Relevant News and Statistics

April 2009

“Pfizer Inc. said Tuesday it will form two main research units after completing the buyout of Wyeth, focusing on traditional pharmaceuticals and cutting-edge biotechnology drugs. Pfizer will also keep several key executives from Madison, New Jersey-based Wyeth as part of its increased focus on the field of biotechnology, which uses living cells to make treatments for a wide range of conditions, including cancer. "Creating two distinct, but complementary, research organizations, led by the top scientist from each company, will provide sharper focus, less bureaucracy and clearer accountability in drug discovery," Pfizer Chief Executive Jeff Kindler said in a statement.”

Therapeutics Daily

“Drug companies would no longer be able get detailed prescription information used to market products to doctors under a new bill. Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester, is sponsoring the measure, which would ban these companies from getting prescription records allowing them to target their marketing to specific doctors. "Most physicians do not realize that this data is being collected and that their prescribing habits are monitored and that this data is being used for targeting them for marketing," Liebling said.”

Pharmalive

“The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center next month will start enforcing a ban on the delivery of samples by drug company representatives to doctors' offices in its 20 hospitals. The April 1 ban, announced a year ago, does not prohibit distributing samples and vouchers to patients. It ends regular sales and delivery visits by pharmaceutical reps.

The policy is meant to eliminate perceived or actual conflicts of interest between UPMC providers and drug companies. UPMC banned gifts and meals to hospital personnel by health care companies more than a year ago. "There is a concern that personal relationships can influence decision-making," said Dr. Barbara E. Barnes, associate vice chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh.”

Therapeutics Daily

March 2009

“Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche said Thursday it has agreed to buy California-based Genentech for $46.8 billion in a takeover described as the largest in Swiss corporate history. The deal, approved and recommended by Genentech's board, offers $95 per share for the 44 percent of Genentech Inc. that Roche Holding AG doesn't already own.

The agreement ends a long corporate struggle between the Basel, Switzerland-based drug maker and its cancer drug partner headquartered in South San Francisco.”

Therapeutics Daily

“This week, Merck announced a $41 billion offer for Schering-Plough. Last month Pfizer agreed to purchase Wyeth for $68 billion. Roche is negotiating to buy the part of Genentech it does not already own. Rumors of other impending mega-deals swirl. I believe that this current wave of mergers reveals a disease at the heart of the pharmaceutical industry. The fact that so many companies are now merging reflects the failure of each company to discover and develop its own replacement pipeline. To maintain growth, a pharmaceutical company must either produce enough new products to replace those that have gone off-patent or acquire rights to distribute drugs created by others. This is clearly not happening on a large enough scale. A small number of patented drugs, each with annual sales of $1 to $5 billion, accounts for most of the profits of the large pharmaceutical companies, and these profits are vanishing as the patents expire. Meanwhile, the number of new drugs approved for sale annually has steadily decreased over the past 15 years.”

The Atlantic
January 2009

“Brace yourselves, Pfizer folks. Word is that another round of layoffs is on the way early next year. Industry analysts have been digging through the numbers, and they don't think the company has cut enough jobs. Meanwhile, talk around Pfizer's many water coolers is that the axe will fall--again--in late January.
Two years ago, Pfizer cut 20 percent of its sales and marketing staff; it has chopped 14,000 jobs, total, since January of 2007. And the company is in the middle of a $2 billion restructuring plan. Then, a few months ago, the company reorganized into three business units. Execs said at the time that there would be no layoffs.” fiercepharma.com

“Sanofi-Aventis is reducing its U.S. sales force by less than 10%, continuing a series of layoffs of sales representatives in the beleaguered pharmaceutical industry.
The Paris-based drug maker said an unspecified number of its approximately 6,500 U.S. sales representatives have been notified their positions were being eliminated, and the process is ongoing.
Spokesman Marc Greene told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday the number of layoffs amounted to the single-digits on a percentage basis, but he declined to be more specific.
Sanofi, which sells the Lovenox anti-clotting medication and Lantus diabetes drug, is in the process of realigning its U.S. sales force to better meet its customers' needs.”

- Market Watch - USA

LONDON-British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline will cut thousands of jobs when it announces full-year results this week, two newspapers reported Sunday.
The Sunday Telegraph said up to 6,000 posts would be eliminated around the world. The Observer said as many as 10,000 jobs could go - 10 percent of the company's global work force.

- Therapeuticsdaily.com

December 2008

1. Merck - 8,400 jobs
2. Schering-Plough - 5,500 jobs
3. Wyeth - 5,000 jobs
4. UCB Pharma - 2000 jobs
5. AstraZeneca - 1,400 jobs
6. Abbott - 1,000 jobs
- Fiercepharma

In addition, research on doctor preferences reassures the need to reinvent the sales model:
“Pharma sales reps should pay heed—it might not be as hard to see a physician as it seems. According to a new report by SDI, 68 percent of the more than 5,923 doctors interviewed said that they stopped to talk to every rep that called on them in the last four weeks, and 67 percent said that they were satisfied with the rep-based promotion.”

pharmexec.findpharma.com

November 2008

“U.S. doctors are writing more prescriptions for AstraZeneca Plc's cholesterol drug Crestor, following positive clinical trial results with the medicine released earlier this month.
Crestor's share of the U.S. statin drug market in terms of new prescriptions rose to 10.7 percent in the week ended Nov. 14, up from 10.1 percent a week earlier, according to figures compiled by IMS Health and cited by several brokerages.”
- Therapeutics Daily

“While the number of annual new drug approvals in the United States has declined during the past decade, the U.S. remains the preferred market for launching new products, according to a recently completed analysis conducted by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development.

The study found that new U.S. drug approvals dropped to 48 in 2005-07, from a peak of 110 in 1996-98. During 2005-07, the most recent period for which information is available, drugs first marketed in the U.S. accounted for 75% of all new drugs approved worldwide, an all time high, according to Tufts CSDD. This was a marked change from the 1987-89 period, when only 20% of new drugs were first marketed in the U.S.”

- drugs.com “Nearly half of all U.S. primary care physicians want to stop practicing or reduce their patient loads, a survey of primary care physicians indicates.
The survey of 11,950 primary care physicians by the Physicians' Foundation found 78 percent of primary care physicians say they believe there is an existing shortage of primary care doctors in the United States.”
– upi.com

October 2008

Pharma Force Conference, where VPs and Directors of Sales and Marketing meet in Philadelphia for 3 days of in-depth discussions surrounding restructuring and renovating the sales model.

TNS Healthcare 2008 sales experience research

September 2008

“Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson and other drugmakers misled consumers about medicines to treat attention deficit disorder in various sales pitches, U.S. regulators said in letters released on Friday. The Food and Drug Administration sent letters to Lilly, J&J, Novartis, Shire and Covidien unit Mallinckrodt with complaints about certain promotions. Shire drew objections for a webpage and video testimonial posted on YouTube featuring television celebrity designer Ty Pennington. Both overstated the efficacy of Adderall XR, and the video left out important risk information, the FDA said.”

Therapeutics Daily

“Drug maker Cephalon has completed a previously announced $425 million civil settlement with federal authorities over off-label drug marketing. Federal authorities in Philadelphia say Cephalon Inc. marketed three drugs for uses other than what they were federally approved for. Cephalon disclosed the tentative settlement last November.”

Therapeutics Daily

“The makers of two anti-flu drugs, attempting to bolster sales now that demand has subsided, have started programs to encourage businesses to stockpile their medicines, Tamiflu and Relenza.
The Roche Group of Switzerland, Tamiflu's maker, and the U.K.'s GlaxoSmithKline PLC, the maker of Relenza, are offering U.S. employers the option of paying a $6 annual fee, per treatment course, to reserve their own stockpile.”

Therapeutics Daily

“According to a report released today by AARP, drug manufacturers have substantially raised prices on the 144 specialty drugs most commonly used by people in Medicare Part D.
The latest AARP Rx Watchdog Report, from AARP’s Public Policy Institute, is the first to look at what drug makers charge for specialty drugs, which include prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic conditions and require special administration, handling and care management. Specialty drugs are currently among the most expensive drugs on the market, with prices that can range from $5,000 to more than $300,000 per year.”

PharmaLive

“Physician interest in live video detail from sales reps is growing, according to the ePharma Physician(R) v8.0 physician market study by pharmaceutical and healthcare market research company Manhattan Research. Currently, about 45,000 U.S. physicians meet via online video with their sales reps, and over 300,000 more show interest in interacting with sales or other company representatives online.”

PharmaLive

“Manhattan Research, a leading provider of access to physician and consumer opinions on the global healthcare market, reveals today the top pharmaceutical web sites visited by European consumers. Bayer moves into the top spot from last year’s ranking at #2. Roche and Pfizer take this year’s second and third spots respectively.”

PharmaLive

“Lipitor has been the top-selling drug in the world and has accounted for over $12 billion in annual sales. It has been prescribed to both men and women to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients with common risk factors for heart disease. However, a new study appearing in the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies was unable to find high quality clinical evidence documenting reduced heart attack risk for women in a primary prevention context. Furthermore, advertising omits label information relevant to women.”

PharmaLive

“Seniors who switch between low-cost generic drugs and the original products based on who's footing the bill are likely driving up the cost of the government's Medicare drug plan, according to a new study.
Figures released Thursday show seniors are more likely to ask their pharmacist for generic medications when they are paying, but choose the more expensive originals when the government is covering the costs.”

Therapeutics Daily

“national debate over the influence of industry money on medical research and practice, two pharmaceutical giants say they will begin publicly reporting payments they make to outside doctors.
John C. Lechleiter, chief executive of Eli Lilly & Company, announced on Wednesday that starting next year it intended to post in an online database all its payments to doctors for speaking and consulting services. The postings will ''likely include'' the names of the doctors, or will provide some other identifying information about them, along with the reason for the payments, the company said.”

Therapeutics Daily

“Schering-Plough Corp. said Friday it will cut 1,000 sales jobs as part of broader cuts in a move to reduce costs and reposition itself in an ever-changing industry.
The Kenilworth, N.J.-based pharmaceutical company said it will cut 20 percent of its U.S. sales force, leaving 4,000 positions. The layoffs are part of a 10 percent reduction in staff announced in April. In all, the company hopes cost cuts and layoffs since the buyout of biotechnology company Organon Biosciences in November will save it $1.5 billion annually by 2012. The buyout of Organon, for $14.4 billion, fits into the larger pharmaceutical industry trend toward a shift to biotechnology-based products. Many of the largest players in the sector have either been buying biotech companies or creating their own biotech units to help fill depleted pipelines and position themselves for future blockbuster products.”

Real clear markets

“Pfizer's pharma chief gave an update on the drugmaker's restructuring, and the news is that the company has slashed $1.2 billion off 2006 cost levels since the reorg was announced. And, Ian Read told analysts and investors, Pfizer expects to have cut a total of $2 billion by year's end. Most of the remaining reductions--all $800 million of them--will come in the fourth quarter. Is that a hint of more job cuts?”

Fierce Pharma

“Direct-to-consumer advertising may not be giving big pharma such a big bang for their buck after all. Despite the billions spent on bringing drug marketing campaigns straight into patients' living rooms, such strategies have a modest effect at best — and in some cases, no effect at all.

"People tend to think that if direct-to-consumer advertising wasn't effective, pharma wouldn't be doing it," says Harvard Medical School professor Stephen Soumerai, principal investigator on the study. "But as it turns out, decisions to market directly to consumers is based on scant data."”

PharmaLive

“Free drug samples provided to physicians by pharmaceutical companies could actually be costing uninsured patients more in the long run, according to a study done by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues.

The retrospective study looked at the prescribing habits of more than 70 physicians in a university-affiliated internal medicine practice in the months immediately before and after the closing of their drug sample closet. The results indicate that the availability of free samples from pharmaceutical companies greatly impacts whether an uninsured patient is given a prescription for a generic or a brand-name drug. The complete findings can be found in the September issue of Southern Medical Journal.”

PharmaLive

“Pharmaceutical brand Pfizer has rolled out a pan-European digital campaign encouraging people to stop smoking.

The Serious Quitters' Arcade marks the brand's first venture into viral marketing. The games site is being pushed through Twitter activity, video seeding and a Facebook app based on arcade game Pac-Man.”

TherapeuticsDaily

“It appears that segments of the medical community are trying to take their job back – deciding what is best for their patients.

Narconon Drug Rehab in Georgia states that the medical profession may be highly influenced by the drug salesman visiting them, but this attitude may be changing.”

www.transworldnews.com

“Some major universities have begun to examine their policies on funds that they receive from pharmaceutical companies amid criticism fromSenate Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the Wall Street Journal reports. The committee has contacted more than 20 universities -- such as Harvard, Stanford, Texas and Brown -- about potential undisclosed financial ties between university researchers and pharmaceutical companies that could result in conflicts of interest.”

www.medicalnewstoday.com

“Expensive advertising of prescription drugs directly to consumers may do little to encourage sales, U.S. and Canadian researchers reported on Monday.

They said that even though companies spent an estimated $3 billion in 2005 on such ads in the United States, they did not appear to result in more prescriptions.

"People tend to think that if direct-to-consumer advertising wasn't effective, pharma wouldn't be doing it," Harvard Medical School's Stephen Soumerai said in a statement. "But as it turns out, decisions to market directly to consumers are based on scant data."

Source – Reuters via Pharmaceutical Rep Relevant article on PharmaLive

“Television ads for the world's top-selling drug, cholesterol fighter Lipitor, are back, six months after Pfizer Inc. pulled them amid charges its use of a celebrity doctor endorser who has never practiced medicine misled the public. This time, Pfizer is leaving out the celebrity.”

Source - Therapeutics Daily

“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that the manufacturers of Humira, Cimzia, Enbrel, and Remicade must strengthen the existing warnings, in the Warnings and Precaution sections of the drugs' prescribing information and Medication Guides, on the risk of developing opportunistic fungal infections. Some patients with invasive fungal infections have died.”

PharmaLive

“Astellas Pharma Technologies Inc. is offering early retirement and a "voluntary termination plan" to its Norman work force of 200 as part of a restructuring in advance of the expiration of a key drug patent.”

PharmaLive

“The lobbying of doctors is poorly regulated and is also seen as a major reason behind skyrocketing prescription-drug costs in B.C., where drug spending by the province’s PharmaCare drug-subsidy program more than doubled between 1996 and 2005. According to the office of the B.C. auditor general in 2006, costs ballooned from $372 million to $801 million during that period. (The B.C. Ministry of Health predicts that figure to further rise for 2008–2009, to $1.016 billion.)”

Georgia Straight - Vancouver,British Columbia,Canada

“At least 500 Takeda Pharmaceutical employees who market Provigil in the US will be impacted by the announcement from Cephalon that it will end its co-promotion agreement with Takeda, Bloomberg reported.

The partnership on the sleep-disorder agent Provigil is slated to end November 1. Takeda would not confirm the contents of the Bloomberg report, however, a Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing reports that 500 Takeda employees could be targeted, according to a Takeda spokesperson.”

.mmm-online

PharmaLive

August 2008

“Belgium's UCB said today it would shed some 2,000 staff worldwide - nearly a fifth of its work force - as revenues are expected to fall because of the expiration of exclusive patents for older medicines. The company said it plans to refocus on central nervous system and immunology drugs and will free up some $443 million with a cost-cutting program that it hopes will simplify operations and advance R&D for new drugs.”

Source - Therapeutics Daily

“A federal appeals court reinstated Santa Clara County's lawsuit Wednesday against pharmaceutical companies for allegedly overcharging county hospitals for prescription drugs for Medi-Cal patients, in violation of a federal law requiring discounts.”

Source - Therapeutics Daily

“According to the results of the national Physician Engagement study by PeopleMetrics Rx, "emotional components such as friendship with the reps are the strongest indicators of fully engaged physicians." In this context, the phrase "fully engaged" is one that means "very likely to prescribe." The study included pharma companies AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Janssen, Eli Lilly and Pfizer and included 500 psychiatrists and primary care physicians who regularly prescribe atypical antipsychotic medications.”

FiercePharma

“A small but growing percentage of British Columbians who take statins to lower their cholesterol have twigged to the fact that they can save on their medication bills by pill splitting, a new study suggests. While the researchers only looked at records for statin prescriptions filled in British Columbia, they suggest substantial savings could be made by individuals who pay for their own drugs, by private or government-run drug plans or a combination of the two if the technique were more widely used.”

Canadian Press via Therapeutics Daily

“Abbott and AstraZeneca announced today that they have entered into an agreement for Abbott to promote AstraZeneca's CRESTOR(R) (rosuvastatin calcium), a medication used along with diet to reduce high cholesterol.

Under the terms of the agreement, Abbott will obtain the non-exclusive right to promote CRESTOR alongside AstraZeneca in the United States, excluding Puerto Rico. Specific financial terms were not disclosed.”

PharmaLive

“Gilead Sciences, Inc. and Merck & Co., Inc. today announced that the companies have entered into an agreement through which Gilead will assume the lead role for the distribution of Atripla(R) (efavirenz 600 mg/ emtricitabine 200 mg/ tenofovir disoproxil fumarate 300 mg) in 12 countries located primarily in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region.”

PharmaLive

“GlaxoSmithKline today announced that it will begin shipment of FLULAVAL(R) [Influenza Virus Vaccine] and FLUARIX(R) [Influenza Virus Vaccine] to U.S. customers for the 2008-2009 influenza season. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) released the first lots of FLULAVAL and FLUARIX, allowing distribution to begin. GSK plans to supply the U.S. market with approximately 35 million doses of the two products combined -- an increase from last year, when GSK contributed approximately 33 million doses.”

PharmaLive

“Meda (STO:MEDAA) and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International have agreed to form joint ventures in Australia, Canada and Mexico to develop, market and commercialize certain current and future products. The joint ventures will be majority owned by Meda and Valeant will own a minority interest. The joint ventures will pursue the regulatory filings and manage the commercialization of the products and Valeant will participate in a profit share. The joint ventures will initially include products such as Sublinox (treatment of insomnia) and flupertine (pain treatment), with the option to include additional products in the future.”

PharmaLive

“Quinnova Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today the commercial launch of Cleanse and Treat. Cleanse and Treat is the first prescription acne medication with a two-sided pad system (One + One Technology). One side of the pad contains a leave-on cleanser (salicylic acid 2%) and the other side of the pad contains a leave-on treatment (benzoyl peroxide 5%). This drug product is designed for ease of use and portability in order to help patients to be more compliant with their acne treatment.”

PharmaLive

“Obagi Medical Products, Inc. (Nasdaq:OMPI), a leader in topical aesthetic and therapeutic skin health systems, announced today the launch of SoluCLENZ Rx Gel(TM), a solubilized benzoyl peroxide (BPO) gel for the treatment of acne. SoluCLENZ Rx Gel will be available only by prescription starting in mid-August and will be promoted by Obagi Medical's specialty dermatology sales force.”

PharmaLive

“Artes Medical (NASDAQ:ARTE) today announced the immediate availability of Elevess(TM), a new, FDA-approved hyaluronic acid (HA) based dermal filler for the treatment of facial wrinkles, such as nasolabial folds. As the first FDA-approved HA filler formulated with an anesthetic for patient comfort, Elevess is a safe and effective alternative to more expensive fillers.”

PharmaLive

“GTC Biotherapeutics, Inc. ("GTC", Nasdaq: GTCB) announced the closing of its previously announced collaboration agreement with OVATION Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("OVATION") to develop and market ATryn(R) in the United States. ATryn(R) is GTC's recombinant form of human antithrombin, a plasma protein with anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory properties. The agreement includes $257 million in potential payments to GTC for meeting clinical, regulatory, and sales milestones, including a $3 million payment from OVATION to GTC at the closing, $2 million in payments anticipated for regulatory milestones in 2008, and up to an additional $4 million in milestone payments through a successful approval of ATryn(R) in 2009 for the hereditary antithrombin deficiency, or HD, indication.”

PharmaLive

“Diakron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today the signing of an exclusive license agreement for a novel investigational oral anticoagulant drug candidate discovered and developed through Phase I clinical trials by Merck & Co. Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, Diakron has the exclusive rights to develop, and, if approved, market and distribute the compound worldwide.”

PharmaLive

“Two physicians have pleaded guilty to conspiracy for their participation in an Internet pharmacy business that generated more than $126 million in gross revenues from the illegal sale of prescription pharmaceuticals, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Karen P. Hewitt for the Southern District of California announced today. “

Aug, 2008, www.marketwatch.com

“Over the 10-year period, psychotherapy was provided in 5,597 (34 percent) of 14,108 visits lasting longer than 30 minutes. The percentage of visits involving psychotherapy declined from 44.4 percent in 1996-1997 to 28.9 percent in 2004-2005. “This decline coincided with changes in reimbursement, increases in managed care and growth in the prescription of medications,” the authors write. The number of psychiatrists who provided psychotherapy to all of their patients also declined over the same time period, from 19.1 percent to 10.8 percent. “Psychiatrists who provided psychotherapy to all of their patients relied more extensively on self-pay patients, had fewer managed-care visits and prescribed medications in fewer of their visits compared with psychiatrists who provided psychotherapy less often,” the authors write.”

Aug, 2008 pharmalive

“The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), a trade organization for drug makers and research companies, announced a massive overhaul of its ethics code governing companies' interactions with health care professionals, which will become effective in January 2009. Lawyers say the new code significantly alters PhRMA's 2002 Code. Attorneys' key roles will involve crafting policies and training their clients' employees. They also anticipate that the policies will help companies avoid or lessen enforcement actions from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General (OIG). “

Aug, 2008 www.law.com

July 2008

“Roche Holdings AG said has proposed to acquire the outstanding publicly held interest in Genentech Inc. at $89.00 per share in cash, or a total payment of approximately $43.7 billion to equity holders of Genentech other than Roche. Roche acquired a majority in Genentech in 1990 and currently owns 55.9 percent of all outstanding shares.

Roche expects the combination to generate annual pretax cost synergies of approximately $750 million to $850 million, it said.

July, 2008 Forbes.com

“The downsizing of the sales force started with Wyeth, which announced a lay off of 1,200 sales personnel in March, 2008. Later, in April, Johnson & Johnson announced 400 cuts in sales and marketing and Merck followed suit in June by cutting down 1,200 sales representatives.
Recently, Sanofi said that it will lay off 700 to 800 sales representatives, about one-third of the company's domestic sales force. And now Boehringer Ingelheim also plans to cut around 200 neuro sales representatives after the disappointing results from the blood thinner drug study.”

July, 2008 www.tradingmarkets.com

“Abbott Laboratories today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2008 …Worldwide sales increased 14.8 percent to $7.3 billion, including a favorable 5.9 percent effect of exchange rates.”

July, 2008 PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX www.marketwatch.com

“Boehringer Ingelheim plans to halve its neurology sales force, Pharmalot reports. Some 200 reps will be affected…Now, 200 cuts may not seem like a lot compared with the 1,200 slashed out of the Wyeth sales ranks or 1,200 from Merck's sales force or the 700-800 sales layoffs at Sanofi-Aventis. But looking at pharma sales in the aggregate, it's tough to miss the fact that it's seeing a major restructuring. Not just a winnowing among the staff, though that's a big part of it. But spending on sales looks to be on the decline as well.”

July, 2008 www.fiercepharma.com

“Ranbaxy can't be happy. The Indian company's stock is way down for the second day in a row, on news that the U.S. investigation into its operations includes allegations that it made weak or adulterated HIV drugs given to thousands of AIDS patients in Africa. The Indian company has U.S. government contracts to supply low-cost antiretrovirals for AIDS relief, but Justice Department and FDA investigators allege that some of those drugs were poorly made, unstable, or too weak to be effective.”

July, 2008 www.fiercepharma.com

“The long reign of Pfizer Inc.’s Lipitor and its brethren at the top of the revenue charts may be approaching its close. Diabetes medications have vaulted past lipid-lowering drugs as the leading driver of prescription drug spending growth, according to analysis by the pharmacy benefit management company Medco Health Solutions Inc.”

July, 2008 MedAd News

“Pharmaceutical marketers are warming up to the idea of social networking and Web 2.0 opportunities in the healthcare space, but remain cautious. Monitoring the dialogue within social networks is becoming much more common among pharmaceutical marketers to more efficiently understand how to speak to healthcare professionals, patients, and caregivers.”

July, 2008 MedAd News

“The world’s best-selling prescription brand has reached its zenith. Lipitor global sales declined in 2007 for the first year since the cholesterol medicine entered the U.S. arena in first-quarter 1997. Although overall sales in international regions for the Pfizer Inc. (pfizer.com) drug grew during 2007, U.S. sales declined primarily due to the impact of an intensely competitive statin market.”

July, 2008 MedAd News

“After flirting with disaster in 2006, Plavix rebounded in 2007 to secure the position of the No. 2 selling medicine in the world with a 28% increase in revenue. Jointly developed and marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Sanofi-Aventis, the cardiovascular and blood-disorder drug generated combined revenue of $8.08 billion in 2007.”

July, 2008 MedAd News

“Genentech reported higher-than-expected quarterly sales on Monday of its most important product, the cancer drug Avastin, and raised its earnings outlook for the year.

The company's profit rose 4.7 percent in the second quarter, but fell short of Wall Street expectations because of higher costs. Shares of Genentech, fell 3 percent to close at $75.39, and rose to $76.21 in after-hours trading. Sales of Avastin rose 15 percent. “

July, 2008 New York Times

“Earlier this month, as part of a bill to protect Medicare payments to doctors, the Senate overrode President Bush’s veto to authorize $100 million to finance a three-year Medicare pilot to further test the concept of spending more on primary care. “

July, 2008 NYTimes.com via PharmaRep Newsletter

GSK's new chief executive Andrew Witty used his maiden results to unveil a major strategy overhaul aimed at diversifying the group's operations as it seeks higher growth and to reduce risk.”

July 2008, therapeuticsdaily.com

The survey found that 35 percent of the patients who called AstraZeneca's information center regarding prescription savings programs said they were referred by healthcare professionals. Another 14 percent learned of the program from brochures, which also are available in doctors' offices, hospitals, clinics and pharmacies. “

July 2008 - PRNewswire-FirstCall (PharmaLive)

“When federal regulators catch a drug company peddling prescription medications for an unapproved use, it takes them an average of seven months to issue a warning, according to a draft report by congressional investigators. It typically takes four more months for the company to fix the problem. During that time, a lot of prescriptions can be written.”

July, 2008 therapeuticsdaily.com Associated Press WorldStream

“Teva has announced record quarterly net sales of approximately $2.8 billion (£1.4 billion). Net income for the Israeli pharmaceutical firm was $539 million, which represents a five per cent increase on the same period last year. It said pharmaceutical sales in North America were about $1.5 billion, with the company reporting strong sales of Copaxone in the region. President and chief executive officer Shlomo Yanai commented: "Our strong financial results were driven by our product launches in the US, robust sales in the fast-growing international markets and Copaxone's continued leadership of the global MS market."

July 2008 www.hayspharma.com

“Asking patients to monitor their own medications can be fatal, as exemplified by the recent death of actor Heath Ledger. In the first large-scale study of home medication consumption, sociologists at the University of California, San Diego have found a 3,196 percent increase in fatal domestic medication errors involving alcohol and/or street drugs.”

July 2008, pharmaLive

“Ten years ago, in 1998, the Harris Poll began measuring the number of people going online for health care information. At that time we reported that 54 million people had done so at least once. Since then the number of those people, whom we labeled "cyberchondriacs," have increased almost every year, reaching 110 million in 2002, and 160 million in 2007.”

July 2008, pharmaLive

“A growing number of American children are taking drugs for a wide range of chronic conditions related to childhood obesity, according to prescription data from three large organizations. The numbers, from pharmacy plans Medco Health Solutions, Express Scripts and the marketing data collection company Verispan, indicate that hundreds of thousands of children are taking medication to treat Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and acid reflux - all problems linked to obesity that were practically unheard-of in children two decades ago.”

July 2008, Therapeutics Daily

“A $9 billion bond issue in May by U.K. pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline PLC, for example, was the largest U.S.-dollar investment-grade corporate issue since 2002, according to Citigroup.”

July, 2008; Wall Street Journal – USA

“This aggressive new recommendation for warding off heart disease in some children has stirred a furious debate among pediatricians since the American Academy of Pediatrics issued it on Monday.

While some doctors applauded the idea, others were incredulous. In particular, these doctors called attention to a lack of evidence that the use of the cholesterol-lowering drugs, called statins, in children would prevent heart attacks later in life. “

July, 2008 New York Times

“Pfizer announced today that new statin users who took Lipitor(R) (atorvastatin calcium) were significantly more likely to stay on their medication compared to those who took simvastatin, according to an observational study of more than 186,000 patients in one of the largest U.S. managed care claims databases. The results were published in the July issue of Current Medical Research and Opinion.”

July, 2008 PharmaLive.com News Archive

“Unitaid, the international agency created in 2006 to buy medicine to counter AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, has taken the first step toward establishing a mechanism to deal with a vexing problem of drugs so expensive they are out of reach for most poor people. The agency is endorsing the creation of a panel of experts to explore the feasibility of a ''patent pool.'' In theory, the pool would hold licenses on patented medicines, which it could use to have them made at lower costs for poor countries.”

July, 2008 New York Times

“GlaxoSmithKline on Monday announced a deal to pay as much as $3 billion to Switzerland's Actelion to license a sleep-disorder drug in yet another example of a major drug firm turning to a smaller rival to build out pipelines.Terms call for the U.K. drug giant to pay Actelion ALIOF001053247 150 million Swiss francs ($147 million) up front, with additional payments of as much as 415 million francs should the drug, called almorexant, be successfully developed to treat insomnia.”

July, 2008 MarketWatch

July, 2008 MedAd News

“Genentech reported higher-than-expected quarterly sales on Monday of its most important product, the cancer drug Avastin, and raised its earnings outlook for the year. The company's profit rose 4.7 percent in the second quarter, but fell short of Wall Street expectations because of higher costs. Shares of Genentech, fell 3 percent to close at $75.39, and rose to $76.21 in after-hours trading. Sales of Avastin rose 15 percent. “

July, 2008 New York Times

“Nationally, Medicare and commercial insurers pay an average of only about $60 a visit to the office of a primary-care doctor and rarely if ever pay for telephone or e-mail consultations. Many health policy experts say the payments are not enough to let the doctors spend more than a few minutes with each patient.” “Earlier this month, as part of a bill to protect Medicare payments to doctors, the Senate overrode President Bush’s veto to authorize $100 million to finance a three-year Medicare pilot to further test the concept of spending more on primary care. “

July, 2008 NYTimes.com via PharmaRep Newsletter

“British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline said on Wednesday that net profits slipped during the second quarter owing to competition from generic drugmakers and poor sales of diabetes drug Avandia. GSK's new chief executive Andrew Witty used his maiden results to unveil a major strategy overhaul aimed at diversifying the group's operations as it seeks higher growth and to reduce risk.”

July 2008, therapeuticsdaily.com

“More than a third of the people who contacted AstraZeneca to inquire about the company's prescription savings programs learned of the programs from their doctors or pharmacists, according to a year-long survey of more than 12,000 patients. The survey found that 35 percent of the patients who called AstraZeneca's information center regarding prescription savings programs said they were referred by healthcare professionals. Another 14 percent learned of the program from brochures, which also are available in doctors' offices, hospitals, clinics and pharmacies. “

July 2008 - PRNewswire-FirstCall (PharmaLive)

July, 2008 therapeuticsdaily.com Associated Press WorldStream

“Teva has announced record quarterly net sales of approximately $2.8 billion (£1.4 billion).

Net income for the Israeli pharmaceutical firm was $539 million, which represents a five per cent increase on the same period last year.

It said pharmaceutical sales in North America were about $1.5 billion, with the company reporting strong sales of Copaxone in the region.

President and chief executive officer Shlomo Yanai commented: "Our strong financial results were driven by our product launches in the US, robust sales in the fast-growing international markets and Copaxone's continued leadership of the global MS market."

July 2008 www.hayspharma.com

July 2008, pharmaLive

July 2008, Therapeutics Daily

“Sales reps aren't influencing physician prescribing habits as much as some might think, but doctors have no problem passing along information to alleviate patients' financial burdens. That's according to unrelated surveys, conducted by PhRMA and AstraZenca, respectively.”

“The biggest factors in how doctors prescribe drugs turned out to be clinical knowledge and experience (93 percent) and the patient's unique situation (88 percent). That doesn't mean, however, that pharma reps aren't a positive impact on physicians. Forty-six percent of doctors surveyed said that reps are always useful in providing information about assistance programs for prescription coverage.”

July, 2008 PharmaExec

June 2008

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
“Nearly four years after Merck & Co. yanked the painkiller Vioxx off the market, beleaguered pharmaceutical-industry executives say they are facing a tough new regulatory climate that is altering the landscape of drug development. Over the past 16 months, Schering-Plough Corp. Chief Executive Fred Hassan and his top scientists have pulled the plug on two drug-development projects -- one for obesity and the other for cholesterol -- that had the potential to produce big sellers. And they're considering scrapping a third.”

June, 2008 The Wall Street Journal

“The U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality said that the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins rose by 156 percent between 2000 and 2005, with spending jumping from $7.7 billion to $19.7 billion. Statins include atorvastatin, made by Pfizer Inc. under the brand name Lipitor; pravastatin or Pravachol, made by Bristol Myers Squibb; fluvastatin, made by Novartis AG under the brand name Lescol, and several others.”

June, 2008 Comtex Business

“LONDON — GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the world's second-largest drugmaker, said Wednesday it is cutting 350 jobs, or around 2% of its research staff, as part of an ongoing restructuring plan aimed at boosting productivity.

"We continue to reshape our R&D operations to take advantage of new scientific opportunities and improve GSK's productivity," Glaxo said. "Regrettably some job reductions are necessary and we will do everything we can to support those employees who are affected."

June, 2008 www.usatoday.com

“On Monday, a handful of Big Pharma companies told Congress that they would put a six-month moratorium on drug ads for recently approved medication. Pfizer, Merck, Schering-Plough, and Johnson & Johnson also agreed to closely follow the American Medical Association's guidelines when using actors playing physicians in advertisements.”

June, 2008 PharmExec Direct Marketing Edition

“Use of cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins rose by 156 percent between 2000 and 2005, with spending jumping from $7.7 billion to $19.7 billion, the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reported on Wednesday.

"The number of people purchasing statins nearly doubled when comparing 2000 and 2005, rising from 15.8 million people to 29.7 million people," the AHRQ report reads.”

June, 2008 www.reuters.com

“U.S. drug regulators are close to allowing doctors to electronically prescribe potentially abusive medications like painkillers, rather than requiring written orders, a Drug Enforcement Administration spokeswoman said on Thursday.

A new rule allowing the change is expected to be made public soon, said administration spokeswoman Rogene Waite.”

June, 2008 uk.reuters.com

“Drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co could be an acquisition target as the industry gets closer to losing exclusivity on several leading drugs, said a Sanford C. Bernstein analyst, who upgraded the stock to "outperform" from "market-perform."

"BMY could ultimately be a take-out candidate, based on our belief that there may be at least some merger and acquisition activity in the pharmaceutical sector as the patent "cliff" of 2011/2012 draws closer," analyst Tim Anderson said.”

June, 2008 Reuters Health

“In 2006, Pfizer's Lipitor (atorvastatin) generated global revenues of $13.6bn, making it the best selling drug in pharmaceutical history. The blockbuster medicine has single-handedly driven the overall revenue margins of the cardiovascular segment, as this area continues to dominate the pharmaceutical market. Despite the maturing status of Lipitor, the drug has repeatedly maintained steady growth over the past 5 years, crowding out the yearly revenues of other lipid-regulating blockbuster drugs: Merck& Co's Zocor and Zetia, Astrazeneca's Crestor, Abbott's Tricor and Bristol Myers Squibb's Pravacol.”

June, 2008 www.reuters.com

“NEW YORK, June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Among US primary care physicians, Novartis earns the highest sales rep relationship scores, followed by Pfizer, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi-Aventis, according to new research from TNS Healthcare. Novartis also takes the top spot in Europe, demonstrating a consistent ability to build strong physician relationships. Though Pfizer also shows strong overall rep relationship scores, it has greater variability in Europe, while Merck's European performance lags behind its US results.”

SOURCE NEW YORK, June 17 NY-TNS-Healthcare-SVY

“The number of annual new cases of oncology around the world is estimated to go from 10 million cases in 2000 to 15 million cases in 2015 (or a growth of 50 percent in 15 years), according to the pharmaceutical publication SCRIP in its May 28 and 30, 2008 edition. This makes cancer the leading global cause of death for people under 85 years of age. Another way to look at the growing impact of cancer (at least in the U.S.) is that the cost of cancer in the U.S. was almost $210 billion in 2005 (according to the National Institutes of Health) with direct medical costs (inpatient and outpatient care and drugs and devices) costing about $74 billion or 35 percent of the total, according to the SCRIP article.”

June, 2008 www.midwestbusiness.com/news

“Dispirited by their limping pipelines and increasingly rigorous regulators, drug companies across the board have been looking for new uses for their already-approved drugs. Think Pfizer's Lyrica, for instance; it's approved for three different nervous system complaints, and the company plans to seek the OK for epilepsy treatment.”

June, 2008 www.fiercepharma.com

“The use of antipsychotic drugs to tamp down the agitation, combative behavior and outbursts of dementia patients has soared, especially in the elderly. Sales of newer antipsychotics like Risperdal, Seroquel and Zyprexa totaled $13.1 billion in 2007, up from $4 billion in 2000, according to IMS Health, a health care information company.”

June 2008, NYTimes.com via PharmaRep Newsletter

“Roche’s plan to move its U.S. headquarters from Nutley to San Francisco is a wake up call that New Jersey may no longer be the best home for pharmaceutical companies as they increasingly move into the lucrative field of biologics, warn analysts and others.”

June, 2008 www.njbiz.com

June, 2008 www.fiercepharma.com

"PhRMA led the drug industry trade groups in lobbying with close to $23 million spent in 2007, a 26 percent rise from 2006. Among the drug companies, Amgen Inc. took the top spot with $16.2 million, followed by Pfizer, the world's largest pharmaceutical company, at $13.8 million. Other big drug company spenders included Roche Holding AG ($9 million), Sanofi-aventis ($8.4 million), GlaxoSmithKline ($8.2 million), and Johnson & Johnson Inc. ($7.7 million)."

Source: pharmalive.com/news WASHINGTON, D.C., June 24, 2008

NEW YORK, June 17 NY-TNS-Healthcare-SVY
“NEW YORK, June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Among US primary care physicians, Novartis earns the highest sales rep relationship scores, followed by Pfizer, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi-Aventis, according to new research from TNS Healthcare. Novartis also takes the top spot in Europe, demonstrating a consistent ability to build strong physician relationships. Though Pfizer also shows strong overall rep relationship scores, it has greater variability in Europe, while Merck's European performance lags behind its US results.”

SOURCE TNS Healthcare

June 2008, NYTimes.com via PharmaRep Newsletter

June, 2008 www.njbiz.com

May 2008

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) has given its backing to the Sunshine Act, a new bill that calls for the creation of a system for registering payments made to physicians by pharmaceutical companies.

“We need to go the extra mile to allow others to see what we do so that the public can place greater trust in us and in our medicines and vaccines,” said PhRMA president and chairman, and chief executive officer (CEO) of Merck & Co. “This bill will help build a stronger foundation of trust.”

Source: May 23, 2008 PM Group

“While the old model put a premium on the amount of time a rep was able to spend with a physician, the reality today is that companies -- and reps -- may derive equal value from encouraging certain physicians to visit a website for additional information, rather than trying to rush through that information during a 90-second in-person detail. As a result, companies are beginning to employ surround sound CRM strategies that integrate Web-based content and customer service with the other channels of communication, like the rep, into an integrated suite of online content and services. “

"Physicians are not saying that they want to do away with the sales force entirely," says Meredith Abreu Ressi, VP of research at Manhattan Research. "Most physicians still want to be able to talk to a rep when they have a question, or when there's a new product launch - but if it's a routine question or transaction, they'd prefer to conduct those activities online, when it's convenient for them. This is really about providing physicians with a variety of channels to access information so they can choose the method that is most convenient and useful to them."

Source: May 27, 2008 PM Grou

March 2008

“Drugs with U.S. sales totaling $17 billion lost exclusivity in 2007, and generics continued to replace brands in major therapeutic areas. Generics now represent 67.3 percent of total U.S. prescriptions.”

Source: March 13, 2008 Drug Industry Daily Washington Business Information, Inc.

January 2008

Market research firm SK&A contacted 180,000 doctors to find out their sales rep access policy. Here are some of the highlights: 19 percent of physicians refuse to see sales representatives at any time.

22.7 percent of doctors require the reps to set an appointment. Nearly 5 percent of physicians will visit with reps only on specific days of the week.

3.2 percent have restricted their access to specific times of the day, with lunchtime being the most popular.

73 percent of physicians will meet with reps at any time of day or any day of the week.

Source: January 22, 2008, drugs.com






	Interested In Sponsoring?
	Send me email updates






	Interested In Sponsoring?
	Send me email updates