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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.

Once you mast the details behind lunch and learns you can smoothly deliver the most successful sales program available.

The results of the 1999 Capitation Survey show that as capitation rates continue to be squeezed, significantly fewer providers are reporting profits associated with capitation contracts than last year.

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).

According to two new studies, by Mountain View, CA market consulting firm Frost & Sullivan and Newtown, PA-based market research firm Scott-Levin, the antiobesity market continued to grow in both prescriptions and office visits through 1999.

Simple messages can be tremendous tools fo success.

Without a doubt, managed care has had a huge impact on the way physicians conduct their practices and the amount of time they have to spend with pharmaceutical reps. With these issues in mind, Pharmaceutical Representative asked Mark Callahan, director of outcomes-based research for the New York and Presbyterian Hospital Care Network, a few questions about where the managed care industry stands at the beginning of the 21st century and the issues taking shape there.

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.

President Clinton unveiled a new initiative to protect consumers from the sale of illegal pharmaceuticals on the Internet. The new initiative would:

In the 1990s, the promise of healthcare reform and the rise of managed care created unique markets, where the business of selling pharmaceuticals has been at the mercy of often unknown pressures. These market fluctuations have created physician access trouble for the pharmaceutical industry, and tricks of the trade no longer get reps through the door.

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.

Healthcare intelligence and Internet content provider Caredata.com, Atlanta, GA, has released the results of their 1999 Commercial Health Plan Survey. The survey reveals that consumer satisfaction with prescription drug plans is higher than satisfaction with overall health plans among the commercial managed care plan members surveyed.

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.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has filed a lawsuit against Physicians Health Services, Shelton, a subsidiary of L.A.-based Foundation Health System and the state's largest managed care company, alleging its pharmaceutical policies pose potentially harmful and dangerous restrictions on consumers.

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.

In a precautionary statement about two reports published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists warned that "misinterpretation ... may cause patients to discontinue needed treatment for diabetes."

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.

There are five levels of decision- making that every pharmaceutical sales rep must consider.