Pharma Marketing News Vol. 10, No. 18: 1 December 2011

Vol. 10, Issue No. 18: 1 DECEMBER 2011 – EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe Digital Life of Doctors Understanding How Physicians Live Online

While primary care physicians (PCPs) in general are frequent users of the Internet, oncologists see online sources of information as more important than PCPs and therefore may need less personal contact to learn about products.

That was just one of the results from the 2011 Digital Life survey of 1,454 physicians (PCPs and oncologists) that Oliver Feiler, Senior Consultant, Stakeholder Management, Kantar Health, presented during a September 21, 2011, webinar.

This article summarizes that presentation as well as other data relating to the digital life of physicians globally.

Topics include:

• Pharma’s Growing Interest in the Digital Doctor
• Digital Life Healthcare Survey Results
• General Online Population vs Online Docs
• Analysis of Online Physician Segments – PCPs vs. Oncologists
• The Online Behavior and Demands of HCPs in Europe

Download full article (PDF) The Changing Pharma eDetailing Landscape The Three Main Ways of Detailing Physicians Online

A conversation with Monique Levy, VP Research at Manhattan Research, about the changing pharma eDetailing landscape.

Ms. Levy discusses how the online pharma promotion landscape has changed, and which types of programs garner the largest audience as well as how the rep relationship is evolving and the role of new technologies such as tablets.

As part of the discussion, Ms. Levy reveals some details from Manhattan Research’s latest ePharma Physician® market research study. The study is fielded online annually in Q2 among more than 1,700 U.S. physicians who are ePharma Physicians, or who use digital channels for pharma resources and connecting with reps.

Some Questions/Topics Discussed:

• Tablet Reps: How is the rep relationship evolving and what role are tablets playing?
• Online Promotion: How has the online promotion landscape changed, and which types of programs garner the largest audience?
• Product Info Seeking: Which offline and online sources — including pharma customer service channels — do physicians use to find Rx info and how does this vary across product maturity?
• Value-Added Services: How strong of an opportunity do patient education, financial assistance and online sampling represent for pharma marketers?

Listen to the podcast here:
http://ec2-54-175-84-28.compute-1.amazonaws.com/pharma-mkting.com/news/pmn1018-article02.htm

Limiting Bias in Commercially Supported CME How Can Bias in Commercially-Sponsored CME Be Limited?

Physicians are required to earn Continuing Medical Education (CME) courses to earn credits and maintain their state licenses. Currently, approximately 50% of accredited CME expenses are paid by pharma/medical device companies. Many critics of pharma-supported CME believe this support leads to “bias;” meaning that information presented at company-supported CME events favors the perspective of the program supporter or predominantly includes clinical data favorable to products of the CME supporter.

Between 9 May 2011 and 13 September 2011, readers of Pharma Marketing News were asked to answer a few short questions relating to potential bias in continuing medical education (CME) programs supported by pharma/medical device companies and how to limit the need for industry funding of CME. The results are summarized in this article.

View the results here:
http://ec2-54-175-84-28.compute-1.amazonaws.com/pharma-mkting.com/news/pmn1018-article03.htm Pfizer, World’s Most Innovative Drug Company Not!

Pfizer is the world’s most “innovative” drug company, not in terms of developing new drugs to treat, for example, high cholesterol — which it failed at spectacularly, but at keeping old drugs on the market beyond their patent expiration date and competing with generic drug companies.

I am referring, of course, to Pfizer’s efforts to keep Lipitor on the market competing with generic versions after Lipitor’s Nov 30, 2011, expiry date.

Lipitor Won’t Go Gentle Into that Good Generic Night!

Topics include:

• Lipitor’s 2010 Marketing Budget
• Occupy Pfizer!
• Poem: Lipitor Won’t Go Gentle Into that Good Generic Night

Read more and find links here:
http://ec2-54-175-84-28.compute-1.amazonaws.com/pharma-mkting.com/news/pmn1018-article04.htm Deconstructing Pitts’ Guiding Principles for Pharma Social Media Taking a Closer Look

Peter Pitts, author of DrugWonks Blog, has put together 11 “principles that must serve as the basic substrate of regulated social media participation.”

Pitts offered these principles because he is urging the pharma industry to participate in social media and to not wait for FDA guidelines “not because of its potency as a marketing vehicle – but because it’s the right thing to do.”

Here are a few of the 11 principles:

1. We engage in social media to help improve the lives of patients and advance the public health of our nation.
2. We will thoughtfully engage in social media while remaining in compliance with both the letter and the spirit of FDA regulations.
3. Our social media engagements will have both strong public health themes and appropriate marketing communications.
4. All social media messages and partnerships must be accurate, appropriate and transparent.
5. 7 more…

This article takes a closer, critical look at “Pitts’ Principles” and discusses how successful the pharma industry has been at following these principles to date.

View the deconstruction here:
http://ec2-54-175-84-28.compute-1.amazonaws.com/pharma-mkting.com/news/pmn1018-article05.htm
Are Pharma Sales Reps Service Employees? The Supreme Court May Decide

The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether drug companies have to pay their sales representatives for working overtime hours, “a question that could have considerable financial impact on the industry,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

The question before the court in case “CHRISTOPHER V. SMITHKLINE BEECHAM CORP” is whether or not pharmaceutical sales representatives are exempt from overtime pay under the “outside sales” exemption of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

If the Supreme Court rules that pharma sales reps are NOT exempt, some sales reps worry that they will become “service” employees similar to UPS/Fed Ex delivery people.

Read more here:
http://ec2-54-175-84-28.compute-1.amazonaws.com/pharma-mkting.com/news/pmn1018-article06.htm