August 2011 46 8 Issue of MMM

Editor's Desk

Apps without borders

Just as we are going to press with this August print issue, the FDA has issued a set of draft guidelines for mobile medical apps.

Features

Global Report: Mobile Conquest

Outside the US, bespoke tools and resources that doctors can use at the point of care through a mobile device are still somewhat rare. An ...

Therapeutic Focus: Infectious Diseases

Newly launched products break ground in clearing life-threatening viruses and stanching stubborn infections. But that's only half the battle

Search Parties

Does the battle for social supremacy being waged by Google, Facebook and Bing make this medium more or less viable for pharma marketers?

Managed Markets: Meet Formulary Fred...

Fred's a really nice managed care guy. But does he have the right stuff to get your brand the preferred nod? Kevin McDermott explains how ...

Headliner: Pfizer's Sally Susman

Big is not necessarily bad, says Pfizer PR supremo Sally Susman. "Big can be a force for good."

Antidote

Antidote: Chantix

One out of five Americans still smokes, and smoking leads to cancer and heart disease.

In Focus

App guidance puts pharma out of focus

FDA issued draft guidance on mobile medical apps, focusing narrowly on those programs that augment regulated medical devices or turn mobile devices into medical devices.

Professional Marketing

GSK shakes up sales rep pay scale

On July 1, GlaxoSmithKline embarked upon a new phase in plans to overhaul its incentive compensation package, pegging sales rep pay to a combination of ...

Par Pharma cuts 100 sales jobs from Strativa division

Specialty drug group Par Pharmaceutical Companies has announced the restructuring of its branded division, Strativa, by way of axing 100 sales operations staff from the ...

Professional Marketing briefs

Featuring news about DMD, PDR Network and Delta Point

Med Ed Report

Pharma: Code won't impede grants

A recently passed report by the AMA's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA) won't have a significant effect on commercial funding for CME, pharma ...

MA gift, coupon bans stay on books

Two restrictive Massachusetts statutes, one barring pharmaceutical gifts to doctors and another drug discount coupons for consumers, remained unchanged in the state's recently passed budget ...

Sanctions for 3 Harvard docs

Following a review, Harvard Medical School and the affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital levied sanctions against three psychiatrists accused by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) of breaking ...

Med Ed Report briefs

Featuring news about European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, CME Coalition, DIME and Haymarket Medical

Professional Media

QHI appoints Holeton president, CEO

Quadrant HealthCom Inc. (QHI), the Parsippany, NJ-based multimedia communications company specializing in healthcare, has announced the appointment of Mary Holeton to the position of president ...

Elsevier launches ex-US e-journal

Elsevier has launched an international online journal, in association with the Australian Society for Parasitology, titled the International Journal for Parasitology: Drugs and Drug Resistance.

Professional Media briefs

Featuring news about Everyday Health, American Heart Association, Quadrant HealthCom and Elsevier

Media Forum

What will Google+ mean for pharma?

Google tried one-upping its rival when it released a Facebook-esque package of social media features known as Google+. Is this a game changer, and what ...

Digital Media

WEGO Health unveils video network

WEGO Health is launching an ad-supported online video network, dubbed WEGOHealth.tv, that will feature "conversation-style videos" featuring its medical subject matter expert "health activists," each ...

What will Google+ mean for healthcare advertisers?

In continuing to roll out its Facebook-like social media-based offerings, Google has launched a beta version of a new service called Google+, which strives to ...

Digital Media briefs

Featuring news about Sermo, DDMAC, Cephalon and Alzheimer's Association

Consumer Marketing

DDR on DTC: Reclast

An implicit objective of all DTC campaigns is to empower patients with information to speak to their HCP about a treatment or specific drug.

Network TV show in the works for Everyday Health

Everyday Health is planting its flag in network television with an ABC show that is being produced by The Biggest Loser creator Mark Koops.

Allman to lead Merck's hepatitis C effort

Merck is launching a chronic hepatitis C awareness campaign featuring rocker and hepatitis C sufferer Gregg Allman, whose Allman Brothers Band headlined a benefit concert ...

Takeda hits the race track with gout effort

Uloric maker Takeda and Men's Health Network recruited a pair of racing world rivals to hype a gout awareness campaign, dubbed "Gout Pit Stop."

PR pitch could portend AZ buy

AstraZeneca is reviewing its UK financial PR business amid media speculation on a possible acquisitions run in the US, reports our sister publication, PRWeek UK.

Consumer Marketing briefs

Featuring news about Novo Nordisk, Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority, Bayer HealthCare and Merck

Marketing Research

Vantage Point

Over the last few months, I've been thinking a lot about trends in pharmaceutical marketing research.

Maine data-mining law may be the next to fall

The US Supreme Court ordered a lower court to reappraise its ruling upholding a Maine data-mining law, after striking down a similar statute in Vermont ...

Wolters Kluwer divides lead role

Wolters Kluwer Pharma Solutions appointed Bob Jansen and Michelle Woker as co-presidents of its analytics business.

Agency Business

LBi launches digital health shop in US

LBi, a big European indie digital agency network, is opening up a healthcare marketing shop in the US, seeing opportunity in Publicis' increasing domination of ...

NeON promotes new head, IPG bumps Lane upstairs

Interpublic Group promoted Matt Lane, co-founder and managing director of NeON, to a position at the holding company level.

Agency Business briefs

Featuring news about Rosetta Wishbone, inVentiv, Chandler Chicco and Chamberlain Communications and McCann Healthcare Worldwide

Washington Insider

As I see it

A reported FDA plan, secretly developed to enforce the rarely used 36-year-old "strict liability" Park Doctrine against Forest Laboratories CEO Howard Solomon, reflects a poorly ...

Hamburg releases FDA five-year priorities

FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg says the agency's priorities for the next five years will be advancing regulatory science and innovation.

FDA site ranks low among government

While federal web portals earned an average score of 75 on a 100-point satisfaction scale in a ForeSee Results survey of customers, FDA's main website ...

Viewpoint

Pharma must prepare for e-prescribing closeup

The term "iceberg" may seem overly dramatic when considering the impact of e-prescribing on the pharmaceutical industry, however, it is an appropriate analogy given the ...

Back Talk

Social health revolution

While doctors and nurses remain the first choice for most people with health concerns, the internet is making a significant impact on patients' healthcare decisions.

Video Exclusive

Web Exclusives

Five industry experts advise specialty pharma company on digital strategy

April 20, 2012

Specialty pharma company POZEN assembled a crack team of experts to help shape its digital strategy. Not only did POZEN share with us the text from their contributions, but you can watch exclusive video clips of their valuable perspectives right here.