February 2010 Issue of MMM

Editor's Desk

B here, there, everywhere

Enough of what you can't do online! This has been the mantra at MM&M in the past few weeks, and the brief for this month's ...

Features

Patient Marketing Report: Friending Social Media

So much of the discussion around pharma and social media focuses on what you can't do. Gilead Sciences, Novartis, UCB, Shire and Bayer provide examples ...

Medical Advertising Hall of Fame 2010: Legends in the Hall

Adrienne Fanti and Tracy Peterson take a look back at the extraordinary lives and achievements of the Medical Advertising Hall of Fame's three newest members

MM&M Therapeutic Focus: Cardiovascular

The list of top 50 CV products to emerge from "the Aughts" looks set for a shakeup entering "the Tens." Marc Iskowitz examines threats and ...

Headliner: Rockpointe's Tom Sullivan

Tom Sullivan can often be found in the trenches of the debate over physician-industry relationships, a lonely pro-industry voice squaring off against powerful legislators and ...

Antidote

Antidote: Vaccine manufacturers

How come vaccine manufacturers take so much heat about flu vaccines? They are blamed for using outdated technologies, delay in shipments and contaminated batches. They ...

In Focus

Oncology journals: rough trade in 2009

Thinking of launching an oncology journal? You may have missed a profitable window.

Professional Marketing

5,000 Pfizer reps set to get tablet PCs

By this summer, Pfizer plans to deploy tablet PCs to 5,000 primary care, oncology, established products and specialty care reps detailing about 22 products.

Merck CEO Clark: Marketing, sales positions could be cut

In the wake of Merck's merger with Schering-Plough, the company is making staff cuts while hinting of more to come.

Professional Marketing: Novartis, Epocrates, Cegedim Dendrite and SK&A Information Services

Novartis launched schizophrenia med Fanapt to US physicians, following a May 2009 approval.

Professional Media

Lebhar-Friedman sheds four titles

B2B media firm Lebhar-Friedman sold the journals division of Dowden Health Media to Quadrant HealthCom in a move it said was designed to decrease reliance ...

JAMA analysis stirs debate

A JAMA analysis questioning the effectiveness of antidepressants has renewed debate.

Media Forum

As online grows, will ads take notice?

Data from Nielsen show that while 99% of video in the US is viewed on traditional TV, DVR and online video use is growing fast. ...

Digital Media

Everyday Health launches virtual doc

Everyday Health is launching a condition-based "virtual doctor" feature for patients with chronic conditions that emphasizes compliance.

dLife network reports significant hike in web traffic

Multimedia diabetes network dLife said total visits to its website crossed the one-million mark for the month of November.

Digital Media Briefs: AgaMatrix, WaveSense, Corbett Accel, Twitter and Sudler & Hennessey

AgaMatrix, which makes the WaveSense line of blood glucose monitoring products, announced that the latest version of its WaveSense Diabetes Manager App will provide users ...

Consumer Marketing

DDR on DTC: Actonel

Actonel, the osteoporosis drug from Warner Chilcot-Sanofi Aventis, is takin' it to the streets!

Pharma sought safe havens for '09 consumer ads

Pharma marketers placed safe bets and sought value in their consumer advertising buys last year, and that cautious approach is sure to continue.

FDA takes microsite back to 'Basics'

The FDA unveiled the first fruit of its transparency initiative with FDA Basics, a microsite aimed at demystifying the agency's workings for the public.

Shaq might be Sanofi's newest pitchman

Sanofi-Aventis is betting its $1.9-billion purchase of Chattem can give it a US marketing platform for future Rx-to-OTC switch brands.

NuvaRing DTC leads web traffic

NuvaRing and Latisse lead the pack in DTC-driven traffic to their brand.com sites, according to Manhattan Research.

Consumer Marketing Briefs: healthcare reform, USC hospitals, Nielsen

In the frenzied days of December, as the Senate scrambled to wrap up its version of healthcare reform legislation, pharmas and advertisers overcame a last-minute ...

Marketing Research

Vantage Point: Finding the optimal treatment

Patients and families often ask: "Doctor, what would you do if it were you" or "your mother?"

Docs prefer e-detailing slightly less in 2009

The number of physicians who like e-detailing dipped nearly 10% from 2008 to 2009, according to a recent study.

IMS: merger with TPG/CPPIB on track

IMS Health convened a special meeting to vote on its buyout offer, in what some consider a move to restore investor confidence in the deal.

Agency Business

McCann creates 'Office of the CEO'

McCann Healthcare Worldwide announced a new "Office of the CEO" under which four executives will share leadership responsibility.

Agency Business Briefs: Cephalon, Draftfcb, Cline Davis & Mann, inVentiv Health and ParagonRx

Cephalon has consolidated its oncology business into Interpublic Group's Draftfcb.

Rosetta purchases Wishbone to round out capabilities

Rosetta, the largest independent digital marketing agency in the US, has acquired Wishbone for an undisclosed sum.

Washington Insider

As I see it: transparent government

More than a year has elapsed since the Obama administration first promised a more transparent government, but all we have seen at the FDA is ...

New staff puts PDUFA goals back on track, Jenkins says

A two-year hiring push at the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) has added enough new staff to bring itself back on track ...

WLF backs Allergan off-label suit

Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) and three patient advocacy groups have filed a friend of the court brief in the District of Columbia federal court supporting ...