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March 2008 Issue of MMM

Editor's Desk

Pharma still searching online

The other day I was flipping through some old copies of the sadly defunct Revolution magazine (for digital marketers) and an editorial from February 2001 ...

Features

Sales Force Report: Rep 2.0

By equipping all of its sales reps with interactive tools, AstraZeneca's field force has added valuable minutes to its sales calls and considerably improved its ...

Blueprint for Branding Devices

David Paragamian emphasizes the importance of building master brands and exploring promotional channels

Measuring the Signal

There is no point in running a great journal ad if no one notices it. But how do you truly determine if the signal is ...

Crafting Effective Ads

Once a product has been positioned and its brand story told, it's time to develop a creative concept. Cathy Su and Noah Pines look at ...

Headliner: HCMA's Jay Bolling

Jay Bolling has a salesman's upbeat mien and smooth delivery, befitting the head of a new national trade group for medical marketers, a business getting ...

MAHF Honors Industry Legends

Healthcare advertising and publishing luminaries flocked to New York's Pierre Hotel in droves to honor five industry legends.

Antidote

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health released findings of the ACCORD study which appeared to show that driving blood sugar to low levels in ...

Washington Insider

As I see it

While alarms were being sounded on Capitol Hill about the dire state of the FDA after a recent Science Board report said American lives are ...

Lawyers fear Democrats' surge to the White House

Food and drug lawyers at a Washington media briefing in January contended that with Democrats controlling Congress and potentially taking the White House this year, ...

Probe into FDA's 'fast track' program

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has asked the Congressional Research Service for information on the FDA's Fast Track designation for some drugs seeking NDA approval to ...

FDA adds suicide studies to drug trials

The FDA has quietly started asking many drug companies to look at whether drugs in clinical trials cause some patients to become suicidal.

Lawmakers query FDA on labeling rule

Eight House and Senate health overseers are challenging the FDA's use of limited resources to prepare a proposed rule on when medical product companies can ...

US Supreme Court rejects Abigail Alliance request

The US Supreme Court has rejected a request from the Abigail Alliance for Better Access to Developmental Drugs and Washington Legal Foundation that it hear ...

Cough and cold products for kids still under fire

The FDA in January issued a Public Health Advisory recommending that OTC cough and cold products should not be used to treat infants and children ...

Pfizer agrees to update Chantix warnings

Two months after the FDA issued a safety alert on Pfizer's Chantix, the company in January agreed to update labeling to warn patients about the ...

US Pharmacopeia identifies look/sound alike drugs

The US Pharmacopeia says the 3,170 pairs of drug names it has identified that look or sound alike is nearly twice as many as the ...

Media Notepad

Intellisphere snaps up Ascend titles

Ascend Media has sold its struggling medical titles to Intellisphere for an undisclosed sum.

GSK hands CMI online HCP media

GlaxoSmithKline awarded its online professional media buying and planning business to Communications Media, Inc.

BMG Group names new publishers

The BMJ Group named Janet Flaherty and Julie Solomon publishers of the group's specialist journals portfolio.

Nature Publishing Group relaunches Obesity

Nature Publishing Group is relaunching Obesity.

Dowden Health Media names Current Psychiatry publisher

Dowden Health Media has named Ken Sylvia publisher of Current Psychiatry.

Study finds senior reads want more health info in papers

Senior newspaper readers want more information on health-related topics, an SPMG study says.

Media Forum

Getting pharma's upfronts in order

With network upfronts slated to occur in May, buyers and planners in the pharma space will consider TV spending for the coming programming season. Given ...

CME Report

It takes a village to educate a clinician

There's no better way to reinforce learning, some say, than sharing ideas with colleagues.

Society debates seal of approval

The American Academy of Dermatology's "Seal of Recognition" program was the subject of debate at its annual meeting last month.

NAAMECC has commitments for $20,000 in funding

NAAMECC has commitments for $20,000 in funding, over the $20,000 its own board approved, to conduct random audits of certified CME among various provider types.

Burgess hired by the American Academy of CME

Dan Burgess has been hired by the American Academy of CME as vice president, education, global operations and development.

Raichle and Sulkes were elected to the Alliance Board of Directors

Linda Raichle, PhD, FACME, and Destry Sulkes, MD, MBA, were elected to the Alliance Board of Directors.

Inverse relationship between certification and quality of care

There is an inverse relationship between the time since a physician's last board certification and the quality of care he or she provides, said researchers ...

Inverse relationship between certification and quality of care

There is an inverse relationship between the time since a physician's last board certification and the quality of care he or she provides, said researchers ...

E-marketing

Web Watch

In real estate, it's "location, location, location."

Case: industry should be embracing digital media

Steve Case, chairman and CEO of Revolution Health and co-founder of AOL, lamented pharma's hesitation to embrace interactive and inject a greater share of promotional ...

Chantix tops pharma product portals

Websites for Pfizer's smoking cessation drug Chantix, erectile dysfunction drugs Cialis, marketed by Eli Lilly, and Pfizer's Viagra were the top three online branded pharma ...

Direct Marketing

19% of docs refuse to see reps: study

Nineteen percent of US office-based physicians refuse to see drug and device industry sales reps, according to a recent analysis conducted by healthcare marketing firm ...

Sales, marketing vet to lead TargetRx

Pharma sales service provider TargetRx has appointed industry sales and marketing veteran Craig Scott to the role of president and CEO.

Direct mail hit by USPS increases

Direct mail marketers take note—the US Postal Service (USPS) has announced several rate increases for first-class mail, standard mail, periodicals, package services and special services.

Novo Nordisk names new VP for diabetes sales

Novo Nordisk, appointed Pamela Harris vice president for diabetes sales, managed care and government accounts.

PDI names new president of TVG unit

PDI, a provider of commercialization services to the biopharmaceutical industry, has named Peter Tilles president of its TVG Marketing Research and Consulting unit.

MediZine appoints new members to its REMEDY division

MediZine's REMEDY Direct Digital division has added Penelope Scott as vice president, sales and marketing, and Kathryn Darienzo has joined as sales director.

Mindset Marketing Solutions hires Giarraputo as SVP

Mindset Marketing Solutions, a provider of innovative zip+4 and household-level targeted marketing solutions related to disease incidence and treatment, has hired Michael Giarraputo as senior ...

DTC Report

FDA budget bids to revive DTC review

The FDA's plan for premarket review of TV ads, scrapped in 2008, might still happen in 2009.

Sepracor shifts Lunesta DTC biz

Sepracor has shifted its Lunesta DTC advertising business from McCann Erickson to Kaplan Thaler Group.

Concentric Pharma Advertising launches consumer unit

Concentric Pharma Advertising is launching a consumer unit and has recruited former CCA Advertising executive director Mike Devlin to run it.

Congressional investigation uncovers Pfizer's deal with Jarvik

A congressional investigation of Pfizer's TV ad campaign for Lipitor, featuring artificial heart inventor Dr. Robert Jarvik, revealed that Pfizer guaranteed Jarvik $1.35 million for ...

Consumers Union says ads for devices should carry warnings

Consumers Union says ads for implantable medical devices should carry a warning about the possibility of dangerous infections or other adverse events once they are ...

Study says US drug companies spend more on promotion

A study by two Canadian researchers says US drug companies spend nearly twice as much on promoting their products ($57.5 billion in 2004) than they ...

Public Relations

PR View by Michael Boken

When choosing a celebrity product spokesperson in the scrutinized world of pharmaceutical communications, it's essential that great care and consideration is put into the selection.

Wyeth taps Cost to head corporate affairs dept.

Wyeth hired Timothy Cost to head its corporate affairs department, replacing Marily Rhudy, who is retiring.

Lilly slams Times over trials data charge

Lilly took a sharp tone in responding to a New York Times article that the company said "likely created a strong false impression with readers ...

Marketing Research

Vantage Point

As this is being written, word came across that IMS, that venerable organization of pharma marketing research, was about to lay off 10% of its ...

AMA, states continue data mining alternatives

While data mining laws are mired in court, alternatives are helping physicians control rep encounters and help states manage costs.

Street taps Epocrates for research

The research arm of investment banking firm Goldman Sachs will look to promote Epocrates' marketing research services.

In Focus

GfK forecast: sharp decline in Vytorin, Zetia

Questions over the efficacy of Vytorin and Zetia could prompt a sharp pullback on first- and second-line use of the drug, according to a survey ...

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