Blame the Doc, Not DTC!
"Researchers funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health, have found that requests from patients for medications have a "profound effect" on physicians...
The Drug Sampling Problem
For pharmaceutical marketers, sampling is the single largest promotional investment, accounting for 55 percent of the $19.1 billion spent on promotion in 2001 (see FIGURE below; taken from "Intelligent Online Sampling...
Separation of Church and State
Chairman Bob Ehrlich over at DTC Prespectives is a well-known conservative commentator in pharmaceutical marketing circles. He likes coloring criticism of the pharmaceutical industry with a "liberal" bashing brush.For example, this...
Cox-2’s (and Pfizer?) on Slippery Slope
The FDA has just hammered Pfizer's Bextra and Celerex as well as other NSAIDs (see "FDA Announces Series of Changes to the Class of Marketed Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs); FDA Press...
“Bioshield” Boondoggle
Whole industries have sprung up based upon our fear of terrorism. And it's being funded in large part by the U.S. government to the detriment of other urgent needs. Some sectors...
John Mack Rebuffs Merck’s CEO Offer
Sources close to the situation say that John Mack, the 48-year-old President of VirSci Corporation and publisher of Pharma Marketing News, rebuffed an offer to run Merck & Co.,...
DTC Straight Talk
According to an article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal ("In Switch, J&J Gives Straight Talk"): "Johnson & Johnson is unveiling a new approach to TV and print campaigns that deals head-on...
Give Docs What They Want
Last week I attended a pharmaceutical industry conference focused on the problem of physician access or lack thereof by sales representatives. I heard a lot of advice from consultants as well...
“Ethnic Drugs” and “Genetic Marketing”
Last week the FDA issued a warning about Crestor -- the cholesterol-lowering drug marketed by AstraZeneca. Among other things, FDA specifically suggested that lower doses of Crestor should be prescribed for...
Pharma Marketing Mensa Invitational
The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.Here are...
