April 2009 44 4 Issue of MMM

Editor's Desk

A winter of dissed content

Spring is here at last and we've been reorganizing some of our closet space here at MM&M, or chucking out the chintz as they say ...

Features

DTC Report: Between Screens

Drug advertisers may be saving the TV industry, but they're moving beyond dabbling in digital

PERQ Journal Ad Review: More Red Ink

Economic troubles are leading medical publishers to seek out new tactics to stay afloat, while other journals are consolidating

Trade Dress Protection: Eye Candy

Legal hurdles challenge brand-name manufacturers' ability to boost product recognition with the use of color, shape and size. Julia Anne Matheson and Michael R. Justus ...

Headliner: Public Citizen's Health Resource Group's Sidney Wolfe, MD

Dr. Sidney Wolfe has a lot on his plate. His main job is serving as director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group--a post he's held ...

How to Win an MM&M Award

You have fewer than two months to enter the MM&M Awards. Need help? James Chase looks at how three of last year's submissions achieved glory ...

Antidote

Normally, I wouldn't use this column as a forum to comment on mergers or acquisitions. But the purchase of Schering- Plough by Merck is not ...

In Focus

Wyeth decision ends pre-emption dreams

The Supreme Court struck a blow to FDA pre-emption of state laws with a 6-3 decision in Wyeth v. Levine finding the company liable for ...

Professional Marketing

TripBuilder targets docs with iFoldz

Westport, CT-based TripBuilder, Inc., is determined to help drug and medical device companies educate physicians about new products while at the same time remain consistent ...

Middlebrook Pharma adds 271 reps

Westlake, Texas-based MiddleBrook Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has completed the hiring of its 271-person nationwide field sales force.

PhRMA code has mixed effect on forces

Recent changes to the PhRMA code are not having a tremendous impact on sales reps' ability to sell target physicians on the merits of their ...

Med Ed Report

Medtronic to disclose doc payments

Medtronic announced that it will disclose payments to US physicians starting in 2011.

MedPAC calls for reporting of samples to aid detailing

An influential advisory board urged Congress to impose far-reaching transparency rules on payments to healthcare professionals and organizations interacting with the drug industry--including reporting samples, ...

Professional Media

Savage, Bennicasa win Nexus Awards

Advanstar's Debby Savage and Pharmaceutical Media Inc.'s Gina Bennicasa won the Association of Medical Media's 17th annual Nexus Representatives of the Year Awards, honoring outstanding ...

McGraw-Hill gives anesthesiology residents web resource

McGraw-Hill Professional launched AccessAnesthesiology, a web resource for anesthesiology residents.

Media Forum

Evaluating the millions of audiences

At a conference recently, one marketer suggested that online targeting has moved from "an audience of millions, to millions of audiences." How do you determine ...

Digital Media

Amgen's Mas Matsuda offers grist for rumor mill

Marketers may soon need to reconsider their online strategies in light of new regulatory developments, Mas Matsuda, associate general counsel and executive director at Amgen, ...

Social networking docs write more scripts: eMarketing

Physicians involved in social networking communities online tend to write more prescriptions than other physicians, according to a presentation given at CBI's 8th annual Forum ...

Consumer Marketing

FDA: GSK's Avodart ads misleading

Consumer ads in support of GlaxoSmithKline's prostate drug Avodart overstate its efficacy and present misleading claims, the FDA said in a letter to the company.

Rx ad spend fell 18.4% in 2008: Nielsen

Pharmaceutical industry ad spend fell 18.4% in 2008 to $4.3 billion in the US, according to The Nielsen Company.

Parents learn about HPV vaccine through DTC ads

A majority of parents and healthcare providers of young women are aware of human papillomavirus (HPV), and most of them learned of the HPV vaccine ...

AdvaMed issues new guidelines for device ads

The Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) rolled out guiding principles for DTC device advertising.

DDR on DTC: Merck's Gardasil

Merck's Gardasil has one of the most effective DTC campaigns ever developed.

UCB, Sanofi-Aventis launch allergy awareness campaign

UCB and Sanofi-Aventis have launched an allergy awareness campaign dubbed Nasal Allergies: Tips from the Xperts.

Nick Jonas and Bayer provide camp scholarships for children with diabetes

Nick Jonas and Bayer Diabetes Care announced that Change for the Children will provide $25,000 in scholarships to send underprivileged children with diabetes to camp.

Study says companies spend $100 million to promote blockbuster drugs

A study by Cutting Edge Information, Driving Successful Pharma Brands: Case Studies of Real Product Launches, said companies promoting blockbuster products routinely spend over $100 ...

Fact boxes best fair balance: study

Information contained in big blocks of fair balance text in DTC ads is lost on consumers, but simplified "facts boxes" fare better, a study found.

Marketing Research

Vantage Point: An inside look at the healthcare system

In recent years, ethnography, the close observing and interviewing of subjects over an extended period of time, has gained momentum in healthcare marketing research as ...

Alcon Labs uses brains to test ad effectiveness

Using only 20 respondents, Alcon Laboratories was able to measure the effectiveness of a DTC ad with enough accuracy to significantly improve its impact on ...

Agency Business

Porter Novelli adds Pitts as partner

Porter Novelli has named Peter Pitts partner and director of global healthcare.

AbelsonTaylor promotes three

AbelsonTaylor has announced the promotions of Kristen McGirk, Mark Finn and Eric Densmore from senior account supervisor to account director of the agency's ethical pharmaceuticals ...

Washington Insider

FDA commissioner faces advisory committee 'disinvitation' gaffe

The incoming FDA commissioner faces something akin to the theme of the old Mission Impossible TV series as the agency admits to yet another management ...

FDA's off-label guidance may be up for review

The Obama administration will review and may change an FDA guidance on off-label marketing that was approved in the waning days of the Bush administration, ...

DeLauro bill to split agency duties

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), who oversees funding for the FDA, in February introduced the Food Safety Modernization Act that would split the FDA into two ...

Viewpoint

How can pharma marketers 'friend' social media?

Communicating with patients through social media presents significant challenges, but also tremendous opportunities, for pharma marketers.

Does Web 2.0 exclude healthcare professionals?

Oh no, not another rant about Web 2.0! Yes well, I'm pretty tired of them too.

Back Talk

Tune up for tough times

In these troubled times, it is important to remember that some things are within your control, while others are not. Troughs in the economic cycle ...