History
The Pharma Marketing Network® was established in 2003 by John Mack (aka Pharmaguy), owner and operator of VirSci Corporation, a pharmaceutical publishing company that in 1995 launched PharmInfoNet, a “Top 20 Health Site” focused on drug information content and databases for physicians and pharmacists. PharmInfoNet pioneered many innovative, Internet-based communication programs including the Electronic Highlights Bulletin for the delivery of medical conference highlights to physicians via email and the Web (for more on the history of the Electronic Highlights Bulletin, read “The Emerging Virtual Medical Conference“).
In 1998, the PHARMA-MKTING listserv was established to create a forum for a loosely knit group of pharmaceutical marketing experts. As the subscriber base grew, a website was added to support the group by providing instructions for using the listserv, to recruit new members, and to link to archived discussion threads.
In 2002, a newsletter (Pharma Marketing News) was added to encourage discussion and to promote the products and services of PHARMA-MKTING subscribers and other advertisers. Pharma Marketing News was created as an independent monthly electronic newsletter focused on issues of importance to pharmaceutical marketing executives. Eventually, more and more services were added, and the synergy between the website content and the interactive email discussion group was increased greatly. In January 2003, the assets of the email discussion group, newsletter, and website were integrated under the Pharma Marketing Network® brand, and the Pharma Marketing Talk podcast was introduced in 2006.
John was elected Supervisor for Newtown Township, PA in November of 2017, and after more than 20 years of performing the valuable service of speaking truth to our industry, John Mack announced his retirement from the pharma marketing world to pursue his new career in local politics.
Moving Forward
Our ongoing mission is to foster a community for the pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing ecosystem designed to understand the challenges and trends of today, while collaborating to shape the future.
John had a unique voice. Moving forward we would also like to hear the voice of our industry as a whole. Building upon John’s foundation, our goal is to nurture the evolution of the Pharma Marketing Network by being more collaborative, seeking industry opinion, and sourcing new content from our community. If you’re interested in being published on the Pharma Marketing Network, please contact us.
