Group items tagged

Anne O’Riordan, Global Industry Managing Director of Accenture’s Life Sciences group, believes that this offers an engine for return to growth.Moody’s Credit Outlook agree and in response they have upgraded their outlook for the Pharmaceutical Sector from Negative to Stable, pointing out that “the multiyear wave of drug patent expirations that have squeezed profits should subside next year”.

Global pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline has been hugely successful at supporting a culture of innovation with smaller entrepreneurial units as well as developing strengths in the consumer health markets in the Middle East and Asia.

Bristol-Meyers Squibb has also developed a very specific strategy and targeted unmet clinical needs, such as biological dugs and oncology, as well as executed some creative deals with big pharma companies and implemented fundamental internal organisational changes.

1. Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic has long been an online resource for medical information, with a website that offers advice and expertise from more than 3,300 medical professionals for free, so it’s not at all surprising that the medical group has been successful in social media

Doctors were able to share and connect with readers and patients through a first-hand account of relief efforts performed after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Massachusetts General Hospital recognizes this, and did something amazing when researchers from the Emergency Department worked together to create an iPhone app designed to help users find the closest emergency room to their area anywhere in the U.S. The app was promoted using hospital social media outlets, creating a YouTube video that bloggers could embed in their stories, also providing for opportunities to tweet the video and share it on Facebook. With the help of social media, the hospital’s app was able to stand out in the sea of apps available for the iPhone.

healthcare practitioners (HCPs)

1. Managed care-driven2. Patient-driven3. Technology-driven

The following questions are being tested in industry research to better characterize the new influences and to set up more insightful metrics of brand performance: How does the influence affect the strength of the relationship between the prescriber, company, and brand?  Can relationships with HCPs be strengthened by indirect influences, such as social media?  Regular assessment of relationship strength and corresponding value delivered is critical for brands operating under new commercial models. How does the influence support or contradict the brand's value proposition?  One metric to consider is believability of the brand's message in light of new influences being exercised. For example, peer-to-peer experiential dialog via the Internet may substantiate or significantly weaken the brand's claims. A metric of "customer alignment" is required and can be quantified by mining the dialog. To what extent does the influence help or hurt company communication and education efforts, including personal promotion?  The emergence of widely accessible technologies for sharing information has the potential to spread incomplete, biased, or worse, inaccurate information, which may change the nature of discussions between reps and HCPs. Field organizations must understand and address misconceptions and objections that develop more quickly in today's highly-connected environment. At the heart of today's influences are two related goals: containing costs and understanding comparative effectiveness. Measurement programs need to consider both these drivers to effectively evaluate brand performance. Measuring the impact of a pharmaceutical

Three out of four pharmaceutical companies believe their industry is in the midst of a strategic crisis, new research finds. Pricing and cost pressures, regulatory changes and patent expiries are leading to shrinking margins, and the biggest growth opportunities are to be found in the emerging markets, albeit with smaller margins, says the report, from Roland Berger Strategy Consultants.

"Pharmaceutical markets such as Europe and the US are stagnating due to rising price pressure, regulatory changes in the healthcare system and more stringent admission requirements, but in emerging markets we are seeing strong growth. Nevertheless, the margins here are lower and driven heavily by non-patent-protected products," says Roland Berger consultant Martin Erharter.

R&D costs have risen over 80% worldwide in the past 10 years

More than 5,000 potential new medicines are being evaluated in human testing – an all-time record.  More than 800 are in Phase 3 – the last stage of human testing.

Of these, 70 percent have the potential to be “first-in-class” – meaning their mechanisms of action are different from already-approved medicines.  First-in-class medicines often work in diseases for which there are no existing treatment options, or help patients who don’t respond to current medicines

The implications for Trius (TSRX) and other leading biotechnology companies involved in antibiotics development are profound.

ost large pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms have avoided antibiotics for much of the past two decades in large part due to the intrusion of Congress into the regulatory process

The most visible sign of this shift in attitude came from Congress with the passage of the Generating Antibiotics Incentives Now Act or GAIN which became effective on October 1, 2012. This was intended to spur development of new antibiotics through streamlining a regulatory process which has been oppressive for much of the last decade. Responding to the prompting of Congress, I expect the FDA to approach regulatory approval of new antibiotics with the same sense of urgency as drugs for cancer. The end result will be quicker approval of new drugs and new indications for existing antibiotics.

Biopharmaceutics is the field of study concerning biopharmaceuticals, medical drugs (see pharmacology) produced using biotechnology. They include proteins (including antibodies), nucleic acids (DNA, RNA or antisense oligonucleotides) and living microorganisms like virus and bacteria where the virulence of viruses and bacteria is reduced by the process of attenuation, they can be used for therapeutic or in vivo diagnostic purposes, and are produced by means other than direct extraction from a native (non-engineered) biological source

Biopharmaceuticals may be produced from microbial cells (e.g. recombinant E. coli or yeast cultures), mammalian cell lines (see cell culture) and plant cell cultures (see plant tissue culture) and moss plants in bioreactors of various configurations, including photo-bioreactors.[4] Important issues of concern are cost of production (a low volume, high purity product is desirable) and microbial contamination (by bacteria, viruses, mycoplasma, etc.). Alternative platforms of production which are being tested include whole plants (plant-made pharmaceuticals).

The cleverness of CP+B’s “More Than Medication” campaign is 50% in the content that’s there, and 50% in the content that isn’t. Missing are the saccharine smiles, ridiculous athletic feats and idyllic dalliances of perfectly healthy people that never took the medication they’re purporting to be endorsing. Rather than portraying people who could be anyone (or, sadly, no one), these ads are the antithesis. “More Than Medication” is about life—mundane, radiant, lifechanging, heartbreaking. Through all of these milestones, Pfizer is attempting to build relationships one person at a time, and be a valuable presence in their healthy lives at their most important stages. Only time will tell if the campaign pays dividends, but as advertising strategy, it’s brilliant. Pharmaceutical companies rely on wholescale batch assembly at every stage of development, from searching for molecules as drug candidates, to researching them, to the mass production thereof. In fact, the fermentation tanks developed by Pfizer that enabled the first-ever mass production of penicillin during World War II became a national historic landmark in 2008. This doesn’t dictate that pharmaceutical ads must follow the same standard operating protocol.

Beyond “reinventing” pharmaceutical advertising, the “More Than Medication” campaign taps into an important (and growing) wellness zeitgeist being embraced by the professional and private health care sectors. Within the last few years, emphasis has shifted significantly from medication to meditation, pills to pilates, and technology to tofu. Individual preventitive care, including eating habits, exercise, healthfulness beyond chemicals, and individual responsibility, has been gaining momentum as a critical component of modern medicine, nowhere more than in how it is advertised. Kaiser Permanente’s enormously successful and popular “Thrive” campaign, recently expanded to the tune of $53 million, has echoes the welness call to arms of Canada’s “More Than Medication” spots. Internal documents indicate that the 2004 campaign was launched to combat a declining membership of 150,000 in a similarly reviled industry (health insurance). The initially modest reach has since expanded to print, outdoors, television and radio.

Pfizer supplemented their television spots with an interactive website that offers resources for individuals and their families, including eating better, strengthening mind and body, practical life tips, and places to find help to achieve these goals. In doing do, the pharmaceutical behemoth rebrands themselves as in touch, personally connected on an individual level and convey that they care about their patients’ health even if it means never having to take one of their medications.

PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY ANALYSIS Brazil has the 11th largest pharmaceutical market globally with annual sales topping US$17bn. Brazil launched a major 10-year biotechnology initiative in 2007 that provides incentives for private-sector R&D and production. There are some 550 pharmaceutical firms in Brazil. Of the top ten companies by sales in 2008, the first six are all foreign multinational drug makers. Sanofi-Aventis (US$1,229mn in sales) and Novartis (US$1,116mn) are clear leaders, followed by Roche (US$735mn), Pfizer (US$666mn) AstraZeneca (US$584mn) and Eli Lilly (US$545mn). Local firms Aché (US$456mn), EMS Sigma Pharma (US$445mn), Eurofarma (US$424mn) and Biosintética (US$382mn) fill the remaining spots. While this shows the strength of innovation for foreign drugmakers, the presence of five local firms highlights strong competition, as well as the growing use of generic drugs in Brazil. Other leading local producers include Aché/Biosintética, Medley and Libbs. From 2009-2014 BMI forecasts a CAGR of 11.63% for patented drug market in US dollar terms. The projected continuation of sales expansions is one of the key reasons that multinational research-based drugmakers continue to invest in Brazil despite generic competition having eroded some market potential since their inception in 2000. Industry association PróGenéricos has estimated that generics will account for 30% of the market by 2010. Investment reportedly totaled around US$400mn between 1999 and 2006, illustrating not only an expansion of capacity, but also the repositioning of product lines in favor of genuine generics. SOURCE: Business Monitor International

Scheduling cases can be challenging as cases may occur earlier/later than planned. Trauma cases are rarely ever planned. “The entire OR staff is ready to go and we are waiting for the rep to arrive.”

 Physicians abandon complicated devices that fail to offer guaranteed support. “We stopped using the device. We are tired of needing an in-person rep for every question or issue that arises.

) Physicians that have to switch a device in the OR can’t obtain the support they need. “I’d consider switching my business to a device that offers guaranteed real-time support.”

BIG R&D SPENDERS Company R&D Spend in Rs Crore Ranbaxy 331 Dr Reddys Labs 283 Sun Pharmaceutical 146 Wockhardt 94 Lupin 87 Cadila Healthcare 71 Torrent Pharmaceuticals 51 Biocon 27 Panacea Biotec 24  

GLOBAL BIOTECH R&D PRODUCTIVITY ON THE RISE The productivity of big pharma has been remarkable over the past 25 years. In each of the last 10 years, the pharmaceutical industry has ranked at the top of Fortune.s .most profitable. industry list. But this top ranking has eluded the industry in recent years, during which the productivity of the biotech sector. for many years poor in the aggregate.has strengthened markedly. An emerging distinction between biotech and big pharma is the productivity of R&D. According to Arthur D Levinson, chairman and CEO, Genentech, R&D spending by large pharmaceutical companies has been steadily increasing over time, while the number of new drug approvals (NDAs) coming out of these companies has been decreasing. In 2004, the pharmaceutical industry spent about $50 billion on R&D, compared to $16 billion spent on R&D by publicly traded US biotech companies, and an estimated $20 billion spent by the global biotech industry. In spite of its large R&D expenditures, big pharmas. NDAs have been declining steadily, while biotechs have accounted for an increasing share of NDAs over the past five years. In 2003, the biotech industry hit a milestone when it surpassed big pharma in the number of new drug approvals from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in a given year. The trend continued to favor biotech in 2004. In 2005, an estimated 35 new pharmaceutical or biotechnology products with sales potential of at least $150 million each will enter the market. Of these, 20 are expected to be products from biotechnology companies, and will be marketed directly by these companies or in collaboration with pharmaceutical partners. In addition, there are more than 700 compounds from biotech firms at various stages of development, with more than 400 compounds in clinical trials. More than four out of five therapies currently in drug development are founded on biotech discoveries or employ biotech tools.                                                                                                       Source: Ernst & Young

Le paysage de la santé a profondément évolué depuis 2010 Régionalisation de notre système de santé : en avant, toute ! La loi HPST de « modernisation » du système de santé a entre autres donné naissance aux Agences Régionales de Santé (ARS), opérationnelles depuis début 2010. L’objectif affiché est triple : Simplifier le système avec la fusion de sept organismes régionaux ; Etre au plus près des problématiques et des besoins de santé publique grâce à un pilotage en région ; Limiter les dérives budgétaires. Cette nouvelle organisation a pour conséquence de voir apparaître de nouveaux interlocuteurs pour l’ensemble des acteurs du système de santé (industrie pharmaceutique, fabricants de dispositifs médicaux, associations de patients, établissements sanitaires et médico-sociaux, médecins libéraux, pharmaciens d’officine, élus locaux, assurance maladie et complémentaires santé, etc.). L’objectif de cette cartographie est de bien appréhender cet écosystème et ses réseaux d’influence en fournissant notamment le détail des 26 projets régionaux de santé en cours d’adoption. Elle offre un éclairage sur les points clés de la Loi n°2011-2012 du 29 décembre 2011 relative au renforcement de la sécurité sanitaire du médicament et des produits de santé.

Le véritable « qui fait quoi ? » de la santé Connaître les décideurs et les réseaux d’influence Eurostaf et le cabinet ACS dressent une cartographie des institutions opérant dans la santé, ainsi que des non institutionnels (laboratoires pharmaceutiques, groupements pharmaceutiques, mutuelles santé, presse spécialisée, relais et leaders d’opinion, etc.) dont le rôle dans le secteur de la santé est notable. Les décisions prises par ces organes ou les informations qu’ils véhiculent conditionnent les initiatives des acteurs du monde de la santé (recherche de financement, développement de nouvelles activités, création d’établissements sanitaires et médico-sociaux, réponses aux appels à projets des ARS, anticipation et gestion de situation de crise, etc.). Un outil interactif, une navigation aisée Pour trouver rapidement l’information pertinente et s’orienter dans le nouveau système de santé Cette cartographie du système de santé a été conçue comme un véritable guide interactif permettant de naviguer aisément au sein du document via notamment des signets et de nombreux liens hypertextes.

ACS, Agence Conseil Santé, propose des recommandations stratégiques et opérationnelles en marketing et en communication de la santé. Avec une forte expertise à l’officine et auprès de la médecine de ville, ACS crée des éléments de communication efficaces et originaux pour proposer aux professionnels de santé une meilleure prise en charge du patient. Particulièrement attentif à l’amélioration de la qualité de vie du patient, ACS élabore avec originalité et créativité des programmes de formation, de communication scientifique, de prévention et de dépistage.

If the buzzword for the pharmaceutical industry in 2012 was “patent cliff,” the key theme for 2013 is “partnership.”

maller R&D organizations and budgets, drug companies are putting more emphasis on working relationships with biotech firms or with academia

collaboration

For the pharmaceutical industry, social media poses concerns that range from release of propriety information to regulatory constraints to patient safety. These concerns have limited the industry’s use of a potential marketing and networking tool. Other industries are using Twitter, Facebook, and other social media outlets to promote products, follow consumer trends, and connect directly with their consumers. Is social media being used effectively at all in the pharmaceutical industry? Are there ways social media can be positively used by industry members to share ideas, connect with industry members, or even promote products? And if there is a fear of regulatory infractions, what can or should FDA and other international regulatory agencies do to promote the use of social media?

"me-too" compounds,

heir efficacy, or comparative effectiveness in treating a specific disease

safety, including issues such as side effects and drug interactions

But now the drugs in the headlines are generics. As the industry has grown and matured, it's faced greater scrutiny from regulatory agencies. Now it faces many of the same setbacks that plague their branded brethren.

Lipitor, Plavix, Lexapro and Seroquel

these same manufacturers are facing a patent cliff of their own