April 2007 Issue of MMM - Medical Marketing and Media

Editor's Desk

Anecdotes and analytics

Using anecdotal observations to shape perceptions, form opinions and draw conclusions is a dangerous game.

Features

Headliner: Lonnel Coats of Eisai

Eisai COO Lonnel Coats considers himself a living, breathing example of the positive impact mentorship can have on a career.

DTC: The first 10 years

So much has happened since Claritin’s ‘Blue Skies’ spots ushered in a new era of consumer drug advertising that it’s difficult to believe the DTC ...

Turning Dialogue into Data

Cracking the patient-physician interaction has long proved elusive for pharma. But by combining patient chart data with actual audio conversations, marketers can better understand how ...

On the Level: Journal Ad Review

Medical/surgical journal publishers must wait a little longer to break out from the pattern of flat revenues. PERQ/HCI’s Eugene M. May reports on the biggest ...

Joining the Social Circle

Psst…Consumers are talking about you online. Don’t hide behind a wall of adverse event forms, say Jack Barrette and Bonnie Becker. Join in the conversation

Antidote

Novartis has a new drug that has just been approved by the FDA.

Washington Insider

As I see it

Is drug advertising responsible for the FDA’s loss of public confidence?

Alliance urges Congress to up FDA budget by 20%

The FDA Alliance, an industry-supported group formed to increase public funding of the FDA, says Congress should raise President Bush’s FY 2008 budget request for ...

Fees don’t threaten FDA independence

FDA commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach told a public meeting on reauthorizing the Prescription Drug User Fee Act in February that while his agency needs more ...

Senate committee OKs generics bill

The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved the Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act, sponsored by Herb Kohl (D-WI), that would prohibit innovator drug companies from ...

FDAers on ‘corrupt’ list

Two FDA officials and an HHS official who slashed the FDA’s Warning Letter program by 70% early in the Bush administration are in the top ...

FDA transparency rebuffed in report

A minority staff report from the House Energy & Commerce Committee says FDA deputy commissioner Janet Woodcock and her successor as director of drugs Steven ...

FDA sees 50% increase in Form 2253 submissions

There has been a 50% increase to 61,000 in FDA Form 2253s submitted with promotional pieces during the past four years to the FDA’s Division ...

Dems lead Michigan House in vote to repeal state law

Democrats in the Michigan House of Representatives led a vote in February to repeal a state law protecting drug companies from product liability lawsuits involving ...

Pending postmarket study commitments dropping

The FDA says 71% (899) of pending postmarketing study commitments promised by drug sponsors at the time of approval have never been started.

Public Citizen calls for ban of desogestrel contraceptives

Advocacy group Public Citizen says FDA should immediately ban third-generation oral contraceptives containing desogestrel because they almost double the risk of life-threatening blood clots compared ...

Media Notepad

Wiley gives hematology book new look

John Wiley & Sons is giving its American Journal of Hematology a fresh look, along with a nod to the open access publishing movement, in ...

LWW lands The Cancer Journal

Wolters Kluwer Health has picked up The Cancer Journal from Jones & Bartlett.

Advanstar named Reid national sales manager

Advanstar has named Michelle Reid national sales manager for the firm’s nursing group.

Waterfront Media announces new additions

Waterfront Media has named Revolution Health’s Lynn Weiss-Kane VP and publisher and AOL’s Margaret Detweiler executive editor of the site Everydayhealth.com.

Aldea joins Quadrant HealthCom as account manager

Quadrant HealthCom has named Roxana Aldea account manager for Clinician Reviews.

Reed Elsevier selling Harcourt Education division

Reed Elsevier is selling its Harcourt Education division to focus on “growing digital opportunities” in its science and medical, legal and business units, Bloomberg reported.

Kendall joins AlphaMed Press

AlphaMed Press named George Kendall director of operations and business development.

Media Forum

Generics and the DTC media outlook

How will generic erosion to prescription drug brands (such as Zoloft, Zocor, Pravachol)—as well as generic threats (Plavix and Norvasc)—affect spending on direct-to-consumer advertising?

CME Report

Just-in-time CME now easier to utilize

Thanks to technical improvements, a form of online CME may finally realize its potential. Point-of-care (PoC) CME lets doctors earn credit for conducting structured online ...

AAFP director leaves for QI spin-off

Nancy Davis, PhD, has left her position as CME director of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) to become founding executive director of the ...

MedPage secures funds to expand

Medical news provider MedPage Today has secured $2.1 million in venture capital that will be used to expand news coverage and new product offerings, the ...

Waxman asks drug and device firms for CME reports

US Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), head of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asked several drug and device firms for reports relating to ...

ACCME seeks comment on two proposed changes

The ACCME asked for comment on two proposed changes to its Standards for Commercial Support, one relating to written agreements for commercial support and one ...

Med ed firms names David St. Peter president

Med ed and event management firm The Selva Group has named David St. Peter, MD, to president.

Update issued for non-commercialism criterion

The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education has issued an update to its non-commercialism criterion.

American Diabetes Association collaborating with Pri-Med

The American Diabetes Association is collaborating with med ed firm Pri-Med on a national program for GPs.

E-marketing

Web Watch

Video over the Internet didn’t happen overnight.

Consumers share health info via e-mail: survey

E-mail is the most popular form of social media among consumers sharing health info, data from a recent survey show.

Marketers disregard online behaviors

Pharmaceutical marketers leave their own online behaviors at the office door when it comes to marketing their brands, a new survey found.

Direct Marketing

Abbott to cut primary care sales reps

Abbott Laboratories plans to eliminate “several hundred” primary care sales representative jobs across the US, a company spokesman confirmed.

DTP budgets will rise above ’06 levels

Investment in patient education and patient-facing communications are on the rise, according to the results a newly released report from Cutting Edge Information.

Lilly not slashing force like its rivals

Eli Lilly CEO Sidney Taurel said the company does not plan any major changes to its sales force, even as rivals cut jobs.

Allscripts to design, deploy and support solution for King

Allscripts—a healthcare software developer—has announced that its physicians interactive group will design, deploy and support an online relationship management solution for King Pharmaceuticals in the ...

PMG hires Mercer as chief creative officer

The Patient Marketing Group (PMG) has hired Brian Mercer as chief creative officer.

Dendrite and Aqua rollout Micro

Dendrite and Aqua Pharmaceuticals have announced the rollout of Micro, the first smartphone-based device for sales force effectiveness.

Studies reveal sales force leaders committed to productivity

Sales force leaders are committed to improving the productivity of their field sales forces in 2007 while endeavoring to do more with less, according to ...

DTC Report

DTC whodunit: Rozerem ad gets rebuke

A sleep drug marketing mystery unfolded as Takeda and its agencies denied producing a TV ad that drew an FDA notice of violation.

Black docs warm to DTC ad benefits

A survey of members of the National Medical Association (NMA), an African-American physicians’ group, suggests a largely positive impression of DTC advertising on the part ...

Apruzzese moves to regional commercial leader for Symbicort launch

AstraZeneca’s Don Apruzzese, formerly senior director of consumer marketing, is moving over to become regional commercial leader on the Symbicort for asthma launch, scheduled for ...

Von Eschenbach discusses DTC legislative challenges

Asked about any legislative challenges to DTC at last month’s Center for Medicine in the Public Interest conference in Washington, FDA commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach ...

McCann HumanCare wins Pfizer’s Chantix

Pfizer awarded the consumer advertising business for its smoking cessation drug Chantix to McCann HumanCare.

Health Canada reviewing DTC rules

Health Canada, the Canadian counterpart to the FDA, is reviewing rules on DTC with a view toward modernizing Canada’s Food and Drug Act, according The ...

Public Relations

PR View by Peter Pitts

What would happen if you booked a hotel conference room and filled it with senior FDA officials, top academics, threw in a some fashionable healthcare ...

Edelman taps Winkler to head corporate health

Edelman named Shellie Winkler EVP, corporate health in the Eastern region.

Brits buy Dorland Global in $20M deal

Publicly held Huntsworth PLC, based in London, has purchased Dorland Global Corp., for $20.7 million in cash, extending the reach of its healthcare division into ...

In Focus

DDMAC vows pushback on risk disclosures

The FDA has stepped up efforts to combat what it sees as the No. 1 pharmaceutical marketing compliance problem, said Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising ...

Back Talk

Beware of samples of one

We all know that if you live on McDonald’s hamburgers for a month you’ll turn grossly obese, your “bad” cholesterol level will zoom and your ...