in the
903-patient trial, participants with moderate to
severe psoriasis received one of two dose levels of
ustekinumab, or Enbrel. The main goal was to track
the proportion of patients in each group who achieved
at least a 75% reduction in psoriasis at 12 weeks, as
measured by an index assessing the surface area and
severity of the disease, which causes skin lesions.
J&J said 68% of those taking the lower dose of
ustekinumab and 74% taking the higher dose achieved
at least a 75% reduction in disease, versus 57% of
Enbrel users reaching that mark. This could lead to a
battle over numbers and data and with so much at
stake here it's going to be a hard fought
battle.Read
More...
Kevin
Bozick, a UCSF orthopedic surgeon and member of the
board of the American Association of Orthopedic
Surgeons cited a study of his, which found that 74%
of surgeons thought that ads for medical
devices
“negatively impacted their relationships with
patients,” and 84% thought patients who had seen the
ads had “unrealistic expectations regarding the
benefits” of the devices.Indeed
DePuy has been running ads for hip replacement that
make it seem like a new hip is going to provide a new
life to people but hip replacement surgery means a
lot of recovery time and may not be right for
everyone.
Read More...
