Pharmaceutical Executive, Sep 1, 2004

Columns

Put More Science in Social Science

By Peter J. Pitts

At FDA, science rules. Decisions are based on facts. But even facts require interpretation, and that task is done with verve, excellence, and dedication by the agency's world-class experts. But what about social science? How does the Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communications (DDMAC) engage social science to interpret vague concepts such as "fair balance" and "adequate provision"? The answer is that they know it when they see it-on a case-by-case basis. In common parlance, this is known as "judgment."

Marketing to Professionals: Reps and Health Literacy

By Jann Kennan, EdS

Research shows that consumers retain more information with visual aids, and when providers write on a prescription pad "Get active for 30 minutes three times each week," patients take it more seriously.

Alternative Media: Drugs on Film

Taking a product OTC requires ultra-heavy marketing efforts because Rx-to-OTC drugs are generally unknown to consumers. Product placement can launch the brand into the cultural mainstream very rapidly.

Hire Minds

By Andrew E. Schultz

Choose a VMS partner that provides on-site management so problems don't become crises and minutes don't turn into hours.

DTC: What's in a Name?

By Ken DeLor

A safety record, expertise, professionalism, and reputation are all part of a corporate brand. These elements can prepare the market for a drug long before its launch.

PR: Simplify the Search

By Kathy Cripps

There is a difference in focus: Product and PR pros are typically interested in science, patients, and appropriate use of the drug. Procurement departments look at agency selection based on cost and deliverables.

Apprentices Needed

By Sander A. Flaum

The show zeroed in on a central gap in American business today: the lack of real management training programs.

Sales Management: Sales Growth, For What?

By Jim Callandrillo

Market events such as major new product launches and withdrawals have the most short-term effect on performance metrics.

Special Reports

Industry Audit

By Bill Trombetta

In 2002, pharma had three of the top 10 profit makers: Pfizer, Merck, and Johnson & Johnson. In 2003, not a single pharma company placed in the top 10 corporate profit earners.

Spend Trends: A $20 Billion Bill and Plenty of Change

By Michael D. Lam

Pharma marketing appears to operate in a world of its own. When US ad expenditures dipped in 2001, pharma's spend marched steadily on. (See "A Different Drum.") Now, as the ad industry celebrates the quadrennial coincidence of the Olympics and the US presidential campaign, is pharma taking notice? "Not really," says Anne Devereaux, chief integration officer at BBDO.

Features

From the Mouths of Babes

By Mason Tenaglia

The dynamic that drove the profits out of infant formula is about to be repeated—this time in pharma.

Synta's Surprise

By L.J. Sellers

Synta is in a very unusual position: Two Big Pharmas have paved the way with proteins, while the small biotech follows with a pill.

Halting the Hype

By Leigh-Ann M. Patterson

Unfortunately, companies sometimes violate the public trust by issuing false or misleading statements about FDA-related issues, such as the progress of FDA's pre-market review. When we identify suspected misstatements, we have a new process to bring them to the attention of the SEC staff as quickly and efficiently as possible." Then FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan issued that statement in a February press release.

Market Research Q&A

Pharm Exec asked a group of research experts what they think are the essential components in putting data to work. Here’s what they said.

The New Building Blocks for Blockbusters

By Jan J. Malek

Single drugs for single indications are hard to find. Here's how to get around that.

Specialty Therapies Lose Special Status

By Thomas Baker

Future savings from specialty pharmacies will come at pharma companies' expense.

Safe and Secure

By Shabbir Dahod , Lewis T. Kontnik

Electronic product codes (EPCs) provide a nearly perfect solution for many of pharma's problems with counterfeiting, diversion, theft, and the like.

World News

Activists Feel the Squeeze

By Sarah Houlton

Between January and June this year, 45 UK vendors capitulated to the activists and stopped supplying pharma companies.