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This page shows you the most recent publications within this specialty of the MedWorm directory. This is page number 3.

AMIA: Enhancing patient safety and quality of care by improving the usability of EHR systems, but ... no sympathy for victims of bad health IT?
A panel of experts from the American Medical Informatics Association have written a paper "Enhancing patient safety and quality of care by improving the usability of electronic health record systems: recommendations from AMIA."The paper is publicly available at this link in PDF. The authors are Blackford Middleton (Harvard Medical School), Meryl Bloomrosen (AMIA), Mark A Dente (GE Healthare IT), Bill Hashmat (CureMD Corp.), Ross Koppel (Dept. of Socology, Univ, of Pennsylvania), J Marc Overhage (Siemens Health Services), Thomas H Payne (U. Washington IT Services), S Trent Rosenbloom (Vanderbil...
Source: Health Care Renewal - January 30, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Tags: ross koppel AMIA healthcare IT usability Thomas H Payne Jiajie Zhang J Marc Overhage Bill Hashmat Blackford Middleton S Trent Rosenbloom Charlotte Weaver Meryl Bloomrosen Mark Dente Source Type: blogs

Pharmalot… Pharmalittle… Good Morning
Good morning, everyone, and how are you today? ‘Tis the middle of the week and here on the Pharmalot corporate campus this means scrambling to get the short people to their respective schoolhouses and updating our never-ending to-do list. We have a hunch that you can somehow relate. So feel free to join us as we brace ourselves for the day ahead with a cup or two of stimulation. Meanwhile, here are the tidbits. Hope that you survive and, if you do, stay in touch… FDA Approves Sanofi And Isis Hyper-Cholesterol Drug (Bloomberg News) FDA Panel Backs Boehringer COPD Drug (Pharma Times) Judge Dismisses Whistleblower...
Source: Pharmalot - January 30, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Afraxis AstraZeneca Boehringer Ingelheim Cholesterol CNS COPD Isis Pharmaceuticals Lemtrada MS Multiple Sclerosis Orphan Drug Roche Sanofi Seroquel Source Type: blogs

Call for evidence - deadline Feb 22nd
Committee to inquire into clinical trials and disclosure of data Clinical trials in the UK are regulated by the Clinical Trials Directive which was transposed into UK law by the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004. In December 2011, the Health Research Authority was created to protect and promote the interests of patients and the public in health research. In July 2012, the European Commission produced proposals to revise the Clinical Trials Directive. Transparency and disclosure of clinical trial data have been topical recently, in part due to the recently published book Bad Pharma, by Dr Ben Gol...
Source: PharmaGossip - January 30, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs

Pharma Needs to Step Up & Help Develop a Universal Flu Vaccine
Discussion with Ian Wilson").It's great to be a small part of the history of virology, but it would be even better if that history eventually includes the successful development of a universal vaccine for the flu. And this is where the drug industry needs to step in according to Bloomberg View:"[T]he government has limited means and little product-development experience. Making a new vaccine typically takes a decade and can cost $1 billion. A project of that size is better suited to large pharmaceutical companies. Most, however, have been loath to seriously invest in new vaccines, which offer low returns."Given this market...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - January 29, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Tags: Vaccine Flu Source Type: blogs

Cut through digital noise to reach physicians
Understanding the way any consumer spends his time online is key to any marketer - but for Pharma companies - it's especially crucial. This method offsets other alternatives such as conferences and on-site visits. Many companies are on the quest to quantify how physicians interact online with content and other healthcare professionals. As often is the case, they don't socialize online, but they're there absorbing the information that appeals to them. In this article at Forbes, they identify the company Kyruus, which works with hospitals to monitor physicians activity online to ensure that they ...
Source: ePharma Summit - January 29, 2013 Category: Medical Marketing and PR Tags: Healthcare professionals online ePharma Summit Physicians online Source Type: blogs

UK Pharma & Docs Inch Toward Payment Disclosure
The push for greater transparency about financial ties between the pharmaceutical industry and physicians has prompted a collection of 20 medical and industry trade organizations to develop a template for disclosing payments made by drugmakers to doctors. Specific information to be disclosed, however, has not yet been decided while a so-called consultation is under way. “This consultation is intended to establish whether there is, in principle, support for a publically available, single, searchable system for disclosure of payments that is inclusive of all commercial life science organisations working in healthcare,̶...
Source: Pharmalot - January 29, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized ABPI Conflicts of Interest Royal College of Physicians Source Type: blogs

And Now, For Some More Pharma Layoffs…
The rash of job cuts continues among drugmakers and biotechs as they struggle to develop new medications and grapple with assorted setbacks in the laboratory and elsewhere. The latest to eliminate jobs is Amgen and Endo Health Solutions, which are shedding a combined 215 positions, according to government filings. Specifically, Amgen (AMGN) is laying off 157 employees from its headquarters in Thousand Oaks, California, by the end of April. The move follows an effort begun in late 2011 to reorganize research and development operations that led to layoffs in various locations (back story). An Amgen spokeswoman writes us tha...
Source: Pharmalot - January 29, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Amgen Endo Health Solutions Layoffs Source Type: blogs

Pharmalot… Pharmalittle… Good Morning
Rise and shine. Another busy day is on the way. One bit of good news this morning, however, is that the Pharmalot corporate campus has finally begun to thaw after that stretch of bone-freezing temperatures. As you might imagine, we are celebrating with a hot cup of stimulation. Feel free to join us. Meanwhile, here is the latest batch of interesting items to help the day move along. Hope you accomplish much and stay in touch… Pfizer Still Weighing A Bigger Break Up (Bloomberg News) J&J Failed Its Own Safety Test In Hip Design (Bloomberg News) Judge Freezes Assets Of New England Compounding Owners (Reuters) Scien...
Source: Pharmalot - January 29, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Bayer GlaxoSmithKline Hip Implants Hospira JJ Johnson & Johnson New England Compounding Center Oral Contraceptives Pfizer Pharmacyclics Quintiles Vaccines Source Type: blogs

In a Pre-emptive Strike, Amgen & Genentech (Roche) Lobby States to Block Biosimilars
No doubt you've heard of how Amgen essentially paid off U.S. Senators to sneak a provision in the "fiscal cliff" bill that delays price restraints on a class of drugs used by kidney dialysis patients, including Sensipar, a drug made by Amgen (see "Big Pharma buys off the Senate"). That "richly embroidered loophole" will cost taxpayers a half a billion dollars.Although a bill was proposed to close the Amgen loophole in federal law, Amgen and Genentech, which is owned by Roche, are lobbying (i.e., paying) state lawmakers to block generic versions of their products according to the New York Times (see here). Specifically, the...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - January 29, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Tags: Amgen Genentech Roche Lobbying generics biosimilar Source Type: blogs

Bipartisanship at last
Pharma Pricing Top Target for Medicare Cutbacks In the dog-eat-dog world of federal deficit reduction, there seems to be one health-related spending cut with broad bi-partisan support: require drug companies to give the federal government “a better deal on medications for low-income people on Medicare.” Nearly 70% of respondents back this strategy, according to a survey sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. That’s far more than the mere 32% who want to raise Medicare premiums or the 26% who support a higher Medicare eligibility ag...
Source: PharmaGossip - January 29, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs

Ace and XL sued by AZ
A court case that got under way this week could have implications for reinsurers around the world. The case is AstraZeneca Insurance Company (the pharmaceutical giant’s captive insurance company) versus XL Insurance (Bermuda) and Ace Bermuda Insurance. The dispute is over whether the two Bermuda-based reinsurers can be held liable for settlements and costs incurred by the world’s fifth largest pharmaceutical company following several class-action product liability lawsuits related to its prescription drug Seroquel. The claims alleged personal injury, namely, that Seroquel, an antipsychotic drug prescribed for schizo...
Source: PharmaGossip - January 29, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs

Can twitter help HCP's track & monitor diseases?
With the ability to send information to millions in seconds, it's no secret that twitter has revolutionized the way we deliver news. And after last year's debate it also has allowed us to project our thoughts, agree or disagree, and connect with millions of people all over the world. Healthcare has been hesitant to crossover to the world of Social Media, but now, officials are encouraging to tweet how you 'feel'. Tweets with location information may allow officials to plot points on a map to detect a trend, then alert providers to gear up for a possible outbreak. Though accurate information is available for only about 15%...
Source: ePharma Summit - January 28, 2013 Category: Medical Marketing and PR Tags: 2013 epharma summit Doctors and Social Media Digital Marketing for Pharma Source Type: blogs

Lipitor & Plavix: The Last of the Small Molecule Best Sellers?
Forbes just published a list of "Best Selling Drugs of All Time" (see here). I created the following chart from the data cited (click on it for a larger view):"Tellingly," notes the Forbes author, Simon King, "each of the products in the list above best positioned to record an increase in peak annual sales over the next five years is a biologic; Humira, Enbrel, Rituxan, Herceptin and Lantus being the chief candidates. This is driven by a number of factors – the later launch of certain brands, for example – but also illustrates the robustness of leading biologic franchises that do not face direct substitutable generic c...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - January 28, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Tags: Drug prices Plavix Humira Lipitor Pfizer drug pipeline orphan drugs Blockbuster Source Type: blogs

Alex Gorsky And The Battered J&J Credo
Last week was significant for Johnson & Johnson ceo Alex Gorsky in different ways. For one, it was the first time that he presided over a discussion of an annual earnings report as ceo of the healthcare giant. At the same time, J&J made headlines, once again, over a potentially scandalous disclosure of previously unknown data concerning its troubed hip implants. So it was a good-news-bad-news few days. On one hand, Gorsky had a chance to engage investors and analysts as he outlined his views on remaking the troubled consumer healthcare business, shifting the product portfolio and the resurgent pharmaceutical unit...
Source: Pharmalot - January 28, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Alex Gorsky Bill Weldon FDA JJ Johnson & Johnson Motrin Tylenol Source Type: blogs

More Industry Academic Alliances
We recently covered Twenty Industry-Academic Alliances in 2012. In the past, we have also written extensively about other physician-industry and academic-industry collaborations. After running our recent story, we came across several other alliances, discussed in further detail below, and will continue to cover such collaborations as they occur. GlaxoSmithKline and University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) recently announced that it has gained rights to a preclinical program from the renowned MD Anderson Cancer Center, in a pact focused on antibodies that trigger immune attacks agains...
Source: Policy and Medicine - January 28, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, January 28th 2013
Discussion - Latest Headlines from Fight Aging! - But What About Pushkin? - Considering Cybernetic Immortality - On Long-Lived Cancer-Resistant Rodents - Longer Telomeres, Less Cancer in Calorie Restricted Mice - More on Central Control and the Acceptance of Death - Confirming the Importance of Autophagy in Calorie Restriction - SENS Research Foundation: Reimagine Aging - Hearing Loss Correlates With Cognitive Decline - So How Do You Measure Life Span in Fly Studies? - Using Epigenetics to Search for the Mechanisms of Rheumatoid Arthritis NATURAL DEATH: WE SHOULD BE WORRIED ABOUT IT http://www.fightaging.org/arc...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 27, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

Branding your product, IRL
If there's one thing we can take away from 2012 (speaking media-phorically), it's that Social Media has revolutionized the way we market our products. But now that we've mastered the digital campaign, how can we translate translate it back to real life? Twist! Marketers are realizing that you can actually implement digital media tactics and apply them to real life. Fastcompany.com gives us three tips to create successful brand engagement: 1. Create a two-way dialogue. This is a fact that traditional media outlets have learned the hard way and have either adapted and flourished (e.g. Forbes) or perished (e.g. Newsweek). ...
Source: ePharma Summit - January 25, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Tags: 2013 epharma summit brand planning Digital Marketing for Pharma Source Type: blogs

Antibiotics: When Science And Wishful Thinking Collide
Antibiotic resistance is a major concern confronting our health care system, and there is tremendous pressure on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “do something” about it. Unfortunately, the FDA is responding by approving drugs that are likely to do more harm than good. FDA advisory committees are supposed to provide independent advice from experts across the country, but recent meetings have left observers wondering whether too many FDA advisory committee members are providing neither scientific nor independent advice, and whether the committee process itself is fundamentally flawed. These concerns dovetail w...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - January 25, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Diana Zuckerman Tags: All Categories Consumers Effectiveness Global Health Patient Safety Pharma Policy Public Health Source Type: blogs

The Big Gamble of CETP Inhibitors
Merck has invested a substantial amount of money on the CETP inhibitor anacetrapib. Chemist and veteran pharma blogger Derek Lowe suspects that the company might as well have plunked the money down in a casino. In a provocative new post, Lowe wonders if big pharma, in its desperation, has abandoned rational research in favor of, essentially, gambling. He notes that CETP is “a drug target that has incinerated a lot of money over the years” and wonders whether any of the compounds will “ever make it as a drug?” The failure of past CETP inhibitors, torcetrapib More…
Source: CardioBrief - January 25, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Uncategorized anacetrapib CETP inhibitor Derek Lowe High-density lipoprotein Merck Pfizer Source Type: blogs

Will Novo Air a Super Bowl Commercial?
Yesterday, on my way to the NJ Turnpike, I passed by the BMS R&D facilities in Hopewell, NJ and noticed a sign announcing that Novo Nordisk will build a site directly across the road from BMS. I couldn't help commenting to Mrs. Pharmaguy, who prefers the Route 1 path to the NJT, that "diabetes has been very good to Novo" because it seems to be growing rapidly. Not too long ago Novo built a new mega site on the Route 1 path to NJT. Gone are the days when Novo had only a smallish U.S. presence (and building) further south on Route 1 near Princeton.So, it seems Novo is betting big on the U.S. diabetes market and well it s...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - January 25, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Tags: Superbowl Celebrities Novo Nordisk Celebrity Endorsement diabetes Source Type: blogs

Fire In The Blood: AIDS Meds & Pharma Reputation
More than a dozen years ago, a nasty battle broke out over access to AIDS medicines in poor countries, notably South Africa. On behalf of more than three dozen drugmakers, the PhRMA trade group filed a lawsuit hoping to block legislation that would have allowed other companies to produce AIDS drugs at lower prices (back story). The episode bloodied the industry’s reputation and the issue still resonates as spats over needed medicines continue to emerge in numerous countries, although drugmakers have taken steps to increase access during the intervening years. Meanwhile, the battle in South Africa has been chronicled ...
Source: Pharmalot - January 25, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized AIDS Fire in the Blood HIV Phrma Source Type: blogs

Up And Down The Ladder… Job Changes
Hired someone new and exciting? Promoted a rising star? Finally solved that hard-to-fill spot? Share the news with us and we’ll share with it others. That’s right. Send us your announcements and we’ll find a home for them. Don’t be shy. Everyone wants to know who is coming and going, especially with all the layoffs. Despite the downsizing, there is movement. Here are some of the latest changes. Recognize anyone? And here is our regular feature. Send us a photo and we will spotlight a different person each week. This time around, we note that Foundation Medicine hired Steven Kafka as chief business officer. Previous...
Source: Pharmalot - January 25, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized AAIPharma Services AmerisourceBergen Edge Therapetuics FDA Foundation Medicine GEA Pharma Systems GlaxoSmithKline Inovus Pharmaceuticals Norwitch Pharmaceuticals Parexel Probiodrug University of Miami US Pharmacopei Source Type: blogs

Pharmalot… Pharmalittle… The Weekend Nears
Ready, get set, start daydreaming about the weekend. Another working week is about to draw to a close and already we are making our list of things to enjoy. These include spending time with the short people, catching up on some reading and taking a trip down the proverbial memory lane. But what about you? There are myriad ways to keep warm during this cold snap, such as gathering ’round the fireplace, taking in a movie at a theater that actually turns up the thermostat or downing a shot of scotch. The rest we will leave to your imagination. Whatever you do, have a grand time, but be safe. See you soon… Novarti...
Source: Pharmalot - January 25, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Actavis New England Compounding Center Novartis Roche Tekturna Vaccines Watson Pharmaceuticals Source Type: blogs

CETP, Alzheimer's, Monty Hall, and Roulette. And Goats.
CETP, now there's a drug target that has incinerated a lot of money over the years. Here's a roundup of compounds I posted on back last summer, with links to their brutal development histories. I wondered here about what's going to happen with this class of compounds: will one ever make it as a drug? If it does, will it just end up telling us that there are yet more complications in human lipid handling that we didn't anticipate? Well, Merck and Lilly are continuing their hugely expensive, long-running atempts to answer these questions. Here's an interview with Merck's Ken Frazier in which he sounds realistic - that is, n...
Source: In the Pipeline - January 25, 2013 Category: Chemists Tags: Alzheimer ' s Disease Source Type: blogs

Brand Planning in a Digital World
When I first start to put together the program for ePharma, I typically have 15 - 20 phone conversations, then schedule the advisory board meeting with leaders in the space, some of whom have participated at ePharma over the past several years, some of whom have never attended. In preporation for the advisory board meeting, I compile all of my notes: notes from research calls, notes from face-to-face meetings, notes from the previous year's event, notes from ePharma and anything else I've collected throughout the year. I do this to identify industry trends, which I then present to the advisory board and we determ...
Source: ePharma Summit - January 24, 2013 Category: Medical Marketing and PR Tags: 2013 epharma summit brand planning Digital Marketing for Pharma Source Type: blogs

Herceptin Pricing In India Is A Joke: Menon Explains
Last week, the Indian government moved closer to issuing compulsory licenses on three widely used cancer medications – including Roche’s Herceptin – in hopes of making these treatments more affordable to a wider swath of its population (back story). The effort comes a year after India issued its first compulsory license for a brand-name drug, Bayer’s Nexavar cancer treatment, a move that has multinational drugmakers concerned. The cost per dose for Herceptin is roughly $1,400 per month, although Roche maintains it has taken steps to widen access, such as lowering the price previously and arranging f...
Source: Pharmalot - January 24, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Bayer Compulsory License Compusory Licensing Herceptin Nexavar Roche Source Type: blogs

Another very funny post by Dr Kishore Shah !
KAUN BANEGA MEDICAL CROREPATI The psychedelic blue whirling lights moved around as the winner of ‘Fastest finger first’ was announced in the deep baritone of Amitabhhchan. Midst the ascending music, he said, “The doctor who answered the last question the fastest is Dr. Kishore Shah.” I quickly waved to the audience my two fingers and took the hot seat. Amitabh rumbled again, “Congratulations Dr. Shah for getting into the hot seat. Tell me, to what do you attribute your success in reaching here?” I smiled and said, “Sir, for this Kaun Banega Medical Crorepati, the only doctors who can win are those who use ...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 24, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs

Greater Accountability in Physician Education Drives New Approaches and Technologies
Conclusion Ultimately, “the role played by online learning is certain to become even more prominent because it is so well adapted to new models of learning in CME, which attempt not only to impart information but also change behavior.” This technology is “unsurpassed in its ability to provide tailored education that gauges the specific needs of the learner, delivers information to meet those needs and evaluates progress toward the desired goals.”
Source: Policy and Medicine - January 24, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs

An Attempt to Exhume the "Ethical Drug Industry"
When was the last time you heard "ethical" and "drug industry" in the same sentence? These days, you are more likely to see "unethical" linked closely with the drug industry that during the time of its birth during the Civil War in the U.S. used "ethical" to distinguish its products from quack medicines. Here's a piece of drug industry history from "The Evolution of Pharmaceuticals in the United States," which I found by Google search:"Frederick Stearns was [an] important industry pioneer. He started a manufacturing facility in Detroit in 1855 and it was an important supplier of medicines during the Civil War. Stearns also...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - January 23, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Tags: Ethics Source Type: blogs

The glacial movement of Pharma digital marketing integration
Pharma marketers have made leaps and bounds when it comes to to using digital strategy in their marketing efforts. But Sven Awege of the Pharma Exec Blog believes there's a long way to go. Not only is digitally integrated marketing facing the natural resistance to change, but the article lists a few more things that cause the resistance and slow adoption of digitally integrated marketing: Lack of senior management commitment; Inadequate or incomplete strategy; Lack of internal (and external) capabilities; and MLR resistance to risk or change just to name a few. So what can we do to encourage this change and show that it h...
Source: ePharma Summit - January 23, 2013 Category: Medical Marketing and PR Tags: pharma marketing ePharma Summit Digital Marketing Integration Pharma Marketing Integration Source Type: blogs

The HIT Scam
Worth a read -The HIT Scam By Greg ScandlenNotable in the piece are these observations: ... even the editors of the Washington Post have come to agree the whole [national health IT] project was a fiasco — but only after we wasted $27 billion of taxpayer money. Yet, those who are enriching themselves on the $27 billion are just happy as clams over the program. John Hoyt, the Executive Vice President of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) was quoted in a recent Health Change Bulletin as saying −This data suggests that the HITECH portion of the 2009 stimulus law is achieving its intende...
Source: Health Care Renewal - January 23, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Tags: HIMSS Healthcare IT failure Greg Scandlen HITECH healthcare IT cost Source Type: blogs

The LITFL Review 092
Welcome to the mind-blowing 92nd edition! The LITFL Review is your regular and reliable source for the highest highlights, sneakiest sneak peaks and loudest shout-outs from the webbed world of emergency medicine and critical care. Each week the LITFL team casts the spotlight on the best and brightest from the blogosphere, the podcast video/audiosphere and the rest of the Web 2.0 social media jungle to find the most fantastic EM/CC FOAM (Free Open Access Meducation) around. The Most Fair Dinkum Ripper Beaut of the Week The Short Coat Top Spot this week is a ripper By Lauren looking at hypertension in the ED. Check our M...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - January 22, 2013 Category: Emergency Medicine Doctors Authors: Kane Guthrie Tags: Education Emergency Medicine Featured Intensive Care LITFL review Trauma LITFL R/V Source Type: blogs

Academia's Role in Drug Discovery
There's a new Viewpoint piece out in ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters on academia and drug discovery. Donna Huryn of Pittsburgh is wondering about the wisdom of trying to reproduce a drug-company environment inside a university: However, rather than asking how a university can mimic a drug discovery company, perhaps a better question is what unique features inherent in an academic setting can be taken advantage of, embellished, and fostered to promote drug discovery and encourage success? Rather than duplicating efforts already ongoing in commercial organizations, a university has an opportunity to offer unique, yet comple...
Source: In the Pipeline - January 22, 2013 Category: Chemists Tags: Academia (vs. Industry) Source Type: blogs

Pharmalot… Pharmalittle… Good Morning
Hello, everyone, and nice to see you again. Another long weekend on this side of the pond is now officially over, which means the time has come to resume that daunting routine of meetings and deadlines and what-not. Hopefully, you are all feeling up to the task. In any event, one way to cope is to quaffe a nice cup of stimulation, so go ahead and indulge. Meanwhile, here are some tidbits to help you along. Hope your day goes well and drop us a line if you run across anything interesting. We are up for adventure… J&J Misses Estimates, May Sell Ortho Diagnostics Unit (Bloomberg News) Novartis Wins EU Backing For M...
Source: Pharmalot - January 22, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Alcon Bayer Compassionate Care Compounding Pharmacies Compulsory Licensing Diabetes Hip Implants Impax Laboratories JJ Johnson & Johnson Meningitis Meningitis B New England Compounding Center Nexavar Novartis Source Type: blogs

Physician Payment Sunshine Act: Many Letters to Encourage Completion of Regulations, Disclosures Use in Malpractice Cases
As we continue to wait for the final regulations to implement the Physician Payment Sunshine Act, more groups are writing to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) urging the Obama Administration to release the rule. Last week, AARP, AFL-CIO, and 17 other healthcare advocacy groups issued a letter urging the Obama administration to roll out those regulations ASAP. “After all, the legislation is aimed at holding the line on healthcare costs--by minimizing pharma influence on brand-name prescribing--and at protecting patients from unhealthy results of untoward financial relationships, the groups wrot...
Source: Policy and Medicine - January 22, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs

SENS Research Foundation: Reimagine Aging
The SENS Research Foundation staff have launched their newly updated website: If this is your first time visiting our site, welcome. If you've been here before, you're no doubt noticing plenty that is new: an updated site design, a variety of new content, a new logo, and a new organizational name. It all centers around a new tagline: reimagine aging. For a public charity, a tagline can be an enormously powerful thing. Our vision and mission statements remain the primary guides to our planning, but the tag is everywhere, on every business card and letter and web page. More than any other document or phrase, it naturally ...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 22, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs

Is Pharma Too Big to Succeed?
You've heard of investment banks being "Too Big To Fail" as an excuse for government intervention. After reading the book "Devalued and Distrusted" by John LaMattina, former Pfizer president of R&D, I've come up with a new twist on corporate bigness and failure: Pharma is Too Big to Succeed; well, succeed alone. LaMattina does says that “industry consolidation of the last 15 years has resulted in less competition, less investment in R&D, and a gradual decrease in the approval of new medicines…such a trend should be alarming,” according to LaMattina. LaMattina cites M&A’s disruptive consequences, such as...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - January 21, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Tags: R and D Pfizer orphan drugs Reputation Blockbuster Source Type: blogs

Mobile Health Trend Blurs Marketing and Care Delivery
“Healthcare Anywhere” Rewrites Pharmaceutical Marketing Rules By Marc Dresner, IIR USA Pharmaceutical marketers: You may not have signed up for this, but measurably improved health outcomes may soon be one of your less indirect responsibilities. It’s a field afar from conventional DTC, but according to Joe Shields, Global Strategic Marketing at LifeScan, healthcare delivery is no longer exclusive to hospitals and physicians’ offices; it’s mobile and it’s changing the way marketers think about engaging with patients. Joe Shields “In the past, [marketing’s role] has been about effecting behavior chan...
Source: ePharma Summit - January 21, 2013 Category: Medical Marketing and PR Source Type: blogs

Top stories in health and medicine, January 21, 2013
This series is brought to you by MedPage Today.1. Weight Stays Off Long Term After Bariatric Surgery. Obese patients maintained about 50% excess weight loss for as long as 15 years after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding, (LAGB).2. Obama Take 2: Tobacco, Obesity Key in Second Term. The second term of an Obama administration will be marked for implementing key provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but the president also wants to focus on lowering tobacco use and obesity rates, a senior administration official said.3. Flu Epidemic: Fact or Fiction? Good hygiene might help keep the flu at bay, but there are some ...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - January 21, 2013 Category: Family Physicians Tags: News Infectious disease Obesity Source Type: blogs

Stop gouging Big Bad Pharma
Lower Drug Pricing Key to Fix for Industry’s Image, Says AHF WASHINGTON — In response to a Forbes.com story entitled “Pharma's Reputation Continues to Suffer -- What Can Be Done To Fix It?” and recent Patient View Quarterly survey showing the pharmaceutical industry’s reputation ranks at the bottom of all health care industries, leading global nonprofit AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) contends that the key to repairing the drug industry’s poor reputation is to change its policy of gouging prices for medicines, including those used to treat HIV/AIDS. According to the Patient View survey, as reported by Forbes...
Source: PharmaGossip - January 21, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs

Would you date Big Bad Pharma? | The Copenhagen Post | The Danish News in English
via cphpost.dk Posted via email from Jack's posterous
Source: PharmaGossip - January 21, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs

European CME Standards Evolving but Fragmented
Discussion is needed as to which system would be best for Europe. Furthermore, is a uniform system in Europe possible? Just among the EU we have 27 countries with different codes of practice as well as health systems, so a completely different situation to the US.” In concluding the interview, Thalmann noted that in Europe, there is a great need for “more cooperation and guidance on educational programs and topics from the Medical Societies,” particularly in reference to commercial support. She added that Medical Societies should review more educational programs and could ask the industry to cover topics that are ...
Source: Policy and Medicine - January 21, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs

The class of 2012. - 37 NDA's analysed
Only 13 drugs out of 37 (35%) were licensed to Big Pharma. This is consistent with data from the last 8 years when the share of Big Pharma has hovered between 25% and 40%. Based on historical data, only about 4 or 5 of these 13 drugs will become blockbusters. The rest will peak on average at about $500 million. This is insufficient to support the sales of the top 13 pharma, which in 2011 where just short of $400 billion. Despite their chief executives’ best intentions, we can expect significant turbulence ahead. The companies that need new drugs the most did not get them. Since 2005, Abbott, AstraZeneca and Lilly have ...
Source: PharmaGossip - January 20, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs

Drop TV Ads, Says John LaMattina, Former Pfizer President of R&D
It's been a long, long time since anyone has seriously suggested a "moratorium" or complete halt to direct-to-consmer (DTC) drug TV advertising in the U.S. But that's just what was suggested by John LaMattina, former Pfizer president of Research and Development. In a Forbes opinion piece titled "Pharma's Reputation Continues to Suffer -- What Can Be Done To Fix It" (find it here), LaMattina offered 4 "fixes," including "Drop TV Ads" as #4 on his list.The other 3 fixes LaMattina put on a par with dropping TV ads areTransparency of payments to healthcare professionals, Transparency of clinical trial data, and Stop ...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - January 19, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Tags: trust BadAd Bad Pharma DTC Advertising Source Type: blogs

Does the Flu Vaccine Work? What 62% "Effective" Really Means
JAMA has posted today a Viewpoint titled “Influenza Prevention Update: Examining Common Arguments Against Influenza Vaccination.”In this Viewpoint, the authors (from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine) provide perspective to some of the reasons why people refuse the flu vaccination, including:The vaccine does not workThe vaccine causes the fluI have an allergy to eggsI cannot get the vaccine because I am pregnant or have an underlying medical condition or because I live with an immunocompromised person.I never get the flu/I am healthy I was disappointed when Dr. LaPook on a recent CBS Evening News progra...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - January 18, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Tags: Flu Source Type: blogs

Critiquing The Medicare Part D Low-Income Drug Rebate Proposal: A Response To Richard Frank and Jack Hoadley
In a recent posting Richard Frank and Jack Hoadley argue in support of a proposal that would introduce Medicaid-style rebates into Medicare’s Part D drug program for the low-income subsidy population. The evidence argues against such a policy. At the outset, however, it is important to note that we agree on the basic goal: a Part D program that displays effective cost containment in a very tight federal budgetary environment. The good news is that the existing program is quite successful in this regard. Since 2007 per capita costs in Part D have grown at a compound annual rate of 1.8 percent, while costs in Part A and B...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - January 18, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Douglas Holtz-Eakin Tags: All Categories Competition Health Care Costs Medicaid Medicare Payment Pharma Policy Spending Source Type: blogs

Session Spotlight: Leverage Real-Time Data to Build Timely, Valuable and Targeted Content in Pharma
Push vs pull, dialog vs lectures, we all know the key to engagement is creating dialog with your customers. We KNOW this, but not everyone acts accordingly. The key to smart engagement is providing HCPs with the information they want (or need!) at a relevant time. But with so much information, how do you choose the most meaningful data? At ePharma, join us for a panel focused on leveraging real-time data to build timely, valuable and targeted content: Leverage Real-Time Data to Build Timely, Valuable and Targeted Content in Pharma Moderator: Patricia MacWilliams, Head of Healthcare, Google Panelists: Scott...
Source: ePharma Summit - January 18, 2013 Category: Medical Marketing and PR Tags: Data Management 2013 epharma summit Digital Marketing for Pharma Source Type: blogs

Pharma Sets Record: Number of "Pay-for-Delay" Deals Hits 40 in 2012 Says FTC
According a new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) staff report, in Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, the number of "potentially anticompetitive patent dispute settlements" (aka, "Pay for Delay" deals) between branded and generic drug companies increased significantly compared with FY 2011, jumping from 28 to 40 (find the report here).Here's a plot of the data showing the trend over the past 9 years:The study also found that in nearly half of these settlements, branded firms may have used the promise that they would not develop or market an authorized generic (AG) as a payment to stall generic drug firms from marketing a competing produc...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - January 18, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Tags: Pay for Delay Lipitor Pfizer FTC Androgel Source Type: blogs

Up And Down The Ladder… Job Changes
Hired someone new and exciting? Promoted a rising star? Finally solved that hard-to-fill spot? Share the news with us and we’ll share with it others. That’s right. Send us your announcements and we’ll find a home for them. Don’t be shy. Everyone wants to know who is coming and going, especially with all the layoffs. Despite the downsizing, there is movement. Here are some of the latest changes. Recognize anyone? And here is our regular feature. Send us a photo and we will spotlight a different person each week. This time around, we note that Bristol-Myers Squibb hired Mike Burgess as senior vp for discovery medicin...
Source: Pharmalot - January 18, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Aratana Therapeutics Avalere Health Bristol Myers Squibb Columbia Laboratories Combine Net Icon LaJolla Pharmaceutical Lundbeck MSI Consultancy National Pharmaceutical Council Pearl Therapeutics Supernus Pharmaceutica Source Type: blogs