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The small incremental improvements to existing drugs that make up the majority of new drug approvals by the FDA each year provide important health benefits to patients.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson has announced a department-wide initiative to reduce regulatory burdens in healthcare and respond faster to the concerns of healthcare providers, state and local governments, and individual Americans who are affected by HHS rules.

More and more, physician meetings and events are becoming an integral part of pharmaceutical promotion, according to the Physician Meeting & Event Audit by Newtown, PA-based Scott-Levin.

Many of the communication and relationship-building skills that made Jan Hearn a great sales rep for nine years now make her a great corporate account manager. Promoted three years ago by Thousand Oaks, CA-based Amgen Inc., Hearn now works with corporate pharmacy staff, medical directors, CEOs, CFOs and COOs at five major integrated healthcare systems in three states to gain access and coverage for Amgen products. Although this new role required Hearn to undergo extensive training and master new skills, many challenges of relationship-building in the corporate environment aren't so different from those she faced as a rep.

According to Newtown, PA-based Scott-Levin, the movement toward larger sales forces that began in 1995 continues unabated despite consolidation within the pharmaceutical industry.

Scientists have developed a new tool that may help physicians predict, during the first several hours a stroke patient is in the hospital, the degree of recovery the patient will eventually experience. The tool uses three factors for the accurate prediction of stroke outcome: measurement of brain injury using magnetic resonance imaging, the patient's score on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, and the time in hours from the onset of symptoms until the MRI brain scan is performed.

In 2000, the number of independent pharmacies grew by more than 200, according to the National Community Pharmacists Association, Alexandria, VA. Based on NCPA's definition of an independent pharmacy - single-store independent pharmacies, independent chains, pharmacy franchises and pharmacist-owned supermarket pharmacies - independent pharmacies now number 24,841, or 45% of the nation's total market of 55,011 pharmacies.

Challenging one of medicine's long-standing beliefs, a team of scientists funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Institute on Aging has found the strongest evidence to date that human heart muscle cells regenerate after a heart attack. In a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine (vol. 344, no. 23), scientists from New York Medical College in Valhalla, NY report their success in finding large-scale replication of heart muscle cells in two regions of the heart, and in identifying several other key indicators of cell regeneration.

Four pharmaceutical companies, Kenilworth, NJ-based Schering-Plough Corp; The Procter and Gamble Co., Cincinnati; Eli Lilly and Co., Indianapolis; and Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL, were named to Fortune magazine's list of "50 Best Companies for Minorities." The list was published in the July 9 issue of the magazine.

It doesn't matter what you sell. Whether it's widgets or pharmaceuticals, we all face the same challenge - connecting with our customers and getting our message across.

The aim of coaching is to improve performance and minimize the difference between expectations and the results delivered. Coaching should develop each employee into a peak performer, or at least to his or her maximum potential. We know that growth will follow the proper amount of support, positive stimulation and personal initiative. Many coaching models instruct managers in proper coaching techniques and etiquette, and the successful ones can be easily assimilated. One way to ensure retention is to attach the coaching principles and vocabulary to activities reinforced by daily events.

Singapore—Lilly’s decision to set up a Singapore R&D center to focus on systems biology is the latest in a series of moves that have put the Far East island on the biotech map.

In an era in which companies can forfeit $1 million each day they delay a product launch-and being second can mean failure-pharma executives are under pressure to make risk and opportunity decisions in less time than ever.

London-GlaxoSmithKline is proposing to cut more than 2,000 jobs from its worldwide workforce of 100,000 as it seeks to generate the promised savings from its merger.

Brussels-Lack of intellectual property protection is not causing the erosion of European pharma, reports the European Generics Association.

While making small talk at a party, a new acquaintance asked a senior pharmaceutical executive what line of business he was in. "I work for a multinational pharmaceutical company," he replied.

Lucerne, Switzerland-At the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries Associations’ (EFPIA) recent annual meeting, new president Jean-Francois Dehecq reiterated the association’s view that no single factor prevents access to essential medicines in developing countries.

Pharma mergers have hardly brought runaway success. Yet, judging from industry CEOs' public pronouncements, on the horizon is another merger and acquisition wave that will challenge both participants and spectators. The M&A game of the future may diverge drastically from strategies of the past, as multiple acquirers begin to target specific therapeutic franchises rather than whole companies.

Early e-health enthusiasts envisioned a rapid technology and information metamorphosis that could only be described as a quantum leap. In the aftermath of the dot-com shake out, pharma companies reported e-initiative progress that more accurately resembles a shuffle-with an occasional stumble. Cap Gemini Ernst & Young surveyed more than 100 senior managers from 42 pharma companies, including the top 10, to assess the current state of all things "e." The results are mixed.

That marketing should begin early in product development has become a truism in the pharma industry. But as a statement on its own, it sheds little light. What does it mean to begin? At what point do marketers insert themselves into the process? To what end do they enter where once only scientists trod? And, the ultimate question—which the truism fails to answer—how might their intrusion affect the lives of patients, in trial or thereafter?

London/Sodertalje—AstraZeneca’s decision to drop Viozan (AR-C68397AA) for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) could be GlaxoSmithKline’s gain.

The growing number of foreign-born physicians in the United States presents both challenges and opportunities for pharmaceutical sales representatives.

Physicians say they are now much more likely to limit their time and dialogue with sales representatives … except for a few individuals who take a different approach.

Experts say fewer regulations are expected.

HIV risk factors among injection drug users differ markedly by gender, according to a 10-year study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The findings, reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine (vol. 161, no. 10), indicate that while drug-related risk behaviors and homosexual activity are the most important predictors of HIV seroconversion among males, factors consistent with high-risk heterosexual activities are the main predictors among females.

See how you can incorporate these five B's in some of your two-minute-or-less encounters with physicians.

Having so many retirement choices shouldn't leave you wondering which type of retirement savings plan is best for you.

Three commonly held views appear to hinder millions of Americans with clinical depression or generalized anxiety disorder from being diagnosed or treated, according to the National Mental Health Association's "America's Mental Health Survey."

Tips from a doctor's perspective.

A new survey by the Washington-based Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America found that 205 medicines are currently in the pipeline to meet the special needs of children and that clinical trials on an additional 40 medicines will begin in the near future.