August 2010 Issue of MMM

Editor's Desk

Who moved the goalposts?

Promoting prescription drugs is obviously a lot different than hawking cars, soda and sports apparel, not least because of the highly regulated environment in which ...

Features

Global Report: Advertising that Travels

Languages, cultures and federal regulations aside, is marketing pharmaceutical products outside of the US all that different? Ben Comer talks global strategy with the experts

Managed Care: Clash over Coverage

Manufacturers launching products into ever more powerful managed markets will find that contracting strategy is a tug of war between the product's value proposition and ...

Social Media Gets Specialized

In the last two years, a bevy of online niche social networks have taken root alongside the larger MD communities. As sites catch on, providing ...

Metabolic products--for diabetes, obesity and hypothyroidism--are a $19.5-billion category, with oral and injectable diabetes treatments representing the lion's share. The rising number of people with ...

Headliner: Kowa Pharmaceuticals America's Ben Stakely

At first glance, Nagoya, Japan-based Kowa, which last month launched a statin, Livalo, in the US, looks to be running a somewhat counterintuitive play, expanding ...

Antidote

Antidote: Avandia

Avandia is in trouble. A key drug for diabetes, one of just two left on the market in its class, it is under increasing scrutiny ...

In Focus

Japanese pharmas buying American

Even as US and European pharmas downsize their stateside sales forces, Japanese pharmas have become a significant driver of M&A activity in America, seeking to ...

Professional Marketing

PhRMA sweats Witty's EU samples cap

PhRMA said the reasoning behind a sharp cap on samples mandated by its European counterpart doesn't apply in the US.

Watson beefs up women's health biz, adds 19 sales reps

Generics and specialty pharma Watson Pharmaceuticals acquired a progesterone gel, marketed as Crinone and Prochieve, and added roughly 19 reps to its women's health sales ...

Professional Marketing Briefs

Featuring news about Novo Nordisk, Eisai, Arena Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoSmithKline

Med Ed Report

Industry support of CME declines 17%

Total commercial support of accredited CME fell 17% to $856 million in 2009, according to ACCME's annual report--marking its second straight year of double-digit declines ...

Pri-Med: Branded med ed draws docs

Of about 55,000 PCPs attending Pri-Med conferences, 70% (around 39,000) attend non-CME industry-led speaker programs while at its events, showed a survey by the producer ...

ACCME increases enforcement

The number of providers placed on probation by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education more than doubled this year, from 15 to 35, and ...

Med Ed Report briefs

Featuring news about the University of Michigan, Johnson & Johnson, Unbound Medicine and ACCME

Professional Media

Sage upgrades online journal platform

Sage, an international publisher of medical journals, books and electronic media, is shifting all of its 560-plus titles onto a new platform hosted by Stanford ...

Eisai launches online resource

Eisai unveiled an online resource for nurses treating cancer patients.

Professional Media briefs

Featuring news about Fox P2 Media, Wolters Kluwer, Quadrant Healthcom, Advanstar and Folio Magazine

Media Forum

How can mobile improve access?

Millions of patients across the country are set to enter the healthcare system, each with different insurance plans and tolerance for drug co-pays. How are ...

Digital Media

Yahoo! adds search apps for health

Yahoo! has expanded its Health offering, deepening content and offering three new search apps it says will enable advertisers to better reach target audiences, including ...

GPS-guided app for clinical trials from GSK, MedTrust

GlaxoSmithKline and physician portal MedTrust Online have launched a geolocating iPhone app that lets docs look up cancer clinical trials for their patients.

Digital Media briefs

Featuring news about Bayer HealthCare, Flexcin International and comScore

Consumer Marketing

DDR on DTC: Epiduo

What's this summer's big hit for teens? Nope, it's not Twilight: Eclipse or Glee. IMHO, it's Galderma's terrific new campaign for its acne treatment, Epiduo.

Sepracor's 'boxing bed' ad hit with untitled letter

A 60-second TV ad for insomnia drug Lunesta, which portrayed a woman fighting for sleep in a bed-turned-boxing ring, drew an untitled letter from regulators.

Bayer counters bad birth control info

The company ran a TV ad supporting a new unbranded website, BayerForWomen.com, which offers information on the comparative effectiveness of different birth control methods, risks ...

NASCAR's Gordon to lead Sanofi campaign

In an effort to throttle up awareness of whooping cough, or pertussis, Sanofi Pasteur and the March of Dimes enlisted NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon to ...

Intuniv materials get FDA warning

Patient materials for Shire's ADHD drug Intuniv presented unsubstantiated effectiveness and superiority claims and downplayed important risk info, said the FDA's Division of Drug Marketing, ...

Consumer Marketing briefs

Featuring news about Boehringer Ingelheim, HealthSeeker, Pfizer and Advil

Marketing Research

Vantage Point

Summer is a good time to rethink the fundamentals of our profession, to gather new ideas for making our work more exciting and relevant, and ...

Database crunches pharma's HCP payments

In the run-up to 2013, when federal law will require pharma and device firms to file annual public reports of gifts and payments to doctors ...

Ethnographic research firm growing

Healthcare ethnographic research firm Verilogue said it has crossed a marketing-research milestone, capturing over 50,000 physician-patient conversations.

Agency Business

WPP firms merge to form powerhouse

WPP-owned giants CommonHealth and Ogilvy Healthworld are merging to form a new global powerhouse agency: Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide.

inVentiv Health in $1.1 billion sale to private equity firm

InVentiv Health is being acquired by Thomas H. Lee Partners for $1.1 billion.

Agency Business briefs

Featuring news about Omnicom, Chameleon Communications International, Adair-Greene McCann and StrikeForce Communications

Washington Insider

As I see it

Federal agencies like FDA are moving creakily, if at all, to implement the "open government" mandate from the Obama administration as old practices continue and ...

FDA streamlines process for Warning Letters

The days of getting an FDA Warning Letter after the subject promotional campaign has concluded may be over, if new internal initiatives to collapse the ...

Agency crack downs on genetic tests

FDA's recent crack down on genetic tests is the result of aggressive claims companies have made in trying to market their tests to consumers, according ...

Viewpoint

The growing influence of payers in oncology

As managed care continues to have greater influence on the success of brands, payers are now turning their management efforts toward categories such as oncology, ...

Key trends shape the managed markets landscape

Managed markets has moved from behind the scenes to center stage and key trends are shaping the landscape and environment in ways not even considered ...