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President Clinton received and endorsed a set of "Prescription Drug Principles" from Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), which will be used by the Senate Democratic Caucus to evaluate any Medicare prescription drug benefit proposal developed in Congress. The principles state that any drug benefit should be: voluntary, accessible to all beneficiaries, designed to provide meaningful protection and bargaining power for seniors, affordable for all beneficiaries and for the program, administered using competitive purchasing techniques and consistent with broader Medicare reform.

Web-based technology is changing the way reps train.

Researchers at the Duke University Medical Center have discovered that HIV patients who take fewer pills tend to do better than patients on a more complex medical regimen. Based on an analysis of more than 3,000 patients involved in triple-drug combination trials to treat HIV infection, researchers speculate that patients who take fewer pills, as few as four a day, are more likely to adhere to their medication regimen - and therefore receive the greatest benefits of the therapy – than those on complex regimens who must take up to 16 pills at different times during the day.

Results of a new survey detailing the attitudes of consumers toward direct-to-consumer print and television advertising for pharmaceuticals have been released by the Food and Drug Administration's Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising and Communications.

A new study by Management Recruiters International, a Cleveland-based search and recruitment company, shows that, as the Internet has become increasingly popular in the workplace, many pharmaceutical companies are adopting formal policies about its use.

Pfizer Inc., New York, and Warner-Lambert Co., Morris Plains, NJ, announced they have entered into a definitive merger agreement. The combined company will have annual revenues of approximately $28 billion, including $21 billion in prescription pharmaceutical sales.

Fashion rules for reps.

The National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease recently issued an updated version of the "Guidelines for the Use of Antiretroviral Agents in HIV-infected Adults and Adolescents" at www.hivatis.gov.

Physician prescribing habits can be influenced by samples, continuing medical education sponsorships and conference travel funding, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (vol. 283, no. 3).

Results of a study conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center show that St. John's wort, an herbal product used to treat depression, could significantly undermine the effectiveness the antiviral drug indinavir, which is often prescribed to treat HIV infection.

According to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, at its annual state of the industry conference in Washington, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies had 40 new treatments – 35 drugs and five biologics – approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1999. The medicines target 36 diseases that affect 545 million patients and cost society an estimated $600 billion a year.

Drug cost increases will exceed 18% for 2000 – leading to a significant increase in total health plan costs - according to a study from the Segal Co., a consultant and actuary firm serving human resources, employee benefits and compensation programs in the U.S., Canada and abroad.

In a merger of equals valued at $75 billion, London-based Glaxo Wellcome Inc., and SmithKline Beecham, also based in London, have agreed to join businesses – forming the largest pharmaceutical company in the world. The new company, which would be known as Glaxo SmithKline, would have an annual research and development budget of approximately $4 billion.

Christine Garabedian knew, for more than two years, what she wanted to do. She described her experience in physicians' offices: "I'd see the reps talking to doctors and I thought, 'That's what I want to do - how come no one lets me do this?' I knew I'd be good at it."

"Pharmaceutical Sales Force Structures & Strategies 1999-2000," a survey of U.S. physicians released by Newtown, PA-based pharmaceutical consulting company Scott-Levin, reveals that doctors rank Pfizer Inc.'s sales force as the most valuable. Twenty-eight physician specialty groups in nine core specialty areas – general/family practitioners, internists, pediatricians, orthopedic surgeons, obstetricians/gynecologists, psychiatrists, general surgeons, gastroenterologists and cardiologists – were surveyed for this year's study. 1999 was the fifth consecutive year New York-based Pfizer finished first across the core groups.

A Danish study published in the British journal The Lancet suggests that mammograms may be unjustified in attempting to screen for breast cancer.

The Food and Drug Administration is warning patients taking Titusville, NJ-based Janssen Pharmaceutica's heartburn treatment, Propulsid® (cisapride) of new advisories concerning the drug. Propulsid is a treatment for severe nighttime heartburn in patients with gastroesophagal reflux disease who do not adequately respond to other therapies. The new measures are being recommended to help physicians avoid giving Propulsid to patients who are at known risk of rare, but serious, cardiac events associated with the drug.

Reps can make a better impact by managing the time they have.

Tips to help your written communications.

Reps need to spend time planning, account targeting and learning about new managed care tools that drive today's operations as well as prepare us for tomorrow's growth businesses.

Schering-Plough Corp., Madison, NJ, has announced the launch of a new, 120-member primary care sales force to complement its existing hepatitis C sales team. The new force is being acquired from Triangle Park, NC-based Innovex.

A last-minute provision, passed with budget legislation, may give Massachusetts a state-run bulk pharmaceutical purchasing program.

The proposed merger between Abbott Laboratories and Alza Corp. will not be completed due to an inability to come to terms with the FTC.

Since sales success starts by reaching the decision-maker, sales representatives must find creative ways to penetrate the barriers that surround the toughest accounts.

Drugsampling.com, a computer controlled system that monitors the distribution of drug samples, is being tested in Boston's Lahey Clinic.

St. Louis-based Monsanto Co., and Pharmacia & Upjohn, Peapack, NJ, announced plans to merge.

The effect of managed care on a physician's practice.

In our quest as sales reps to provide our physician customers with a valuable sales call, it is crucial to understand what the driving forces are in healthcare delivery and how they affect these customers.