1. Generic drugmakers are developing pricing strategies as they prepare to launch generic versions of GlaxoSmithKline’s Advair asthma inhaler. “Nobody wants to kill the market,” Rajiv Malik, president of Mylan, one of the pharma companies planning to bring an Advair copy to market, told Reuters. (Reuters)
2. A closely watched slide deck — yes, that’s right — came out Friday. Mary Meeker’s internet trends report highlights the latest in digital trends. Included in the findings, at least 50% of searches are going to be images or speech within the next five years, and messaging apps may soon compete with the mobile home screen as the “go-to place for interaction.” (Recode)
3. A new study from the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics found that drug spending rose 72% over the last five years, and some physicians believe drugs aren’t worth their high prices. (WaPo)
4. Drugmakers are using classroom lesson plans, comic books, and smartphone apps to market to children. Pfizer developed worksheets about meningitis outbreaks for high schoolers, and Shire created an ADHD-themed comic book. (Stat)
5. IBM partnered with Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Network to use Watson, its cognitive computing platform, to help pair cancer patients with clinical trials. Less than 5% of cancer patients participate in clinical trials.
