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April 2008 Issue of MMM

Editor's Desk

Change the channel on DTC

This is the time of year when we take our annual, in-depth look at direct-to-consumer advertising.

Features

Steady Migration

Slowly but surely, consumer advertising and promotion is getting smarter and more targeted as marketers broaden their media plans to cope with a dearth of ...

Navigating Restricted Waters

What's the difference between regulations, codes, guidelines and rules? Linda Klein defines the terminology, and examines the regulatory challenges facing the industry in the next ...

Rule of the Tool

To the person who only has a screwdriver, every task looks like it can be completed using that screwdriver, even when it's clearly the wrong ...

Heavyweights Fall Hard

With advertising expenditures continuing on a steady decline, there is no end to the suffering of medical/surgical journals—especially the biggest players. PERQ/HCI's Eugene M. May ...

Headliner: Genentech's Len Kanavy

Genentech VP, commercial operations, Len Kanavy was surprised, humbled and honored to receive this year's honorable mentor award from Healthcare Businesswomen's Association.

Antidote

I have an expression that I like to use when describing a drug's fall from grace—I call it going from panacea to panic.

Washington Insider

As I see it

As the Bush administration prepares to eke out its last months in office, there is a sense of urgency that it should leave a judicially ...

Attorneys: Scientific free speech 'threatened'

Attorneys Arnold Friede and Robert Nicholas (both McDermott, Will & Emery) say calls for an investigation into support for the American Heart Association (AHA) and ...

Stupak calls for agency chief to resign

In a sign that Capitol Hill is losing patience with the FDA's oversight of the nation's drug supply, House Energy and Commerce oversight and investigations ...

FDA, NIH collaborate on AE reporting

The FDA and the NIH have agreed to develop a harmonized adverse event (AE) reporting mechanism for consumers, health professionals, investigators, sponsors and other parties ...

Enforcement changes in new FDA law

A prominent Washington food and drug lawyer has warned the industry that three new civil money penalty provisions were added without fanfare to the Federal ...

Attorneys: PDMA isn't broken, don't change it

Two Hyman, Phelps & McNamara attorneys have told the US Sentencing Commission that the guideline for misdemeanor offenses under the Prescription Drug Marketing Act isn't ...

Conflicts of interest 'rampant' in medical device industry

A staff investigation at the Senate Special Committee on Aging has found that conflicts of interest are rampant in the medical device industry.

Leavitt: foreign companies deny access for US officials

HHS secretary Michael Leavitt says foreign companies can often deny US officials access to their facilities without adverse consequences.

Investigator to Congress: Ketek data was known to be fraudulent

A subpoenaed FDA criminal investigator has told Congress that Aventis should have known that data it submitted to support the approval of antibiotic Ketek was ...

Media Notepad

Haymarket takes over oncology titles

Haymarket Medical has taken over the operations of two US HealthCare Communications oncology titles—The American Journal of Hematology/Oncology and Oncology Nursing News.

Wolters Kluwer revenue down

Wolters Kluwer reported 2007 revenues for its health division down to 761 million Euros from 823 million Euros in 2006 and operating profits down to ...

Elsevier to acquire Windhover Information

Elsevier is acquiring Windhover Information, publisher of IN VIVIO and the RPM Report.

Advanstar names Stefany publisher

Advanstar named Rick Stefany publisher on Drug Topics.

Compact Clinicals acquired by Jones and Bartlett Publishers

Jones and Bartlett Publisher acquired Company Clinicals

Media Forum

Newspaper's nosedive not a surprise

For the first three quarters of 2007, pharmaceutical firms' spending on newspaper advertising plummeted, to $57 million from $84 million for the same period in ...

CME Report

MA Senate proposes outright gift ban

The leader of the Massachusetts State Senate has proposed legislation banning all gifts to doctors from pharmaceutical companies.

J&J opens its Diabetes Institute in US

Johnson & Johnson in March cut the ribbon on its J&J Diabetes Institute, a dedicated facility on its Silicon Valley LifeScan campus for schooling healthcare ...

New site educates about Peyronie's

In an effort to educate physicians and consumers about a complex and painful form of erectile dysfunction know as Peyronie's disease, Cook Medical has launched ...

E-marketing

Web Watch

Remember the information superhighway?

Google's health offering to store medical records

Google unveiled its new online health service at a meeting of the Healthcare Management and Information Systems Society (HIMSS) in February.

HLTH Corp. to merge with WebMD

HLTH Corporation announced plans to merge with its WebMD Health subsidiary in a move that could make the combined company an attractive takeover target for ...

Direct Marketing

Shire hits the road to educate on UC

Shire Pharmaceuticals is hitting "the road" as part of a new unbranded education campaign for patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), complete with live events in ...

Botox 'off-label' promotion questioned

Allergan said it has received a subpoena for documents related to the promotion of Botox.

Endo, Novartis begin agreement

Endo Pharmaceuticals has entered into a licensing agreement with Novartis to obtain the exclusive US marketing rights for Voltaren Gel (diclofenac sodium topical gel) 1%.

DTC Report

Pfizer cans Lipitor ads, vowing 'clarity'

Pfizer pulled Lipitor ads featuring Dr. Robert Jarvik and vowed that it is "committing to ensuring greater clarity in the roles and responsibilities of its ...

Memorable ads in '07 a tale of bee and beaver

Ads featuring an animated bee and a talking beaver were the TV drug spots most recalled by consumers during 2007, according to advertising performance tracking ...

Rx drug ads prompt 1/3 of Americans to request drugs

Rx drug ads prompt nearly a third of Americans to ask their doctor about an advertised drug, and of those who ask, 82% get a ...

Analysts: Sepracor decrease could mean cut in DTC

Sepracor said in reporting Q4 2007 results, 2008 revenues projected to be spent on sales, marketing and distribution expenses would likely decrease around 10% compared ...

Jarvik berates NY Times in letter

Dr. Robert Jarvik berated The New York Times in a March 3 letter for calling him a "pitchman" rather than a "spokesman."

Public Relations

PR View by Ann Moravick

Go online and you'll see bountiful commentary about drug companies and their products.

Centocor joins its parent company in blogosphere

Centocor launched itself into the blogosphere with the debut of its corporate blog at cnto411.com.

PhRMA strikes a more conciliatory note

DTC ads can be "both a blessing and a curse," and if companies fail to include messaging about patient assistance programs in them, "then your ...

Marketing Research

Vantage Point

I'll bet that if you hear one more person in our industry talk about the pressure being applied on marketing researchers to do more with ...

Pharma wants partners not just data suppliers

Form true partnerships with your clients, keep them happy and make your recommendations short and sweet—that's the message from pharma companies to their marketing research ...

In Focus

Reprints draft guidance no gift to industry

Sales reps could be effectively barred from circulating journal article reprints discussing off-label uses under FDA's draft guidance on "Good reprint practices," and the agency ...