
High prices, murky financial relations, and a reluctance to disclose clinical data are undermining public trust in industry and the research enterprise, writes Jill Wechsler.

High prices, murky financial relations, and a reluctance to disclose clinical data are undermining public trust in industry and the research enterprise, writes Jill Wechsler.

Robert Hugin, Chairman of Celgene and PhRMA, talks about the challenges ahead for the industry organization

Europe moved one step closer to a passport for physicians in earlier this month. The European Parliament gave its backing to creating a virtual professional qualifications card that will allow doctors, pharmacists, and other professionals to practice in another EU country.

Reporter Glenn Greenwald, who has been in the news recently for disseminating the whistle-blower and former CIA employee Edward Snowden’s information on the US’s mass surveillance program has left The Guardian where his initial articles appeared

When Warren Buffet was ten, he made his first trip to NYC. What did he want to do? “See the Stock Exchange,” he told a news reporter on TV yesterday.

While buzz on Twitter will never outweigh critical data in a peer-reviewed publication, social media is becoming an important part of our industry’s dialogue. The oncology market is no exception, as insight gleaned from recent Twitter traffic and trends reveals.

Sophie Biernaux, VP & vaccine development leader, malaria and Joe Cohen, advisor malaria vaccine program, at GSK Vaccines at PhRMA?s Research and Hope Awards ceremonyon their innovative approach to vaccine development

A significant, though as yet not fully understood player in the launch of Obamacare is the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry.

Advances in health information technology and new federal financial incentives are fueling rapid growth in the use of electronic medical record (EMR) systems

Like the Super Bowl, pharma companies are winning major congresses by using competitive conference techniques to generate brand buzz and corporate recognition.

Compliance rules under the US Physician Payments Sunshine Act have been criticized for the excruciating level of detail demanded from individual company submissions.

The data-transparency bandwagon is rolling rapidly across Europe, energetically propelled by regulators, health campaigners, and generic manufacturers.

In health care, it is the lowly consumer who is now calling the shots, driving product and process innovation in areas ranging from electronic medical records [EMR] to retail health clinics.

Writing last week on this blog, Beth Bengtson, principal at healthcare marketing and communications company Hale Advisors, highlighted the problem posed for public health by Wikipedia.

George Mina, Pfizer's Director/TL-Data Strategy & Reconciliation-Transparency Medical Division - External Medical Communications, on the challenges of implementing the Physician Payment Sunshine Act for pharmaceutical companies

An increasing number of small biotech companies are being hatched to focus on a single disease or condition. The strategy goes against the diversified portfolio approach most big pharma companies have embraced, and instead puts all the eggs in one basket.

Another temporary casualty of the US government shutdown is the negotiation process surrounding the US and Europe’s free trade agreement.

Officials from the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health were scheduled to explain developments in clinical trial registration and transparency at the Drug Information Association’s conference on Clinical Trial Disclosure in Bethesda, Md. this week.

The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) has launched a new initiative to increase the pace of innovation in myeloma research through faster cures and more efficient, timely trials for patients

PE June 2013 BPA

Predictive analysis has been used to great effect in the finance, tech, retail, and telecoms industries. Can it also improve decision-making and health outcomes in life sciences?

Planning to submit to the FDA today? Think again. The agency put a forced pause on key services and functions – and furloughed 6,620 FDA employees – as a result of last night’s government shutdown.

For more than three years, the US pharmaceutical industry has known that today would arrive. So this is it. The first day that eligible U.S. citizens can sign up for Obamacare - and enjoy the prospect of prescription drug insurance, effective January 1st, 2014.

Since the initial FDA approval of its flagship orphan drug Soliris in 2007, Alexion Pharmaceuticals has done well for itself as a small biotech firm that focuses on ultra-rare disease.

Doing deals with storytellers could be as important for pharma as collaborating with research scientists, writes Peter Houston.

Dr. Shantanu Agrawal, director of data sharing & partnership group and the medical director for the center for program integrity at CMS on the Physician Payment Sunshine Act

Europe’s closest thing to an Oscar’s ceremony for bioscience will take place in early October. The EuropaBio award for the most innovative European Union biotechnology firm is limited to firms with fewer than 250 staff or turnover or balance sheet of less than about $50 million.

Vaccines–once the neglected also ran in big Pharma’s armamentarium of innovations–received top billing at PhRMA’s annual Research and Hope awards held at the Washington Newseum on September 11.


Healthcare spending will rise modestly in the US over the next decade, as economic growth picks up, health reform provides expanded coverage, and the population continues to age, according to an annual analysis from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).