Pharmaceutical Executive-04-01-2006

Drug companies can do to specialists what Intel did to PC box makers: commoditize them.

Before clinical trials began to cross international lines, recruiting patients was fairly simple. Recruiters had to research only one country's cultural and regulatory standards. But as trials go multinational and the various players in the global study community begin working together for the first time, sponsors discover new levels of complexity. Divergent regulations, cultures, and languages hamstring efforts to find a single approach to patient-outreach communications.

Ask for their favorite new products or advertising campaigns, and most folks in pharma marketing can easily rattle off a whole list. But ask, "What were the consumer insights behind the product or advertising?" and you may be met by a blank stare. That's too bad, because whether brand marketers are developing a current product or launching a new one, powerful consumer insights are what they need to get into the hearts and minds of their target consumers.

High-deductible health plans go against the goals of employers, pharma, and the public.They don't reduce out-of pocket drug costs.

FDA doesn't usually write a black box warning "without some pretty good data," said Robert Temple of FDA's Office of Medical Policy. Overuse of the black box can both dilute its impact and limit access to needed treatment.

It's not closing time, but it does seem like the nine-year, direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising happy hour is winding down. PhRMA's new Guiding Principles are dimming the lights, and television, the most glamorous and visible media channel for DTC, will have to turn down the volume.

The blockbuster era is at an end. Drugs are focused on smaller audiences today. With fewer doses to run, we must be flexible to support multiple molecules.

In 2005, healthcare advertising hit a new level of refinement in strategy and sophistication in execution. Even better, it reached a new place, where promotion and education sit comfortably together. Brand teams are growing and learning, particularly about using emotion to inspire action.

Safety advocates want to make it tougher for new drugs to win FDA approval. Consumer advocates want to make it legal to import drugs from abroad. Put those ideas together, and what have you got?

A leader has limited time and energy. Good choices about how to conserve these commodities make all the difference between performing exquisitely and just getting by.

So-called "consumer-driven" health insurance is designed to help informed consumers make better decisions about their medical treatment. But the high deductibles associated with these plans are affecting the end goal.

Consumers don't want scheduled media; they want to control their TV programming just as they control their TiVos and iPods.

Meetings at which peripheral activities become the focal point are likely to attract scrutiny.

Dual eligibles have less access to top brands than they did before the launch of Part D