2011

Welcome to Volume 10, Issue #10 (8 JUNE 2011) of Pharma Marketing News.

Welcome to Volume 10, Issue #2 (JANUARY 19, 2011) of Pharma Marketing News.

Guesstimating Total Pharma Web Ad Spending. Internet advertising revenue in the United States totaled $26.0 billion for the full year of 2010. How much of this was spent by pharma? Best guesstimate: $1 billion, which accounts for about 11% of the total pharma physician and consumer ad spend.

In a recent blog post, PhRMA said 'Without Promotion Research will be Useless.' To support its case, PhRMA cited 'an interesting opinion editorial' in the latest edition of the Annals of Emergency Medicine -- the medical journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). In the op-ed, entitled 'Limiting Gifts, Harming Patients,' Emory University economist Paul Rubin, Ph.D. expressed concern that ACEP policy regarding Gifts to Emergency Physicians from Industry 'could have the unfortunate effect of limiting the exchange of critical information between medicine makers and physicians about the benefits and risks of new medicines, how to use them properly and how best to diagnose the right candidates for particular treatments.'

According to a recent CDC Data Brief, antidepressants were the third most common prescription drug taken by Americans of all ages in 2005–2008 and the most frequently used by persons aged 18–44 years. From 1988–1994 through 2005–2008, the rate of antidepressant use in the United States among all ages increased nearly 400%. Perhaps not so coincidentally, antidepressants are among the TOP advertised Rx category in 2010, according to the recent AdAge analysis.

Opening the Door to FDA-Compliant Branded Tweets: Deck.ly has enormous potential for pharmaceutical marketers who have been chaffing at the bit to post meaningful branded messages via Twitter but who have been stymied by lack of guidance from FDA regarding how to provide fair balance within the 140-character limit of Twitter.

Despite dire predictions of 'PR failure,' the #rxsave Twitter chat hosted by @AstraZenecaUS on 15 February 2011 was a great success, which is pharma social media speak for 'did not crash and burn.' It was proof that a pharmaceutical company can indeed host meaningful Twitter chats.

Allergan, Eli Lilly, Johnson and Johnson, Novartis, Pfizer, Novo, and Sanofi-Aventis filed a 'citizen petition' with the FDA, urging the agency to 'establish comprehensive, clear and binding regulations to guide the industry' in communicating off-label drug information to physicians and payers. Although the words 'Internet' and 'Social Media' are not mentioned in the petition, it is likely to hold up social media guidelines regarding 'unsolicited requests' that were promised as the first in a series of FDA guidelines.

Pharma marketers save a bundle repurposing videos for Youtube. They save even more money by hiring real patients to play themselves in these videos! Patients are natural method actors, having actually experienced what they portray. But they are prone to over emote!

Are we witnessing an exodus of social media