Pharmaceutical Executive-06-01-2007

To harness consumerization to improve the industry's image and enhance the value of its products, pharma leaders need to focus on the "Four Cs": commitment, choice, collaboration, and customization

It's not FDA's job to make doctors and patients take more responsibility for using drugs wisely. But whose job is it? Really, whose?

Payment to physicians and other conflicts of interest Are ripe areas of concern, particularly when they raise doubt over the integrity of research findings

While the most sought-after opinion leaders are often older, well-established physicians, companies should also be aware of the rising stars. Younger, up-and-coming specialists who are beginning to publish are often more cutting-edge and open to experimental approaches.

Cell Genesys knows something about building successful biotech companies. In fact, its chairman and CEO, Stephen Sherwin, MD, a Genentech alum, has built at least three, if you count Cell Genesys spinouts Abgenix and Ceregene. Through a strategy of M&A and licensing programs-plus betting on the right technology at the right time-Cell Genesys has been able to raise enough capital to gamble on what Sherwin believes could be the future's most promising therapies, including gene activation, immunotherapy, and oncolytic virus therapy.

You remember it well: that day back in the late 1990s, when your brand's Web site first went live. It looked great at the time, and you were so proud to have entered the Internet Age.

It was like the end of the arms race last November when Pfizer announced it was slashing its national sales force by 20 percent. Coolly downplayed as cost-cutting by new CEO Jeffrey Kindler, the stunning move was met by industry insiders, Wall Street analysts, and the media with one humongous collective sigh of relief. Big Pharma was seen as having grown dangerously addicted to the detailing game over the past decade, with the top firms plowing more and more of their blockbuster profits into trying to keep up with Pfizer's "flood the zone" strategy and with less and less to show for it.

The danger is that effectiveness studies could be used to limit coverage to low-cost products and that additional research requirements for sponsors could be costly

Medicare Part D's infamous donut hole-the gap in coverage where subscribers have to shell out full drug costs-sparked a national debate long before the first poor, frail, creaky (or so you imagine) senior citizen stumbled into it. Critics of Part D-mostly Democrats, plus advocates ranging from AARP to the Gray Panthers-argue that government price negotiations, which the legislation bans, would lead to savings that could close the gap. Part D backers-mostly Republicans and PhRMA-counter with "Don't fix it if it ain't broke," pointing to surveys showing that as many as 80 percent of the 23 million subscribers are pleased with the program after just the first year. Plus, they say, Part D's so-called consumer-driven design controls costs, which, in fact, came in lower than projected.

With their memorable characters, sense of humor, and ability to balance creative with clinical information, the Rozerem ads have broken the traditional pharma ad template

With fewer feet on the street because of downsizing at many drug firms, sales reps and managers need to work smarter-and that means working with information that's both accurate and up to date

Stakeholders worry that less competition among drug suppliers in the United Kingdom could mean higher prices and a bigger bill for the National Health Service

Advertorials were shown to be more effective than branded ads in terms of generating interest, providing valuable info, and provoking follow-up discussions

There's tremendous opportunity for us to understand how drugs can be used even better to get the right outcome, not only how to contain them in order to avoid complications or adverse events

Compliance requires overcoming cultural barriers. To start with, in some countries the taboo against bribery is not as strong as it is here.

The key to becoming a stronghold: Avoid an overfocus on your own business-and never stop being paranoid and opportunistic