Articles

Although nearly two-thirds of respondents to a 2009/2010 Pharma Marketing News survey thought that using Twitter for patient support activities would be somewhat or very effective, relatively few pharmaceutical companies are doing this on a regular basis. From time to time, however, it does happen. Boehringer Ingelheim Shows How It's Done

FDA Plans to Do Two Studies to Find Out

FDA Plans to Do Two Studies to Find Out

FDA Plans to Do Two Studies to Find Out

FDA Plans to Do Two Studies to Find Out

Welcome to Volume 11, Issue #5 (31 MAY 2012) of Pharma Marketing News.

This article summarizes results of the 'Technology Impact on Healthcare' online survey. This article summarizes the survey results. The survey asked respondents to rate the importance internet tools and services in improving healthcare today and five years from now. Respondents also were asked to evaluate the impact of new technologies on public health problems such as obesity, vaccination, and smoking and which areas of the world are most active in developing and using health-related social media, mobile apps, and online communities. Finally, respondents were asked to identify which stakeholders -- government, technology companies, health-care professionals, patients, payors -- will be the major players online in 5 years.

Despite Pfizer's heroic and unprecedented effort to maintain Lipitor's market share after expiry last November and after spending more than $87 million promoting the medicine, the world's biggest drug company is quietly giving up on its once-great cash cow for good because more generic versions will soon be going on sale. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca promoted Crestor on its corporate blog. It's unusual for a pharmaceutical company to mention a product by brand name on its corporate blog. It's even more unusual to mention BOTH the product AND its indication -- because that would be promotion regulated by the FDA. But AstraZeneca has done just that on its 'AZ Health Connections' corporate blog. Why now? Can it be a purely opportunistic cheap shot?

FDA has received several comments from the pharmaceutical industry regarding the agency's 'Draft Guidance for Industry Direct-to-Consumer Television Advertisements.' This article reviews the comments submitted by PhRMA, Sanofi, and Shire. Comments from other pharma companies addressed similar issues to the ones reviewed here.

In this review of presentations made at the the PharmaMarketing Summit 2012, the common thread throughout is the evolving nature of the pharma-physician relationship, which is being transformed by the power of patients and payers, particularly aided and abetted by new emerging technologies.