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In her two years as a sales rep for Mountain View, CA-based Alza Corp., Suzy Porter has discovered that seeing results in patients' lives is her job's most rewarding aspect. A year ago, Porter established a support group for patients with interstitial cystitis, a disease that often evades diagnosis, can be left untreated for years and can severely disrupt day-to-day life. Its symptoms resemble "a constant urinary tract infection that is excruciatingly painful."

A multidisciplinary group of scientists has declared that osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, is "surprisingly complex," but has outlined a number of new approaches to its understanding, prevention and treatment.

During the year ending September 2000, urologists wrote 25.3 million retail prescriptions, 5% more than in the previous 12-month period, according to Newtown, PA-based Scott-Levin's Source™ Prescription Audit.

This year, according to the Chicago-based American Medical Association's AMA Foundation, the U.S. healthcare system will unnecessarily spend about $73 billion in extra doctor visits, hospitalizations and longer hospital stays because patients didn't understand what their doctor said or how to take their medication appropriately.

As much as 13% of the current $337 billion global pharmaceutical market in the U.S. is accounted for by sales of products incorporating a drug delivery system, according to a 200-page report published by Epsom, England-based CMR International. However, despite the surge in demand for novel drug delivery technologies in recent years, the report pinpoints that the drug delivery industry is facing consolidation and could be dominated by a small number of multi-technology companies in the near future.

Your paper planner is full to bursting. Maybe it's time to simplify your life with a personal digital assistant.

For the sixth consecutive year, New York-based Pfizer Inc.'s pharmaceutical sales organization placed first overall in Newtown, PA-based healthcare consulting firm Scott-Levin's survey of U.S. physicians in nine core specialty groups: general/family practitioners, internists, pediatricians, obstetrician/gynecologists, psychiatrists, general surgeons, gastroenterologists, cardiologists and otorhinolaryngologists.

An effective salesperson needs to know how to master the subtle cues of body language before he or she can be successful.

During our conversation, Reeve pushes an even broader agenda: getting pharmaceutical companies to realize the huge market potential in spinal-cord research for a host of neurological conditions. He implores companies to put their attention, and their investment, into enterprises that are creating breakthroughs in new technologies promising wide therapeutic application.

In a complex future that promises some of the most revolutionary treatments ever developed, marketing plans cannot be built early enough.

Industry Must Invest

Managing expectations is the new alchemy. All manipulators of opinion, from the US president down to the humblest peddler, now seek to minimize what people expect

Calls for change reflect that generic products are a therapeutic mainstay and that patients and providers want earlier access to inexpensive medicines.

Lisa Egbuonu-Davis, MD, vice-president of global outcomes research and medical services for Pfizer, is determined to improve global access to necessary medicines.

Understanding physician stressors and the behavior that follows is one key to enhancing relationships.

A survey of nearly 10,000 doctors of internal medicine found that physicians have not yet fully embraced computers for the practice of medicine.

Abbott Laboratories and BASF Aktiengesellschaft today announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement for Abbott to acquire the pharmaceutical business of BASF.

To help consumers avoid potential problems when taking prescription or nonprescription medicines, the Washington-based Council on Family Health, in partnership with the Food and pda, interactions, has released an update of its free consumer guide, "Drug Interactions: What You Should Know."

Treatment with a combination of chemotherapy drugs improves survival and should be recommended for most women with localized breast cancer, according to a consensus panel convened by the NIH.

To help consumers avoid potential problems when taking prescription or nonprescription medicines, the Washington-based Council on Family Health, in partnership with the Food and Drug Administration and the Washington-based National Consumers League, has released an update of its free consumer guide, "Drug Interactions: What You Should Know."

Closes that really work.

A recently released report from the General Accounting Office reveals that pharmaceutical industry patient assistance programs cover 48 out of the top 50 most prescribed brand-name drugs. Patient assistance programs are philanthropic efforts by pharmaceutical companies to provide drugs to patients who need but can't afford them. To compile the report, the GAO surveyed 88 companies offering patient assistance programs. Of the 88 companies surveyed, 72 responded to the GAO's questions.

The American Medical Association has resolved to study "legally appropriate" means to restrict pharmaceutical company access to physician prescribing patterns.

World AIDS Day 2000 has come and gone, and according to Surgeon General David Satcher, there is both good and bad news to report. Although infection rates may have decreased, HIV/AIDS still represents a severe and ongoing crisis in America, particularly for men in communities of color.

Celera Genomics has submitted its manuscript on the human genome to the scientific journal Science.

Although the extremely close race for the White House and for control of Congress in November signaled a lack of consensus on national health policy, voters have made it clear they are unhappy about the high cost of medical products. That was one of the few issues to emerge from the political haze, and it promises to shape the debate on numerous health and medical topics. The deadline for reauthorizing the FDA user fee program in 2002 also provides a timeframe for developing new programs and policies affecting a number of critical pharma issues.

In recent years, some of the industry's largest companies have said "I do" at the merger altar. Midsized pharma, small biotech, and genomics companies have also joined the mating frenzy. The mixed results of those unions have left shareholders, customers, and employees wondering-are such marriages made in heaven or in hell?

Surrounded by Georgia pines, Solvay's facilities on the outskirts of Marietta are a long way from the industry's hub in New Jersey. The stately campus is tucked away in a quiet world of its own, much as the company used to be.

Yes, there will be a new administration. Yes, there will be changes at FDA. And yes, they will impact drug companies. But predicting what that impact will be is like trying to pick the winner of an NFL game.

When Harry Schwartz joined Pharmaceutical Executive for its inaugural issue in January 1981, he had already written 19 books and was well-known for his medical-related writings in the New York Times and other publications. Every month since then, without fail, he has faithfully supplied his At Large column, with its far-ranging analysis and commentary on political and business trends that affect the industry. Every magazine changes over time, and now a series of changes has brought an end to that distinguished, 20-year-long contribution.