All News

Call preperation made easy.

HIV-positive individuals find it difficult to comply with their drug regimens, according to data from "The Survey on Treatment Adherence by HIV-positive People," a confidential survey conducted by Chicago-based Savitz Research and underwritten by GlaxoSmithKline, Research Triangle Park, NC.

Spending for all healthcare in the United States topped $1.2 trillion in 1999, up 5.6% from 1998, but continued a six-year trend of growth below 6%, according to a report by the Health Care Financing Administration. HCFA projections of future healthcare spending predict faster growth over the next decade, although not at the high rates of the 1980s and early 1990s.

Are managers losing the battle of sales force turnover?

In a profession in which success is often driven by long hours, the concept of cutting back to a part-time job may seem foreign, but a reduction in hours can sometimes be necessary for even the most dedicated reps. New York-based Pfizer Inc. has responded to this need by creating its part-time field sales force, Vista Rx. Launched in April 1999 as a pilot program with 70 reps, Vista Rx allows sales representatives to work 60% of a full-time schedule while retaining the benefits and privileges of full-time employees, making it the first of its kind in the industry.

During the first years of HIV infection, women have significantly lower amounts of the virus in their blood than men, according to one of the largest studies ever to examine gender-specific differences in HIV infection. Despite their lower initial viral levels, women suffer the loss of immune cells and develop AIDS just as swiftly as men. The findings, reported in The New England Journal of Medicine (vol. 344, no. 10), lend further support to recent changes in the criteria used to help doctors tailor anti-HIV drug therapy to delay the onset of AIDS.

Westport, CT-based IMS Health has released data from its annual "World Review" report showing that audited global pharmaceutical sales grew 10% in 2000 to $317.2 billion, up from $295.9 billion in 1999. "The IMS Health World Review" tracks actual sales of approximately 90% of all prescription drugs and certain over-the-counter products in more than 60 countries. Proprietary data projection methodologies are used to estimate total global pharmaceutical sales, which grew to $354 billion in 2000.

Pharmaceutical manufacturers spent $1.9 billion on direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs between January and September 2000, the same amount spent in all of 1999, according to Newtown, PA-based Scott-Levin's "Direct-to-Consumer Advertising Audit." The audit, which surveyed over 4,000 consumers and 3,000 physicians, found that two major therapeutic classes - antihistamines and COX-2 inhibitors - generated 20% ($390 million) of advertising expenditures in the first nine months of 2000.

A new study released in the Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association (vol. 41, no. 2) estimates that drug misuse costs the economy more than $177 billion each year. And, according to the study, the estimated number of patient deaths resulting from misuse of prescription drugs has increased from 198,000 in 1995 to 218,000 in 2000.

What's behind the new surge.

The Institute of Medicine of the Washington-based National Academy of Sciences has released "Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New System for the 21st Century," a follow-up to its earlier report, "To Err is Human." While "To Err is Human" concentrated on the issue of patient safety, the new report offers suggestions for wider healthcare reform.

Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, NJ, and Mountain View, CA-based Alza Corp. announced that they have entered into an agreement under which Johnson & Johnson will merge with Alza in a stock-for-stock exchange, valued at roughly $10.5 billion.

Effective DTC Product Web Sites Must Synthesize Advertising and Labeling Requirements

Brussels-Two types of mutual recognition procedures are necessary to ensure that generics get to market as quickly as possible, according to the European Generics Medicines Association.

Pretoria, South Africa-Few people noticed that the ground had begun to crumble under Big Pharma when, after the failed World Trade Organization talks in Seattle, Washington, the Clinton administration indicated that it would take note of the effects of its trade policies on healthcare in developing countries. Multinational companies had hitherto been able to take the support of governments for granted when it came to policing intellectual property, but Clinton's move indicated a major shift in policy. Few noticed, because the rhetoric wasn't immediately matched by reality. In fact, the US government continued to pressure countries whose intellectual property protection seemed too weak. Then the new Bush administration, thought to be an unwavering ally of the pharmaceutical industry, indicated it would continue the Clinton policy.

Patents before profits. That soundbite snagged my ears and turned my full attention to the CNN business report. I recognized the voice and the face}Ray Gilmartin, chairman of Merck. Calmly and reasonably, he explained how extraordinary circumstances in the developing world demand that his company uncouple the normally fused objectives of high profitability and unwavering patent protection.

Developing Palatable Medicines for Children is Never Easy, But the Rewards Can Be Great

Uniondale, New York, USA-Thirty-eight companies submitted proposals to develop OSI-774, OSI Pharmaceuticals' lead cancer candidate, making it the most sought-after compound of 2000. The statistic was revealed with some satisfaction by Myrtle Potter, chief operating officer of Genentech, the joint winner-along with Roche, its majority stockholder-at the Economist Conferences' annual pharmaceuticals conference.

FDA's Final Rule Forces the Pharma Industry to Change It's Clinical Trial Culture

Genentech's sprawling campus overlooking San Francisco Bay seems serene on the surface, but internally, the company resonates with energy.

London-The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) has decided that Roche's Xenical (orlistat) should be available from the National Health Service for managing obesity and its related problems, but it should not be viewed as a slimming pill.

What the WLF decision means for pharmaceutical reps.

It seems nothing short of amazing to me that the vast majority of pharmaceutical reps bypass what is surely the most potent sales tool that exists. Before I became a provider 22 years ago, I was involved in sales. It was then that I realized that sales are greatly influenced by the nature and quality of the relationships between salespeople and their customers. Failure on the part of pharmaceutical representatives to develop good, strong relationships most often leads to poor prescribing habits on the part of the provider.

According to "Outlook 2001," a report released by the Boston-based Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, the United States today spends nearly three times as much on physician services as it does for prescription drugs, and over four times as much as it does for hospital care. Although prescription drugs, as a share of total U.S. healthcare spending, increased from 5.5% a decade ago to 8.5% today, hospital expenditures declined from nearly 37% to 33% during the same time period, while spending on physician services remained nearly constant.

More than 20 new drugs were added to the Fall 2000 edition of Newtown, PA-based Scott-Levin's Managed Care Formulary Drug Audit. Betapace AF™ (sotalol HCl), a cardiovascular therapy manufactured by Berlex Laboratories Inc., Montville, NJ, was the new product with the highest level of formulary acceptance, according to the audit.

President Bush has sent his temporary prescription drug proposal for low-income families - called "An Immediate Helping Hand" - to Congress. The plan would provide block grants to states to cover drug costs for seniors 65 and older who have incomes of up to $11,600, and up to half the drug costs of seniors with incomes of up to $15,000. The plan would also cover drug costs for any Medicare patient, regardless of income, if his or her yearly drug costs exceed $6,000.

For the past four years, the volume of healthcare services mergers and acquisitions has always slowed in the fourth quarter. While the fourth quarter of 2000 was no exception, the size of the decline was larger than usual and the number of transactions fell below 100, hitting a seven-year low, according to New Canaan, CT-based Irving Levin Associates Inc. In its fourth quarter 2000 Healthcare M&A Report, the firm points out that there were just 90 healthcare services mergers and acquisitions announced, representing a 30% decline from the third quarter and a 43% plunge from the fourth quarter of 1999.

Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala released the nation's first standards for protecting the privacy of Americans' personal health records.