2011

This article reports the results of an informal Weber Shandwick survey regarding social media guidelines recently published by the British pharmaceutical industry regulators. It includes advice for how to innovate online without waiting for more specific guidelines from regulators.

Patients also need more effective counseling about their medications. In an effort to make drug package inserts easier to read and understand -- and perhaps to save money on printing costs -- the FDA is planning to test single-page consumer information sheets that would replace the multi-page package inserts and medication guides widely used in retail pharmacies. However 'dumbed down' the label gets, it is still important that physicians and pharmacists take a more pro-active role in educating consumers about the drugs they are taking.

Welcome to Volume 10, Issue #5 (10 MARCH 2011) of Pharma Marketing News.

Lipitor Won't Go Gentle Into that Good Generic Night. Pfizer is taking a number of steps to protect it's Lipitor franchise and it hopes that many patients currently taking Lipitor will remain loyal to the brand.

Talk about having your cake and eating it too! Commercial funding of continuing medical education (CME) and the potential for bias appear to concern many physicians, yet only a TINY MINORITY (7%) are willing to pay registration fees to eliminate or offset commercial funding sources, according to a report in the May 9, 2011, issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

The year 2010 was all about me. By 'me' I mean Pharmaguy, which is the Twitter handle and Facebook name of John Mack, Editor and Publisher of Pharma Marketing News. It's all about YOU too! This is where you can 'sign' the 2010 Pharma Marketing Yearbook and and document that you were part of it all.

Why do pharma companies bother developing drugs for for a disorder affecting fewer than 200,000 people? Willie Sutton's ghost may have the answer.

If pharma marketers are going to be successful engaging consumers (mostly women) via social media, then they need to be more sensitive about how they portray women in ads and very savvy about how they handle comments (if they allow comments).

Welcome to Volume 10, Issue No. 1 (Jan 12, 2011) of Pharma Marketing News. This issue of Pharma Marketing News is devoted to the Pharma Marketing Yearbook (PMY), which is a commemorative record of pharmaceutical marketing issues and highlights of the past year.

HepC.tv is featuring the video 'Man-on-the-Street: New Yorkers' Reactions to the Big Yellow C.' Is it effective? How do we know?