December 2006 Issue of MMM - Medical Marketing and Media

Editor's Desk

Preaching to the converted

As a geography major—yes, geography—I have to confess to having fond memories of presentations on demographics and socio-economic trends.

Features

The Industry&s Big Night Out

Whew, what a night! Almost 700 medical marketers and publishers ascended on New Yorks Tavern on the Green, Nov. 2, for the MMM Awards 2006, ...

Outlook 2007: House of Hearings

With the Democrats set to take control of Congress, the new guard of committee leadership presents a mixed-to-bleak picture for pharma industry interests.

Pipeline 2007

Details of more than 250 therapeutics and vaccines in development, including analyst comments on key products.

Cutting Through E-Clutter

When it comes to digital communication, pharma has been slow out of the blocks. But while drug companies may rue their fast-diminishing ability to control ...

Mixed Measures

With major blockbusters going generic and fewer products being launched, manufacturers face continued downward pressure on prices. The pharmaceutical market is changing…and so should marketers.

Headliner: Jim Daly of Amgen

Asked for his take on things now that Amgen is launching its first-ever cancer therapeutic, Jim Daly responds cheerfully.

Antidote

In attending the MMM Awards dinner recently, I was asked to present an award for the best unbranded TV ad.

Washington Insider

As I see it

Keep your eyes on the Democrats’ government reform chairman, Henry A. Waxman, when the new Congress convenes.

Gottlieb anticipates extra resources for drug safety

FDA deputy commissioner for medical and scientific affairs Scott Gottlieb says he is confident additional resources will be allocated for the agency’s drug safety efforts ...

Slowdown in approvals not safety related: FDA

FDA Office of New Drugs director John Jenkins said concerns over drug safety and "gaming" of the review clock were not to blame for a ...

FDA still going after unapproved drugs

The FDA says it is continuing its battle against unapproved drugs with a consent decree signed with one manufacturer of unapproved drugs and Warning Letters ...

Crawford 'blatantly violated' principles

Former FDA commissioner Lester Crawford's criminal behavior while in office was "blatant," according to District of Columbia US Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor in a statement ...

Serotonin warning for users of SSRIs

The FDA says development of a potentially life-threatening serotonin syndrome may occur in treatment with four selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

Haffner retiring from FDA to join Amgen

The FDA's director of orphan products development for the past 19 years, Marlene Haffner, will retire in January to join the biotech firm Amgen as ...

Lilly to appeal FDA's approvable letter for Arxxant

Eli Lilly says it will appeal the FDA's decision to issue an "approvable letter" that requests an additional efficacy study for Arxxant, its new drug ...

Wyeth and FDA warn professionals about Effexor

Wyeth and the FDA are warning healthcare professionals about an overdose potential for patients taking the antidepressant Effexor.

Program scraps plan to seize personal Rx drugs from Canada

A US Customs and Border Protection program to seize personal drug prescriptions shipped from Canada has been scrapped.

Media Notepad

Special reference targets pharmacists

Monthly Prescribing Reference is targeting pharmacists with a new edition aimed at providing them a counter-top quick-reference.

Doctor's Choice hands out honors

Mercks Fosamax three-page professional ads and Daiichi Sankyo’s one-page Evoxac ad took top honors at the Doctors Choice Awards.

ACR partners with John Wiley & Sons to launch mag

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) is partnering with John Wiley & Sons to launch The Rheumatologist, a new controlled-circulation magazine.

Bauer named managing editor for RN Magazine

Advanstar named Jeff Bauer managing editor for RN Magazine.

Quadrant appoints Baran as product manager

Quadrant HealthCom appointed Leslie Baran product manager for Meeting Architect, a new product line from Physicians' Travel & Meeting Guide aimed at convention exhibitors.

Clinical Advisor wins Folio: Magazine Eddie Gold Award

Haymarkets Clinical Advisor won a Folio: Magazine Eddie Gold Award as best business-to-business publication in Healthcare/Medical/Nursing, trumping Advance for Healthy Aging, Dental Practice Report and ...

Media Forum

Optimizing consumer print spending

Pharmas are spending more on print ads and less on TV as they seek to get right with PhRMAs DTC guidelines and present more exhaustive ...

CME Report

Taking accreditation model on the road

The ACCME is taking its show on the road to enhance member understanding of its new accreditation model.

Drug industry steps up for credentialing group

The National Commission for the Certification of CME Professionals’ voluntary certification program will not be out until fall 2007.

Changing of the guard at Alliance

Next month's meeting of the Alliance for CME (ACME) will be the last for Bruce Bellande, PhD, as executive director.

Funding helped outcomes journal CE Measure make debut

Funding from Novo Nordisk and Medscape/WebMD helped outcomes journal CE Measure make its October debut.

UC Davis medical center debates pooled CME fund

The UC Davis medical center’s executive committee is set to decide on several recommendations, one a ban on all gifts that includes payments from industry ...

Lotvin resigns from M|C Communications

Alan Lotvin, MD, formerly president and COO of medical education provider M|C Communications, resigned from the company effective Sept. 1.

Orsetti joins Educational Measures

Robert Orsetti, MA, FACME, has joined Educational Measures as EVP, working from its New Jersey office.

inVentiv Health acquires The Maxwell Group

Pharma services firm inVentiv Health has acquired The Maxwell Group for $7 million in cash and stock.

E-marketing

Web Watch

Eight out of every 10 people that use the Internet go online for health information and most of these people start with a search engine.

Search engine finds info for practicing physicians

Pharma marketers now have an added opportunity to connect with healthcare professionals with the debut of an innovative search engine designed by CMPMedica.

HealthMedia acquires MySelfHelp site

HealthMedia, a realtionship marketing firm focus ing on behavioral change, has acquired consumer health Web site MySelfHelp.com.

Direct Marketing

Sanofi-Aventis VP touts value of CRM

In an ever-changing marketplace, pharma marketers must always be working on ways to foster patient relationships, according to the marketing VP behind Sanofi-Aventis blockbuster Ambien ...

Santarus taps Ventiv force for Zegerid

Specialty pharma company Santarus has hired 140 sales reps from contract sales firm inVentiv Commercial Services to bolster efforts behind its heartburn treatment Zegerid.

PDI loses another pharma contract

Contract sales provider PDI said Sanofi-Aventis would end its $20 million sales agreement with the firm, effective Dec. 1. It was set to expire Dec. ...

PDI hires Stievater as SVP, emerging pharma

Contract sales firm PDI has hired David Stievater as SVP, emerging pharma.

MediZine hires staff to assist in launch of new mag

MediZine hired Eileen Bruno, Brooks Crandall and Jamie Blocher to assist in the launch of its new magazine distributed to medical specialists' offices, MDminute.

Publicis Selling Solutions Group hires COO

Contract sales firm Publicis Selling Solutions Group hired Rick Keefer as COO.

Dendrite International enters deal with Microsoft

Sales and marketing solutions provider Dendrite International has entered into a deal with Microsoft aimed at developing new sales solutions on the Microsoft software platform.

DTC Report

'Happy Feet' benefit Tamiflu treatment

Roche dipped a webbed foot into entertainment industry partnerships with a tie-in to the animated penguin romp “Happy Feet” that stands to benefit its Tamiflu ...

Hill Holliday nets Diovan

Novartis shifted the DTC account for Diovan from Deutsch to Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopoulos.

Ads attract fewer warning letters

Warning and untitled letters on broadcast and print DTC ads have plummeted since PhRMA’s adoption of its Guiding Principles on DTC in August 2005.

Cymbalta sales catalyst for Lilly's overall sales

Lilly credited increased Cymbalta sales for a 7% gain in overall sales for the 3rd Quarter, and said marketing and administrative costs were up 12%, ...

Murcko named publisher of Women's Health

Rodale named Mary Murcko VP, publisher of Women's Health. Previously at Rodale's Best Life, of which she was founding publisher, Murcko succeeds Kate Kelly Smith.

Diabetes 'lifestyle' program debuts on TiVoCast

DLifeTV, the diabetes "lifestyle" program, debuted on TiVoCast, through which TiVo owners can download shows directly.

Waxman reiterates scientific review request

Incoming Committee on Government Reform Chair Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) reiterated his request that the FDA conduct a thorough scientific review of phenylephrine's effectiveness at ...

HHS Deputy Secretary lobbies UK gov't to legalize DTC

HHS Deputy Secretary Alex Azar lobbied the UK government to legalize DTC ads, according to The Guardian.

Public Relations

PR View by Michael Durand

A year ago, if you told a pharmaceutical industry lobbyist that Nancy Pelosi would be Madame Speaker, Ted Kennedy would chair the Senate Health, Education, ...

Beers pushes pharma to stand up and fight critics

Charlotte Beers, the former undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, called for pharma companies to confront their critics and stand up for ...

Weber Shandwick wins Lipitor account

Pfizer named Weber Shandwick PR agency of record for Lipitor following a break with WPP.

In Focus

Gottlieb replies 'Yes, maybe' to IOM advice

The FDA's Scott Gottlieb offered a conditional endorsement of the recommendations of the Institutes of Medicine report and vowed that the agency will communicate better ...

Back Talk

When Frist and Clinton agree

Sens. Frist and Clinton are both on record as supporting the push for computerizing medical record keeping.