Online resources (both branded and non-branded) for patients with rare diseases help replace feelings of isolation with a community that offers emotional and educational support, Marc Iskowitz finds
Indie shops rally to retain business as Merck consolidates advertising
Makers of arthritis biologic drugs, a $15-billion market, are refining their consumer pitch to focus on prevention and early diagnosis, not just symptoms.
Roche will help promote Merck’s newly approved hepatitis C drug Victrelis (boceprevir) under a strategic partnership that may help bolster the firms’ chances in an upcoming market share battle. The agreement stunned Wall Street, since Merck and Roche already sell rival versions of a standard hepatitis C treatment.
Joe Shields, who leveraged a successful career in product marketing into a broader role as Pfizer’s director of worldwide innovation, is leaving later this month for medical device firm LifeScan.
Harvard affiliate Joslin Diabetes Center is mounting a CME research project with funding from a pharmaceutical company whose products are tangential to the therapeutic area.
Wolters Kluwer Pharma Solutions will get a new CEO following the retirement of the pharmacy data and analytics firm’s former head honcho, Mark Spiers, in April.
Vertex ready to put 200 in field for hep. C drug launch
Drug revenues barely kept pace last year, as other indicators like numbers of protected brands and reps have decreased, amid the overall trend of industry consolidation