Medical Marketing & Media back issues from October 2007:
The pursuit of persistence.(EDITOR'S DESK)
Oct 01, 2007; ... To say that tackling patient compliance and persistence poses a challenge to the pharmaceutical industry is like calling Tiger Woods a competent golfer or describing Katrina as a particularly bad storm. It is a gross understatement. Persuading patients to fill every prescription ...
Governing CME.(Viewpoint)
Oct 01, 2007; ... The new "Policy Updates," released last month, are for the most part, a constructive enhancement of ACCME's governance of CME. But there are portions of the new policies that are troublesome. ACCME seems to be creating two classes of CME providers: one where the potential for financial ...
Social media presents a morass for drug marketers.(NEWS)
Oct 01, 2007; ... THE REVELATION that an AstraZeneca employee edited a Wikipedia entry on Seroquel doubtless reddened some faces at the pharma giant. It could raise some eyebrows at the FDA, as well. "If you're on a social media site editing an entry on a branded drug, that could ...
Statins market roiled as generic Zocor bites Lipitor.(NEWS)
Oct 01, 2007; ... PFIZER CHAIRMAN Jeff Kindler said during September's Bear Stearns Healthcare Conference that the company expects Lipitor sales to be flat or down up to 5% on last year's numbers due to competition from generic Zocor (simvastatin). According to IMS Health data, Lipitor sales were down 6% ...
HHS caved on breastfeeding campaign.(NEWS)
Oct 01, 2007; ... THE HEALTH AND Human Services department toned down a campaign promoting breastfeeding in response to a high-powered lobbying effort from infant formula makers, according to a Washington Post report. The initial 2004 campaign, by Durham, NC, ad shop McKinney + Silver, used ...
Haymarket names Dattoli publisher of MM&M, PMD.(NEWS)
Oct 01, 2007; ... HAYMARKET MEDIA named Scott Dattoli publisher of MM&M and the Pharmaceutical Marketers Directory (PMD), a new position. He assumes full responsibility for editorial and business operations on the two titles, including digital products and events, and reports to Lisa Kirk, ...
Merck.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... Merck has awarded the professional advertising business on its developmental obesity drug, taranabant, to GSW ...
Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis have recruited actress Phylicia Rashad to serve as a spokeswoman for their peripheral artery disease awareness campaign.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis have recruited actress Phylicia Rashad to serve as a spokeswoman for their peripheral artery disease awareness campaign. She has lost ...
Adam Bosworth.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... Adam Bosworth, Google's executive in charge of leading the company's health info efforts, has left the company "to pursue other ...
GSW New York.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... GSW New York president Art Chavez and executive creative director Jim Lolis have left the company. GSW ...
TopoTarget has announced FDA of approval of its Totect chemotherapy treatment.(Pipeline)
Oct 01, 2007 ... TopoTarget has announced FDA of approval of its Totect chemotherapy ...
Quinnova Pharmaceuticals.(Pipeline)
Oct 01, 2007 ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Quinnova Pharmaceuticals launched Tersi Foam, (2.25% ...
The FDA approved Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals' version of carvedilol tablets, a beta blocker used to treat mild to severe heart failure.(Pipeline)
Oct 01, 2007 ... The FDA approved Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals' version of carvedilol tablets, a beta blocker used to treat mild to severe heart failure. Total ...
Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories.(Pipeline)
Oct 01, 2007 ... Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories was granted FDA approval for its Abbreviated New Drug Application for phentermine hydrochloride tablets, indicated as short-term monotherapy for the ...
Indevus Pharmaceuticals.(Pipeline)
Oct 01, 2007 ... Indevus Pharmaceuticals has received an approvable letter from the FDA for Valstar, a sterile ...
Research firms fret over online polls.(NEWS)
Oct 01, 2007; ... ONLINE POLLS are increasingly playing foil to traditional marketing research, as the pharma and finance industries seek new ways to get their fingers on the pulse of the medical community. But traditional research firms are flagging cautions about quick and dirty polls like those on Sermo, ...
MM&M Awards tickets going fast.(NEWS)
Oct 01, 2007 ... TICKETS FOR the MM&M Awards 2007 are going fast. The black-tie dinner on Nov. 1 is an opportunity to socialize with hundreds of pharma, agency and publishing execs in the glamorous environs of New York's Tavern on the Green, featuring live entertainment, a sumptuous meal ...
Shire partnered with Extreme Makeover (and Shire ADHD spokesman) Ty Pennington to build an elementary school playground for Harlem's P.S. 72.(NEWS)
Oct 01, 2007; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SHIRE PARTNERED WITH Extreme Makeover (and Shire ADHD spokesman) Ty Pennington to build an elementary school playground for Harlem's P.S. 72. "Project Playground" culminated in an August ...
Antidote.(NEWS)
Oct 01, 2007; ... I never believed it was entirely fair that Eli Lilly was the target of vicious attacks regarding its anti-psychotic drug, Zyprexa. For one thing, many psychiatrists found, and still find, it to be effective. The significance of the drug's association with diabetes and weight gain was often ...
Sepracor, GSK partner to take Lunesta global.(NEWS)
Oct 01, 2007; ... IN HOPES OF boosting its profits amid cheaper competition, Sepracor has partnered with GlaxoSmithKline to market its sleep drug Lunesta outside North America. Under terms of the deal, Sepracor will receive an initial payment of $20 million, plus additional milestone payments, ...
Pfizer held a groundbreaking.(NEWS)
Oct 01, 2007; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] PFIZER HELD A GROUNDBREAKING on a new biologics plant in Missouri, presided over by governor Matt Blunt--days before announcing the shuttering of its Sandwich, UK, manufacturing plant. The new plant, in the St. Louis suburb of Chesterfield, is ...
As I see it.(WASHINGTON INSIDER)(Food and Drug Administration)(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2007; ... Many were waiting to see if and when the new FDA commissioner would make a significant difference in the agency's defensive, stonewalling posture. A sign came in August, when Andrew yon Eschenbach took the step of writing a letter to the editor of the Washington Post, defending ...
DoD sharing its medical safety data with FDA.(WASHINGTON INSIDER)(United States. Department of Defense)(United States. Food and Drug Administration)(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2007; ... DATA FROM THE US Military Health System related to the review and use of FDA-regulated drugs, biologics and medical devices will be shared with the FDA to help safety reviews. An FDA news release says general patient data such as prescriptions, lab results and patient weight ...
FDA wins experimental drugs decision.(WASHINGTON INSIDER)
Oct 01, 2007; ... THE WASHINGTON, DC Court of Appeals has ruled in the FDA's favor that terminally ill patients have no "fundamental right 'deeply rooted in this nation's history and tradition'" to have access to experimental drugs. Late last year, the FDA won a petition to have the full US Court of Appeals ...
Abbott nixes info on Web, group claims.(WASHINGTON INSIDER)
Oct 01, 2007; ... ABBOTT EMPLOYEES have edited over 1,000 online Wikipedia entries involving some of the company's drug products in an attempt to change or remove unfavorable safety information, according to a patient advocacy group. Washington, DC-based Patients Not Patents charges that an ...
Researchers view a weaker DDMAC.(WASHINGTON INSIDER)(Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communications)(Food and Drug Administration)(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2007; ... A 10-YEAR review of DTC advertising by researchers from three major universities suggests that oversight of advertising by the FDA's DDMAC has declined dramatically. Researchers led by Julie Donohue at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health reported in the ...
The FDA says a professional journal ad for Pfizer's antipsychotic medication Geodon (ziprasidone mesylate) for injection omits important risk info and contains unsubstantiated superiority claims.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... The FDA says a professional journal ad for Pfizer's antipsychotic medication Geodon (ziprasidone mesylate) for injection omits important risk info and contains ...
A professional file card for Novartis' Exelon makes unsubstantiated superiority claims, overstates the drug's efficacy, includes misleading risk presentations and recommends or suggests an unapproved use, says the FDA.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... A professional file card for Novartis' Exelon makes unsubstantiated superiority claims, overstates the drug's efficacy, includes misleading risk ...
The FDA reports that Bristol-Myers Squibb has revised hepatitis B therapy Baraclude's boxed warning labeling to caution against its use in HIV/hepatitis B virus.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... The FDA reports that Bristol-Myers Squibb has revised hepatitis B therapy Baraclude's boxed warning labeling to caution against its use in ...
A GlaxoSmithKline supplemental NDA for a stronger version of asthma drug Advair Diskus for use in treating patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... A GlaxoSmithKline supplemental NDA for a stronger version of asthma drug Advair Diskus for use in treating patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, recommended for ...
The British Medical Journal.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... The British Medical Journal poached Nature Publishing Group's Peter Ashman to serve as its publishing director. Ashman, who launched the Nature titles as publisher, replaces Alex Williamson, who is retiring ...
Nature Publishing Group.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... Nature Publishing Group says its cardiovascular specialty title will now accept original research. Nature Clinical Practice Cardiovascular Medicine will ...
Canon Communications.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... Canon Communications, a subsidiary of Apprise Media, acquired Med Ad News and PharmaLive publisher ...
Advanstar's Urology Times.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... Advanstar's Urology Times won two Azbee Awards from the American Society of Business Publication ...
Elsevier launches an oncology portal.(MEDIA NOTEPAD)
Oct 01, 2007; ... ELSEVIER IS upping the ante for online medical publishing with an advertising-supported Web site for physicians using content from most of its more than 100 oncology titles. The site, OncologySTAT (www.oncologystat.com), will target the more than 1 million US oncologists, ...
Media choice.(MEDIA NOTEPAD)
Oct 01, 2007; ... To find the best journal to provide a complete offering of articles, guidelines, reviews and CME is difficult to find. There are many. I have focused on the Journal of American Journal of Cardiology. It provides education to improve patient care through not only its journal but its Web ...
JAMA reclaims top spot despite losses.(MEDIA NOTEPAD)(JOURNAL of the American Medical Association )(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2007; ... THE JOURNAL of the American Medical Association reclaimed its place as the top medical/surgical journal by ad revenue--despite ad pages being down 14% for the first half of 2007 over the same period for 2006. Last year's usurper, the New England Journal of Medicine, saw ad pages ...
Explaining the DTC-NME disconnect: with annual approvals for NMEs at their lowest point in a decade, one would think pharma would launch fewer ad campaigns. Why does pharmaceutical DTC ad spend continue to grow despite the dearth of new products?(MEDIA FORUM)
Oct 01, 2007 ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Liz O'Neil VP, media director, Evo Logue, part of CommonHealth Ad campaigns are used to launch new brands as well as support existing ones. The categories that drove 1Q spend were cholesterol and insomnia, very competitive ...
Private equity firm Alta Communications bought HMP Communications from BG Media Investors.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... Private equity firm Alta Communications bought HMP Communications from BG Media Investors ....
Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Herb Kohl (D-WI) introduced legislation that would require drug and device manufacturers to disclose to HHS anything of value given to doctors, such as payments, gifts, honoraria or travel.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Herb Kohl (D-WI) introduced legislation that would require drug and device manufacturers to disclose to ...
American Medical Association.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... Kevin Heffernan was promoted to the position of director, American ...
The meeting of the National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration this month (Oct. 17-19) in Arlington, Va., will feature a keynote address by Jeffrey Drazen, MD.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... The meeting of the National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration this month (Oct. 17-19) in ...
The Web site.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] TheDoctorsChannel.com launched in beta form. The site's professionally produced ...
New CEO: SEC was warm-up for ACCME.(CME REPORT)
Oct 01, 2007; ... AS JOHN CONNOLLY settles into his new post as president & CEO of M|C Communications, he may find certain experiences from his past especially useful. Compliance is one area. Connolly was formerly president and CEO of Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), manager of proxy ...
Advocacy groups set to meet with Senate staff members.(CME REPORT)(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2007; ... CME ADVOCATES will take a targeted set of talking points with them this fall to meetings with representatives on Capitol Hill. The Coalition for Healthcare Communication plans to speak with aides to Sens. Max Baucus and Charles Grassley, the ranking Democrat and Republican on ...
Web watch.(E-MARKETING)
Oct 01, 2007; ... Internet advertising revenues reached a new high of $4.9 million in the first quarter of 2007. "The continued growth of online ad revenues clearly illustrates marketers' increased comfort with the extraordinary vitality and accountability of this medium," said Internet Advertising Bureau ...
Novartis contest seeks user-generated content.(E-MARKETING)
Oct 01, 2007; ... MARKETERS FROM Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics have jumped into the user-generated content arena with a contest that invites Web-savvy filmmakers to submit their work and compete for a cash prize. With its "FluFlix Video Contest," posted on YouTube during the months of ...
More women go online for health info.(E-MARKETING)
Oct 01, 2007; ... WOMEN ARE MORE likely than men to search the Web for health information, according to a survey conducted by researchers from Smithfield, RI's Bryant University. "Women are much more proactive in terms of their healthcare and are also more likely to be caretakers to children, ...
MediZine.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... Mary Ann Kim has joined MediZine as senior marketing manager, brand services from AWE, an entertainment marketing agency under Omnicom, where she was ...
The Center for Business Intelligence.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... The Center for Business Intelligence will host the Pharmaceutical Direct to Physician Sales and Marketing Summit on Oct. 24-25 to ...
HealthEd.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... HealthEd has hired Jennifer Kirchherr as senior account executive, supporting interactive media development of tailored patient ...
Dudnyk.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... Dudnyk was certified by Proscape Technologies to implement its Closed Loop Marketing software for tablet PC-based programs. The software is designed to aid ...
Wunderman adds new role to its shop.(DIRECT MARKETING)
Oct 01, 2007; ... WUNDERMAN HAS hired Ira Haimowitz for the newly created role of group director, data strategy. Haimowitz will be based out of Wunderman's New York headquarters, and report to Mark Taylor, EVP and chief marketing technology officer. Haimowitz told MM&M, "My role ...
GSK's Avandia woes spark talk of cuts.(DIRECT MARKETING)
Oct 01, 2007; ... UK DRUGMAKER GlaxoSmithKline is eyeing cuts to its sales force in response to declining sales of its type 2 diabetes drug Avandia. According to a report in The Times of London, Britain's largest drug company is considering a change of marketing strategy that could involve ...
Eisai, Salix team up to push Colazal.(DIRECT MARKETING)(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2007; ... SALIX Pharmaceuticals and Eisai have entered into a multiyear co-promotion deal to promote Salix's ulcerative colitis treatement Colazal (balsalazide disodium). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Eisai's primary care and specialty sales forces will help ...
TNS Media Intelligence/Cymfony.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... TNS Media intelligence/ Cymfony released a white paper on social media monitoring and marketing designed to help companies delve into ...
In a critical Aug. 16 article on the impact of DTC advertising, The New England Journal of Medicine reported that spending on DTC pharmaceutical advertising increased by 330% between 1996 and 2005.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In a critical Aug. 16 article on the impact of DTC advertising, The New England Journal of Medicine reported that spending on DTC ...
Liberal think tank the Center for American Progress called for the restoration of the pre-1985 moratorium on DTC advertising.(Update)
Oct 01, 2007 ... Liberal think tank the Center for American Progress called for the restoration of the pre1985 moratorium on DTC ...
Prescription Access Litigation project director Alex Sugarman-Brozan told the Third Annual FDA Regulatory Symposium at Harvard in August that the agency is neglecting to enforce regulations on DTC advertising.(Update)(direct to consumer advertising for drug companies)(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2007 ... Prescription Access Litigation project director Alex Sugarman-Brozan told the Third Annual FDA Regulatory Symposium at Harvard in August that the agency is neglecting to ...
FDA studying TV ads for distractions.(DTC REPORT)
Oct 01, 2007; ... THE FDA IS planning to launch a study into whether positive, upbeat or relaxing images appearing in DTC TV ads may also distract viewers from warnings about drug risks and potential side effects. The agency said in August that it plans to examine how 2,000 people react to DTC ...
Lab dives into DTC with awareness ads.(DTC REPORT)(Myriad Genetics Inc.)(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2007; ... MYRIAD GENETICS, a Salt Lake City diagnostics firm which offers testing for genetic susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancer, is launching a northeast regional advertising and public relations awareness campaign. The effort, featuring TV and radio ads running in New York ...
PR view.(PUBLIC RELATIONS)
Oct 01, 2007; ... The word transparency resonates with communications professionals, accountants, auditors and marketers alike. But there's another domain to introduce this word into: RFPs to PR agencies. Each year, we read and respond to scores of requests for capabilities, strategic thinking ...
AMA, ACS hit Washington on insurance crusade.(PUBLIC RELATIONS)
Oct 01, 2007; ... WITH ADVOCACY groups pouring millions into advertising and PR aimed at influencing the national debate on health insurance, it must be a presidential election cycle. In August, the American Medical Association launched a three-year, multi-million dollar ad and PR campaign ...
Ketchum shuffles its London practice.(PUBLIC RELATIONS)(Susannah Knox appointed as managing director)(Sebastien Desprez appointed as managing director)(Avril Lee appointed as chief executive officer)(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2007; ... KETCHUM reorganized its London management, naming former European healthcare head Avril Lee as co-deputy CEO, responsible for the office's three main consultancy offers in healthcare, consumer and corporate affairs. She will share the role with Nick Propper. Susannah Knox moves ...
Vantage point.(MARKETING RESEARCH)
Oct 01, 2007; ... I've heard a lot of chatter recently about whether pharma companies are spending less on marketing research than in previous years. Most research agency execs I listened to were busy, but many had a feeling in the pit of their stomachs that if major sales forces were being cut by 10% or ...