Dec 2006
Another pat on the back for DTC Marketers
Dec/30/2006 08:48 Filed in: Current
DTC
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Working at Eli Lilly & Company
Dec/29/2006 08:49 Filed in: Pharma
Business
Since the NY Times does a great job of kicking big pharma around I thought that I would share with you some of my experiences during my five years at Eli Lilly at Indianapolis. I was primarily in the eMarketing area and worked on several brands including Prozac, Sarafem & Cialis. I learned a lot during my five years and although I am not an ideologist I would have left Lilly sooner if I thought there was any truth to claims that Lilly pushed "off-label promotion of ANY product. Read More...
Annals of Internal Medicine: Off label use common among practicing physicians
Dec/28/2006 08:48 Filed in: Pharma
Business
If you had a chance to read my BLOG last week then you are well aware of the NY Times articles targeting Lilly's marketing practice for off label use of Zyprexa. Forget that this was leaked by an attorney who is in litigation with Lilly and has a vested interest in releasing this information what really strikes me, once again, is the lack of research by the NY Times and the reporter who wrote the articles. Two medical journals have stated that off label use is common among practicing physicians. Read More...
Astra Zenca's getbcfacts.com is what good DTC is all about
Dec/27/2006 11:20 Filed in: Current
DTC
Astra Zenca's website on breast cancer (www.getbcfacts.com) is an example of just how good a website can educate and inform consumers with real answers and straight forward communication. The site is very focused on the user experience and visitors have an option to customize the site to meet their needs. This to me is what a great website is all about. Read More...
First shots fired in the cholesterol wars
Dec/27/2006 11:18 Filed in: Current
DTC
It looks like there is a potential battle brewing in the multi-billion dollar prescription cholesterol market. Vytorin has fired the first shot with the results of head to head clinical studies against market leader Lipitor. A three-quarter page ad in todays Wall Street Journal with the headline saying that "Vytorin was clinically proven to lower bad cholesterol more than Lipitor alone". They also show a graph that indicates that Vytorin lowered bad cholesterol by 53% compared to 45% for Lipitor alone. It seems the battle lines are drawn. Read More...
Why I love working in DTC marketing
Dec/23/2006 11:27 Filed in: DTC
Environment
Another year is about to enter the books as history and I believe that that that the future of DTC advertising is needed more now than ever. I believe that there is value in DTC advertising. It allows me to make better and more informed choices when it comes to my healthcare so that I don't always have to rely on my physician. I can work with her to chose the medication that I believe will be best for me. Read More...
What I would do to repond to articles in NY Times
Dec/21/2006 11:30 Filed in: Pharma
Business
It seems that the New York Times is on a crusade against Lilly. Again, in today's Business section is another article on Zyprexa and the data that Lilly had collected in early clinical trials relating to weight gain in patients. Once again this is from internal correspondence released by a lawyer in Alaska is who currently is in litigation with Lilly over Zyprexa. It's time for Lilly to stop hiding their head in the sand and come up with an action plan to counteract all this negative publicity on a drug that helps millions of people. Read More...
Will DTC Spending overtake DTP promotional spending?
Dec/19/2006 05:24 Filed in: The future
of DTC?
According to IMS Health DTC spending in 2005 was $4.2 billion while DTP spending was $7.2 billion. Although a majority of dollars are still being allocated to DTP spending DTC has been growing by leaps and bounds. Although my colleague John Mack in his Pharma Marketing Blog thinks that DTC advertising will overtake DTC I don't think that will happen Read More...
NY Times Continues to Attack Eli Lilly
Dec/18/2006 05:43 Filed in: Pharma
Business
I guess the NY Times has a bone to pick with Lilly and the pharmaceutical industry. Again Lilly was featured in a front page story about Zyprexa. This time it reported on Lilly's attempts to promote Zyprexa with for off label use. I was not on the Zyprexa team at the time but what the Times failed to report is that the people who were responsible for this poor judgement are no no longer with Lilly. They were shown the door a long time ago and, now it seems, for good reason. Read More...
NY Times Article on Zyprexa: Shoddy Journalism
Dec/17/2006 05:46 Filed in: Pharma
Business
This is a week when a lot of people in the pharma industry take vacations but I have a feeling that there will be a lot of important meetings at Lilly's headquarters in Indianapolis this week. As if Lilly, and the whole phrama industry, didn't have enough problems the front page of todays New York Times has an article on Lilly's alleged attempts to play down the risks of its top selling drug Zyprexa. These allegations came from documents — which include e-mail, marketing material, sales projections and scientific reports — and they are replete with references to Zyprexa’s importance to Lilly’s future and the need to keep concerns about diabetes and obesity from hurting sales. Is this really new news or is it a well timed leak from an attorney who still is in litigation with Lilly on Zyprexa and wants to put more pressure on the Indianapolis pharmaceutical company? Read More...
GAO Report: DTC Getting Off Easy
Dec/14/2006 05:40 Filed in: Pharma
Business
Regulators are issuing fewer citations to drug companies for false and misleading advertisements and are taking longer to do it, a congressional report says. DUH ! With direct to consumer advertising over $4 billion and increasing and a small staff of reviewers just what is the FDA supposed to do? Read More...
Eli Lilly's Strategy: The Long Tail in pharma?
Dec/13/2006 05:38 Filed in: Pharma
Business
There is a good analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of Lilly's potential long term strategy in today's Wall Street Journal. Zyprexa, Lilly's biggest product, is coming off patent in 2011 and Lilly is looking to its pipeline to replace lost Zyprexa sales. Will this strategy work? That's a good question but this author believes that Lilly maybe aware that the days of blockbuster drugs are coming to an end. Read More...