April 2010 Issue of MMM

Editor's Desk

Cliffs notes on expiring patents

Often, when I am exposed to certain words and phrases, it acts as a cue for my mind to break into an accompanying composition of ...

Features

DTC Report: Flat is the New Up

After a sharp downturn, consumer ad outlays have stabilized. Advertisers are spending again, but with budgets under pressure, they're seeking deals, and amid thinning pipelines, ...

Journal Ad Review: Down But Not Out

The last thing medical/surgical journals needed was a recession. James Chase teams up with Kantar Media to chart the biggest advertisers and the most advertised ...

Headliner: Pfizer vaccines chief Mark Swindell

Mark Swindell, president of Pfizer vaccines, began his career in 1983 in the finance department of Cyanamid, a mid-sized pharma company in the UK. Six ...

MM&M Therapeutic Focus: Vaccines

Seeking reliable franchises to support earnings, pharma has made vaccines a key part of the biologics portfolio. Marc Iskowitz scopes out the immunity boosting potential, ...

Antidote

Antidote: thimerosal and autism

Three recent court rulings did not support the notion of a connection between thimerosal and autism. This is good news for vaccine advocates everywhere, who ...

In Focus

Bringing heritage, education up to date

Back in 1999, the Medical Advertising Hall of Fame (MAHF) published a breakthrough coffee table tome, Medicine Avenue, which charted the history of medical advertising ...

Professional Marketing

Covidien, Biovail beef up sales forces

While many sales jobs at large pharmaceutical companies continue to be shed amidst reorganizations, mergers and consolidations, Covidien and Biovail are bucking the trend and ...

AMA to help doctors cash in on EHR stimulus dollars

Doctors that demonstrate the "meaningful use" of electronic health records (EHR) in their practices are eligible for at least $44,000 over five years, an incentive ...

Professional Marketing briefs

Featuring news about Sanofi-Aventis, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Speak Pharmaceuticals and Arena Pharmaceuticals

Med Ed Report

Senator probes WebMD on depression test

Citing concerns about the firm's independence, Charles Grassley, the Republican senator, has made WebMD a focus of his expanding investigation.

Drug firms engage more private docs

For years, drug firms sought out academic doctors to discuss new products via sponsored talks.

Partners' COI rules overreach

Some employees are raising concerns about conflict-of-interest rules implemented Jan. 1 at Partners Healthcare, owner of Harvard-affiliated hospitals Mass. General and Brigham and Women's.

Professional Media

Physician referral directory revamped

Doctors using The Little Blue Book for patient referrals will be able to decide how they want to use their thumbs--for page turning or mobile ...

US Oncology buys Cure magazine

US Oncology acquired Cure Media Group, signaling an increased focus on cancer patients. US Oncology is a practice management and drug distribution firm.

Professional Media briefs

Featuring news about Slack, Orthopedics Today, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Gold Standard and Elsevier

Media Forum

Will more pharmas consolidate?

Merck has put its media business up for pitch as it seeks to consolidate following its acquisition of Schering-Plough. Can we expect to see more ...

Digital Media

Smart phones proliferate among docs

About 80% of all US physicians will be using smart phones by 2012, and not just for drug reference or clinical information.

WebMD unveils community hub 'Health Exchange'

WebMD is launching a social networking platform, dubbed WebMD Health Exchange, aimed at giving users more control and connecting them with experts to talk about ...

Digital Media briefs

Featuring news about Alliance Health Networks, HealthExchange.com, Merck KGAA, Facebook and Twitter

Consumer Marketing

DDR on DTC: Cervarix

And the Academy Award for Best Performance by a Vaccine in the Unbranded Category goes to... Cervarix!

GSK launches surprising cervical cancer TV spots

What began as a sparkly new ad for perfume quickly shifted gears, from trivial to terrifying, once the young female actor glimpsed the perfume bottle's ...

Xyzal to give allergies a 'Clean Sweep'

Sanofi-Aventis is poised to launch a new Xyzal campaign for allergy season, having recently acquired full commercialization responsibilities on the drug after UCB's exit from ...

Aricept TV spots hype benefits: DDMAC

Eisai got an FDA untitled letter for two Aricept TV ads that the agency said overstate the efficacy of the drug.

Help-seeking ads unhelpful: Merck

Merck told FDA that unbranded "Help-seeking" search ads for drugs, which have proliferated over the past year, are misleading and lack transparency.

Consumer Marketing briefs

Featuring news about HCD Research, Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Wyeth and Carat

Marketing Research

Vantage Point: shrinking budgets

Market research is a bit of a dinosaur. With shrinking budgets, merged work forces and the potential threat of unblinding due to reporting requirements, it ...

Prescriber data law in Maine headed for court

A federal appeals court will hear arguments regarding Maine's prescription data law, which allows physicians to "opt-out" of commercially traded data pertaining to prescribing habits.

Docs, nurses use social media for work

A survey of new media use among nurses and physicians found that nurses are highly plugged in to social media, with 65% saying they would ...

Agency Business

Razorfish launches health practice

It's not exactly news that Razorfish has a health practice, but the digital agency, which was acquired by Publicis last year, is making it official ...

Merck in $600M media shake up

Merck will consolidate media duties on all of its brands, including the newly acquired Schering-Plough portfolio, after a review.

Agency Business briefs

Featuring news about Ignite Health, Allergan, Pacific Communications, inVentiv Health, RelayHealth and Adair Greene McCann

Washington Insider

As I see it: DDMAC elevated to OPDP

If you or your clients have sent promotion materials to FDA recently for pre-publication review, or--God forbid--have been the recipient of a DDMAC Warning Letter, ...

FDA's Hamburg: Speed-up processing of generics

FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg says it's taking the agency too long to approve generic drug applications and imposing user fees on generic drug companies could ...

Alliance's sobering budget analysis

FDA's drugs, biologics and medical devices programs are getting the shaft under the Obama administration's proposed FY 2011 budget request, according to an analysis by ...

Viewpoint

Performance improvement CME is long overdue

Performance improvement CME is an idea whose time has come. The problem is many outside the realm of healthcare improvement and education haven't made the ...

Don't be a bore: Create an experience for your customers

We all know that our industry is based on science. And good science from well-controlled clinical studies contains a lot of details. Important details. Critical ...

Back Talk

The industry's cultural deficit

Innovative chemical compounds have improved the quality and longevity of the lives of many Americans. Many diseases that were once a death sentence are now ...