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Driven by the quest for innovation, the intensity of competition, and the pressure to create megabrands and megamergers, pharmaceutical executives are exploring an influential force still untapped by most marketing and communication departments-the power of emotion.

Washington, DC-An FDA advisory committee voted overwhelmingly to recommend that Claritin (loratadine), Allegra (fexofenadine), and Zyrtec (cetirizine) be changed from prescription to over-the-counter products. Although the vote is not binding, FDA usually follows such panels’ recommendations.

The founder of five biotech companies rarely pauses, even to rest. "I can do a lot of work when the rest of my family is sleeping," he reports. "Early in the morning or late at night, there are no phones, so I needn't divert my attention." His affable tone seems contrary to the relentless drive needed to support a lifelong pursuit of excellence, but his achievements speak for themselves.

Berlin, Germany-Putting the US market at the heart of its bid to maintain double-digit growth, last month Schering began to relocate its therapeutics headquarters to an existing facility in Montville, New Jersey.

Buckinghamshire, UK-The pharma industry may be countercyclical, but it’s not immune to market trends. Nycomed Amersham recently postponed a partial US stock flotation of its life sciences company, ABBiotech, because of market weakness.

I intended to write an entirely different column this month. Something like, What the Bush administration has done for you-the pharmaceutical industry-lately. Such as making it harder to do stem-cell research and pursuing an investigation into antigeneric activities. But something else happened. My father died. Now I have no room left in my mind or heart for other matters.

Widely prescribed pain killers that provide relief with minimal side effects may have more pain-relieving properties than previously identified. A new study funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke shows that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs not only relieve pain at the local site of inflammation, but in fact affect the entire central nervous system.

This information will help prepare you to secure your perfect job.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse and several national organizations have announced a public health initiative to raise awareness about recent trends in the misuse and abuse of prescription drugs in the United States.

The Society of Pharmaceutical and Biotech Trainers is the key organization to help representatives and managers interested in such a career path.

Can George W. Bush, Tommy Thompson and Congress agree on how to move forward?

The language of sales is not so much about what is said, but rather what the customer hears and believes.

Sen. Jim Jeffords (R-VT) has introduced the Relief, Equity, Access and Coverage for Health Act, a bill that would provide refundable tax credits and other measures designed to reduce the number of uninsured and make health insurance more affordable for millions of low- and moderate-income working Americans.

How managers can win the battle of sales forc turnover.

While hospitals and physicians are using new-found bargaining clout to win payment increases from health plans, increased consumer demand fueled by the managed care backlash is hampering health plans' cost-control efforts, according to initial findings from the Washington-based Center for Studying Health System Change's latest round of community site visits.

Pharmaceutical meetings and events continue to grow as integral elements in overall promotion of prescription drugs, according to Newtown, PA-based Scott-Levin's "Physician Meeting & Event Audit," a survey of more than 3,400 doctors. The survey found that pharmaceutical companies spent $1.9 billion on events for physicians in 2000, 14% more than in 1999.

New products for rheumatoid arthritis patients are expected to dramatically improve the treatment of this condition, but will also dramatically raise the cost of treatment, according to a new report by New York-based Datamonitor. The report also found that changes in the treatment of RA will cause therapy to begin earlier, to last longer and to be administered as combinations of drugs rather than monotherapies. The result of such changes will be a dramatic increase in the cost of RA treatment overall, increasing the strain on healthcare budgets.

Personal digital assistants are only as good as their operators.

A speaker speaks out.

PMs find new ground for reinforcing marketing messages and targeting the media mix.

Everything you wanted to know from your customers and are ready to ask.

London-Government and industry have agreed there should be no weakening of patent protection in the effort to speed access to medicines in the developing world.

Grass never grew under her feet. She steadily rose to the top from the ranks of her industry. Now one of a handful of executive vice-presidents on the chairman's own management team, she co-directs the most important unit in the Pharmacia corporation, prescription pharmaceuticals, holding the title of president in that business.

Pharmaceutical executives should study their own scientists. They construct clever tools to explore convoluted phenomena. They are the true friends of complexity.

Planning fundamentals map the route to increased worldwide market share.

To work well together, product managers and their R&D liaisons must understand each other}s needs, motives, terminology, and decision processes.

Creative partnerships need realistic expectations and clear communication for successful product launch...and beyond.

Companies that fail to comply with regulatory guidelines make easy targets for investigators.

A new task force will examine European pharma}s competitiveness, innovation, and commitment to public health. The "G10" is not, as it may sound, an enlarged grouping of the world}s leading industrialized countries. It}s actually far more important than that.

Companies Face Costly System Overhauls With New FDA Regulations