December 2007 Issue of MMM

December 2007

Editor's Desk

The certainty of uncertainty

So how was it for you? 2007, that is.

Features

You had to be there...

Last month, 800 execs flocked to Central Park to see 750-plus entries whittled down to just 24. And it certainly proved to be a night ...

Outlook 2008: Electile Dysfunction

It's election season once again, and everybody's running against Big Pharma. But the industry has bigger problems.

Outlook 2008: Rubin's Rubric

Few analysts have proved as prescient over the years as Morgan Stanley's Jami Rubin, recently ranked third among industry analysts by Institutional Investor.

Pipeline 2008

MM&M takes a detailed look at 258 products in the pipeline, highlighting 17 of them with insights and ratings from top analysts, to provide an ...

Headliner: Advertising Coalition's Jim Davidson

Jim Davidson might be the man who saved drug advertising.

Vantage Point

For pharmaceutical marketing research, I believe that 2007 constituted a tipping point.

Antidote

We all like a good mystery, so we tend to overreact and over-personalize infectious threats that are truly remote.

In Focus

ACCME firewall letter sent, but not sealed

Bruce Bellande, PhD, was pleased to learn that regulators accepted the materials he sent them as adequate proof of corporate separation.

Med Ed Report

Pfizer set to take CME in new direction

New hires in Pfizer's medical education grants (MEG) department signal the firm is moving in a new direction while raising competencies.

Guidance issued on joint sponsorship

Non-accredited providers must comply with the same firewall rules as their accredited counterparts to continue working with them as joint sponsors, according to new guidance.

Credentialers take another step

The nonprofit group working on a credentialing program for people in CME has engaged a national test developer to pilot an exam by May.

PhRMA working on CME guidance

PhRMA is working on guidance around transparency of funding for CME, including possibly revising its code on gifts to physicians, sources said. PhRMA did not ...

Task force audience members don't support pooled fund CME activities

Ninety-one percent of audience members polled at the National Task Force on CME Provider-Industry Collaboration meeting said they would not support a pooled fund for ...

60% of med school chairs have formed relationship with industry

Sixty percent of medical school department chairs have some form of personal relationship with industry, including serving as a consultant (27%), scientific advisory board member ...

Ray Wolf joins Sepracor

Ray Wolf, PharmD, has joined Sepracor as director, medical education.

CME LLC is exclusive provider of psychiatric CME content for ReachMD

Thanks to a partnership, CME LLC is the exclusive provider of psychiatric CME content for ReachMD, XM Radio Channel 157.

Professional Media

Advanstar enlists Deal to lead MedEc

Advanstar has named Formulary publisher Trevor Deal to lead Medical Economics.

Elsevier launches Clinical Solutions

Elsevier launched a Clinical Solutions Group within its health sciences division to house journals, books and clinical decision support tools aimed at medical researchers, practitioners, ...

Thomson Scientific names Novartis number one company of 2007

Thomson Scientific named Novartis the number one company of 2007 for quality and quantity of scientific literature in its quarterly review, "Who is making the ...

HMP names Norton VP, meetings and trade shows

HMP Communications named Bill Norton VP, meetings and trade shows.

PLoS launches online journal devoted to tropical diseases

Public Library of Science launched an online medical journal devoted to neglected tropical diseases like elephantitis and leptospirosis.

Merion rebrands Advance for Imagine & Oncology Administrators

Merion Publications is rebranding Advance for Imaging and Oncology Administrators.

Partner Forum

Does tracking Web traffic jam ads?

Measuring traffic online can be tough for advertisers, as no two tracking firms ever seem to agree. But, is the lack of standardization in media ...

E-marketing

Web Watch

The Internet has become a primary source of information for people living with disabilities and chronic diseases.

Google's health initiative expected to launch in '08

Google is expected to launch its eagerly awaited health initiative sometime in early 2008, according to the company's head of search, Marissa Mayer.

WebMD, Yahoo! sign exclusive deal

Online juggernauts in the consumer space, Yahoo! and WebMD announced they have inked an exclusive multi-year search and advertising distribution agreement. Financial terms of the ...

Direct Marketing

DDMAC to Scios: halt Natrecor promo

The FDA's Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising and Communications (DDMAC) has told Johnson & Johnson's Scios unit to stop distributing promotional computer mousepads and pens ...

Cegedim Dendrite enlists FDA expert

Sales, marketing and compliance solutions consulting firm Cegedim Dendrite has hired one of the nation's foremost FDA regulations experts.

Sepracor, King to slash sales forces

Small pharma is taking a cue from its Big Pharma brethren as it trims its sales force size to improve market position.

IMC names PDI's former president as its CEO

Informed Medical Communications (IMC), an interactive medical information service company, has named PDI's former president Steven Budd its new CEO.

Lois Smith joins MediZine

Lois Smith has joined MediZine as VP of sales and marketing.

RTCRM hires Brad Blackmon

RTC Relationship Marketing (RTCRM), a direct marketing agency, has hired Brad Blackmon as VP/account director.

inVentiv Commercial announces realignment of its business

inVentiv Commercial announced a realignment of its business into two divisions.

DTC Report

J&J seeks to boost stent with DTC ads

With Abbott and Medtronic crowding into a market it has long split with Boston Scientific, Johnson & Johnson's Cordis is looking to raise the profile ...

Edwards calls for moratorium on TV ads for new drugs

Democratic candidate John Edwards called for a two-year moratorium on TV ads for new drugs.

BMS says spend increased by 23% in Q3

Bristol-Myers Squibb said its advertising and promotional spend increased by 23% in the third quarter, in part due to increased DTC advertising of Plavix and ...

Lunesta moth still most-recalled drug ad

The Lunesta moth continues to dominate IAG Research's most-recalled drug ads survey.

DDMAC asks companies to notify FDA if they participate in DTC program

DDMAC asked companies to notify FDA within 30 days if they intend to participate in the DTC user fee program in 2008 and to identify ...

Public Relations

PR View by Gil Bashe

Treating rare disorders was once considered a "good-will science endeavor," but market forces have encouraged companies to revisit how these small molecules can be big ...

Pfizer pfudges with its withdrawal of Exubera

Pfizer and Nektar have buried the hatchet after the former paid the latter $135 million following its abrupt decision to discontinue marketing of Exubera, on ...

Novartis targets oncologists with blog

Novartis is experimenting with blogging for physicians with melanomaperspectives.com.

Marketing Research

Emotional techniques build brands' personality

How does an oncoming migraine feel? Like an approaching storm. A full-blown attack? Think thunder and lightning.

TNS quantifies Avandia cardiac toll

Reports linking GlaxoSmithKline's Avandia to increased cardiovascular risk, and the drug's subsequent swoon, may prove just the tip of the iceberg for the diabetes field.

Back Talk

Plus ça change....

Pardon my French, but there's no better cliché to describe a special issue of Harper's magazine dated October 1960, starting with the cover headline: "The ...