Pharma manufacturers expressed a clear interest in launching new mobile initiatives in the coming months — if they haven’t launched them already — but nearly three-quarters of the companies surveyed said mobile budgets represent 5% or less of their total ad spending, a new survey found.
Merck and GSK continue to expand sales forces in China
Merck and GlaxoSmithKline are both increasing the number of sales reps operating in China, according to separate presentations given by the two companies.
The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in Caronia vs. US on December 2, a case that challenges a sales rep’s inability to speak about off-label uses of a drug, in this case, Jazz Pharmaceuticals’ Xyrem.
IMS Health said it signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately held insight and analytics company SDI Health, bringing together two of the largest pharmaceutical marketing research firms. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
GSK and HGS put the ‘us’ in lupus, ahead of Benlysta FDA decision
GlaxoSmithKline and Human Genome Sciences launched a patient community for lupus sufferers and their friends and family, in anticipation of an FDA decision on Benlysta in March.
Abbott to cut 1,900 jobs amid ‘significant headwinds’
Abbott will trim its workforce by approximately 1,900 positions in a restructuring exercise intended to streamline commercial and manufacturing operations. Abbott’s US pharmaceutical business will shoulder most of the job cuts, which will happen over the next several years, a company spokesperson said.
New depression med hopes to grab a piece of the $12 billion pie
With depression brand leaders Cymbalta and Lexapro closing in on patent expiry, Clinical Data’s newly approved Viibryd (vilazodone HCI) for major depressive disorders hopes to carve out a piece of the roughly $12 billion US market.
Epilepsy.com expands diary app to Android, eyes pharma sponsorship
Epilepsy.com launched “My Epilepsy Diary” for Android mobile phone users, an extension of its Epilepsy Therapy Project Clinical Organizer suite of health tools for consumers. The non-profit group hopes to enlist new pharmaceutical sponsors, and advertisers, for the diary and other programs.
Sales reps armed with an iPad can collect digital signatures for samples thanks to iRep, a physician detailing application set to launch in mid-February.
IMS Health will acquire SDI, bringing two of the largest data firms servicing the pharmaceutical industry together into one company. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.