Ben Comer

After years of asking questions, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)is moving closer to a protocol "for assessing the driving-impairment risks of drugs". Ben Comer reports.

At CBI’s 10th Annual Pharmaceutical Compliance Congress, Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, deputy assistant attorney general, consumer protection branch, civil division, at the US Department of Justice, said being compliant means understanding people, and their motivations.

By 2018, the amount health insurers spend per person on specialty, or biologic drugs, will equal or surpass the amount spent on traditional products, according to a new report.

On average, cancer docs in the US would much rather deal with pharma sales reps in person as opposed to online, and drug companies are hiring more reps to support a slew of newly approved oncologic drugs.

The perennial fat got chewed during the first two days at J.P. Morgan’s annual healthcare conference – buy back stock or raise dividends? – and the usual suspects lurked, but newcomers like Walgreens and not-so-pharma companies like Life Technologies packed the presentation halls and corridors,

As the role and stature of the compliance officer grows, legacy senior management structures and hierarchies can accidentally pit lawyers against one another

Participants in the 23rd Annual NYPF General Assembly last Friday outlined the many challenges facing industry, and the importance of collaboration as a way to move forward.

Ben Comer profiles 10 innovative technologies designated as new and revolutionary tools for the treatment of disease and disability.

Given the amount of activity in the hepatitis C drug development space – as evidenced in PharmExec’s 2013 Pipeline report – patients are scouring the internet for information on the disease, available treatments, and soon to be available treatments.

How can the emerging field of data science help to fruitfully translate research and discovery into successful drug development.

Patients in search of face time with a healthcare provider are stopping into their local drugstores, where consultations are free and the wait time is shorter.

Is the 'lost decade' of declining pipeline productivity finally over? Our annual survey of analyst assessments of the state of drug development suggests so...

FDA’s head of neurology products told industry execs at the Prix Galien Forum that the agency is open to alternative clinical trial designs in Alzheimer’s disease, and would like to see more combination products in clinical testing.

Ideology, politics, and a stilted political debate may be causing pharma to overlook the potential of emerging stem cell therapies in fostering a new generation of cures.

The most obvious competitors for Sanofi’s Aubagio, the second oral multiple sclerosis (MS) drug to receive FDA approval, would appear to be Novartis’ Gilenya.

“Doctor’s don’t hate technology, they hate bad technology,” said Shane Kennedy, managing director, digital, at Sudler & Hennessey.

The pharmaceutical industry still lags other industries in spending on outbound social media programs that engage customers directly.

Specialized knowledge about disease and treatment is no longer the exclusive province of practicing physicians. Patient voices are increasing in volume, along with their roles in treatment decisions.

It’s something of an enigma that most physicians are keen to learn about and use cutting edge medicines and devices for their patients.

In the American version of the Australian TV series Wilfred, the show’s title character declares that for him, human life begins at 10 years old.

The margins may be lower, but skirting access and reimbursement issues in an increasingly skeptical payer environment makes over-the-counter (OTC) products appealing to certain big players.

The sun was shining, savory scents were floating out from the grill, the lemonade was mixed and the table was set. But then dark clouds blew in and settled overhead. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s (BMS) picnic got rained out this summer.

Forest Labs has had a tough time with regulators over the last two years. The company’s sales reps can’t seem to stop breaking the law.

Can’t get your sales rep into that academic medical center? Try sending a medical science liaison (MSL).

FDA’s approval of Truvada, a once-a-day oral combination of tenofovir and emtricitabine, for pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP, a method for preventing HIV infection) arrived during a chorus of optimism surrounding major developments in the fight against AIDS

At CBI’s 7th Annual Rare Disease and Orphan Drug Leadership Congress, speakers and attendees identified areas where pharma can improve the way it approaches rare disease and treatment.

Like governors in the US vowing to block Medicaid expansion in their home states, local primary care trusts (PCTs) in the UK don’t always follow national guidelines on drug access due to budgetary concerns.

The IMS Institute’s annual report on global drug spending predicts a slight rebound in developed markets, despite historically low growth rates. In emerging markets, growth continues to be robust, but is it enough to balance the ongoing stagnancy in Europe and the US?

Big pharma talks a lot about the changing business model and placing a new emphasis on patients, but the fact remains that quantity of medicines sold, not quality of care provided, is how to get paid (and how to keep investors happy).

Eli Lilly CEO John Lechleiter on his agenda as incoming chairman of PhRMA, US healthcare reform, the euro crisis, and the small problem, of innovation.