Archive for the 'Marketing' Category
January 7th, 2011 by admin
Coupons work. That’s what drugmakers have discovered from the co-pay assistance they’ve been offering to shore up demand for aging branded drugs (Pfizer’s statin Lipitor), create demand for new ones (such as Amgen’s bone drug Xgeva and Novartis’ multiple sclerosis pill Gilenya), and insulate patients from big price increases (Jazz Pharmaceuticals’ narcolepsy treatment Xyrem). As the New York Times reports, sales volume for some of these treatments has doubled, and pharma companies have as much as quadrupled the sticker price for others.
Continue reading ‘Co-pay Help Boosts Drugs, Scares Payers’
October 7th, 2010 by admin
Singapore strengthened its research and development focus on money-making outcomes and will set up a S$1.35 billion ($1 billion) fund to promote closer ties with the science and technology industries. Out of the $16.1 billion the government has budgeted to spend on research and development from 2011 to 2015, 70 percent will be for projects aimed at achieving economic success, rising from 65 percent in the past five years, Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang said in a speech in Singapore.
Continue reading ‘Singapore Plans $1 Billion Fund for Research, Focuses on Economic Returns’
September 30th, 2010 by admin
Pharma layoffs may have taken a summer break, but they’re back now with a vengeance. On the heels of Roche’s restructuring announcement, Abbott Laboratories says it plans to cut 3,000 jobs as it integrates Belgium’s Solvay Pharmaceuticals, which it bought earlier this year. Fortunately for Abbott’s legacy operations–and unfortunately for those at Solvay–the planned cutbacks will hit hardest at that company’s operations in Europe.
Continue reading ‘Layoffs Return with Abbott’s 3,000 Job Cuts’
September 9th, 2010 by admin
Here’s a tip for sales reps barred from certain physicians’ offices–catch them at a meeting instead. As the number of doctors who readily accept calls from pharma reps continues to shrink, sales folks are looking for work-arounds. And one that seems to work is chatting with docs at industry meetings, a new survey shows.
Continue reading ‘Docs More Receptive to Reps at Confabs’
September 2nd, 2010 by admin
I have to admit that MetroWest Medical Center’s text messaging service is pretty slick. I texted them last night at 11:48 p.m. and within seconds received a text message with average emergency room wait times at its two hospitals. Framingham Union was 12 minutes and Leonard Morse Natick was five minutes.
Continue reading ‘Is ER Text Messaging Service just a Marketing Ploy?’
August 31st, 2010 by admin
Surgeons tweeted updates during a recent double hand transplant at Jewish Hospital Hand Care Center in Louisville. While the operation would be only the third double hand transplant in the U.S., it’s probably the first accompanied by live tweeting.
Continue reading ‘Surgeons use Twitter during Double-Hand Transplant’
August 24th, 2010 by admin
Pharmaceuticals promoting their products through Facebook “Shares” have been warned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)… and they’re apparently heeding that warning. Pharmaceutical company Novartis removed it’s Facebook Share after receiving a letter from the FDA warning that the Facebook Share button it is using to promote its cancer medication, Tasigna, violates FDA requirements about disclosure of drug information, and that the information is misleading and “implies superiority over other product.”
Continue reading ‘FDA Bans Cancer Drug on Facebook’
August 23rd, 2010 by admin
When his phone battery ran low, instead of dialing 911 and possibly languishing on hold, Atlanta Councilman Kwanza Hall tweeted, “Need a paramedic on corner of John Wesley Dobbs and Jackson St. Woman on the ground unconscious. Pls ReTweet,” according to WSBTV. Within moments, Twitter followers retweeted his message and several called 911. Paramedics were able to rush the woman to the hospital.
Continue reading ‘Web users see Twitter, Facebook as 911 backup’
June 15th, 2010 by admin
What three trends are most important to pharma these days? Generics, emerging markets and personalized medicine, according to the Harvard Business Review. Branded generics are the wave of Big Pharma’s future, HBR says. These branded versions of off-patent meds sell at higher prices than regular generics do, but are cheaper than the branded meds themselves. They give a measure of assurance to patients worried about counterfeit meds–and to those concerned that unbranded generics won’t work as well as their branded counterparts. They also offer drugmakers a niche in emerging countries.
Continue reading ‘Pharma Trifecta: Generics, New Markets and Personalization’
June 14th, 2010 by admin
First it was pharma iPhone apps for doctors. Now it’s iPads for pharma reps. Otsuka Pharmaceutical is loading up on the Apple gadgets, aiming to help its sales reps deliver the latest drug info to doctors. The first wave of 1,300 iPads will go to the company’s reps in Japan, but Otsuka is considering using the gadget all over the world.
Continue reading ‘Otsuka to Arm Sales Reps with 1,300 iPads’
