Training Need: Curriculum Development/Facilitation

You have a need to pull together a bunch of scattered training materials/workshops into a comprehensive curriculum. Maybe you also need a vendor/partner who can not only head up design and development, but can also take the lead on organization and faciltation (locally or globally).

We can help.

Impactiviti’s Preferred Partner network includes some top-notch companies and consultants who take on these complex challenges. If this type of expertise and service is what you’re looking for, contact Steve Woodruff at Impactiviti. We’ll introduce you to optimal partners who have a proven track record of success.

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Impactiviti is a pharma consultancy focused on helping pharma/biotech/medical devices companies identify optimal partners for training/marketing needs. This vendor/client “matchmaking” service is provided free of charge to pharma, biotech, and medical device companies.

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Today’s Top Three in Pharma 013009

The cuts continue – this time it’s AstraZeneca. U.K.-based drugmaker AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) Thursday forecast flat 2009 sales and unveiled plans to cut a further 7,400 jobs worldwide by 2013, while posting a 1.4% decline in fourth-quarter net profit.

Roche goes hostile in bid for Genentech. Roche cut the price of its bid for outstanding shares in Genentech, going hostile and dashing investor hopes of a sweetened offer for the 44 percent of the U.S. biotech group its does not already own. Roche Holding AG’s new and lower offer, pitched directly to shareholders, was a surprise and reflected tougher financing conditions and a drop in Genentech Inc shares, analysts said on Friday.

Glaxo pays out big over marketing probe. GlaxoSmithKline is the latest drugmaker to pay the price for a government investigation of off-label marketing. The company said it’s taking a $400 million hit over a Justice Department investigation of the way Glaxo marketed top drugs.

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Impactiviti is a pharma consultancy focused on helping pharma/biotech/medical devices companies identify optimal vendors for training/marketing needs. This “matchmaking” service is provided free to clients.

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Today’s Top Three in Pharma 012909

Sepracor cutting 20% of its workforce. Ouch. Sepracor Inc, maker of the Lunesta sleep drug, said on Wednesday it would cut about 20 percent of its workforce, or 530 jobs, in an effort to save some $210 million in expenses, and its shares jumped 17 percent. The company said most of the cuts would come from field-based positions, leaving it with a sales force of about 1,325 after the restructuring moves.

Zoloft and Lexapro – still the ones? Pfizer Inc’s Zoloft and Forest Laboratories Inc’s  Lexapro are the most effective and well-tolerated antidepressants among a group of 12 new drugs, according to an analysis published on Thursday.

The physician sense of entitlement – what do you think? An interesting thought from Daniel Carlat‘s Psychiatry blog.

PLUS – speculation about Bristol being the next acquisition target. Blah, blah, blah…that talk has been around for years. Meanwhile, Novartis not looking at any big deals in the near term.

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Impactiviti is a pharma consultancy focused on helping pharma/biotech/medical devices companies identify optimal vendors for training/marketing needs. This “matchmaking” service is provided free to clients.

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Today’s Top Three in Pharma 012809

Astellas makes a big to acquire CV Therapeutics. Japan’s Astellas Pharma is offering a billion dollars in cash for CV Therapeutics. The bid comes in at $16 a share, a whopping 41 percent premium over yesterday’s close.

Abilify as an add-on therapy for depression – not everyone is convinced.

Watson‘s topical Overactive Bladder gel (Gelnique) gets FDA approval.

PLUS – Amylin hurting. Abbott‘s Vicodin CR delay means 200 layoffs. And Feds say, “Enough with the off-label promotion already!”

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Impactiviti is a pharma consultancy focused on helping pharma/biotech/medical devices companies identify optimal vendors for training/marketing needs. This “matchmaking” service is provided free to clients.

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Today’s Top Three in Pharma 012709

Enormous Bextra charge taken by Pfizer – If you’re going to take a $2.3 billion earnings hit over government investigations, you might as well announce it the same day everybody’s more interested in your $68 billion deal.

Amid the hullaballoo over Pfizer’s bid for Wyeth today, Pfizer announced its fourth-quarter earnings, which fell to $266 million from $2.72 billion a year earlier, due primarily to that enormous charge. It stems from an agreement in principle that Pfizer made with the U.S. Attorney in Massachusetts to resolve probes over alleged off-label marketing of now-withdrawn painkiller Bextra, plus “other open investigations,” the company said.

Jim Edwards over at BNET explains how this settlement was both disclosed and “hidden.”

KV Pharmaceutical – major problems. KV Pharmaceutical (NYSE: KVa/KVb) has voluntarily suspended the manufacturing and shipping of all of its products, other than certain products that it distributes but does not manufacture. The suspension began on January 22, 2009.

Generic surge the major cause of drop in pharma sales forces? Sounds plausible, but where’s the data? Is this just a conclusion pulled out of thin air?

PLUS…blah blah blah Pfizer-Wyeth blah blah blah Wyeth-Pfizer… A lot of the coverage is endless repetition of not much. Here’s the take by some analysts, from the WSJ Health blog (a great source for pharma news, btw). And here’s a scary number – up to 25,000 job cuts?

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Impactiviti is a pharma consultancy focused on helping pharma/biotech/medical devices companies identify optimal vendors for training/marketing needs.

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Today’s Top Three in Pharma 012609

Of course, the huge news this Monday morning…Pfizer buying Wyeth. This will dominate the headlines for days. Before the deal was announced, Jim Edwards did some analysis on potential downsides – interesting stuff. This also means that the Wyeth-Crucell discussions are scuttled. And who else may be making deals in the days ahead?

My take, fwiw – While lots of folks focus on the stock premium, the synergies of the product mix, the cost savings by chopping overlaps, etc., few talk about the incredible disruption that now occurs with both companies, as extraordinary amounts of time, attention, money, and other resources are expended coming up with merger plans and processes. There are the terrible work inefficiencies that occur every time one of these mega-mergers creeps forward, as initiatives are stalled, employees are paralyzed by angst as to their future roles, recruites swoop in and cherry-pick talent, etc. It gets really messy as entire organizations are unwound and PEOPLE are transitioned from clear productive direction to fear and uncertainty, over many months. It’s ugly. As a solutions-provider for many pharma clients over the years, I’ve seen this unpleasant process many times. My heart goes out to the folks at Wyeth, who now have to wrestle with loads of questions, and very few answers…

Here’s a list of the Top Ten (by $ value) pharma mergers in the past (a couple are “in process” currently).

The multiple sclerosis pill development race accelerates. Whatever the outcome of the 2-company race to market, these two experimental drugs promise to be a great win for patients. Merck KGaA pulled ahead of Novartis in the race to develop the first pill for multiple sclerosis on Friday, announcing it planned to submit its drug cladribine for approval in mid-2009.

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Impactiviti is a pharma consultancy focused on helping pharma/biotech/medical devices companies identify optimal vendors for training/marketing needs.

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After Hours 012309

Searching for on-line images by color. Endless fun and fascination.

One Year in 40 Seconds. One of the better time-lapse photography experiments I’ve seen.

Social Networking Dos and Don’ts. Helpful tips for those who communicate on-line.

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Today’s Top Three in Pharma 012309

BREAKING RUMOR – Pfizer in talks to acquire Wyeth.

Will contract sales reps rule in the future? Revenues are now following a “cyclical pattern surrounding patent expirations,” In Vivo quotes Ryan as saying. So pharma companies need to have sales forces that can follow the same kind of cycle, shrinking as revenues sink, she suggests.

Merck’s Januvia + metformin for diabetes, 2 years in – looking good. Merck & Co’s diabetes drug Januvia substantially improves blood sugar levels over two years of treatment when combined with the older drug metformin and is generally well tolerated, new data on Tuesday showed.

Hmmm…will names of BI reps who signed onto a class action suit become known to their bosses?

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Impactiviti is a pharma consultancy focused on helping pharma/biotech/medical devices companies identify optimal vendors for training/marketing needs.

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Training Need: Specialty Workshops

You’re in a small/mid-sized pharma or biotech company with specialty products. Or a big pharma with specialty field forces. Where do you find workshops (for ongoing training, POAs, etc.) that are tailored to your needs?

We can help. Impactiviti’s preferred partner network can provide workshops for topics such as:

• Business Acumen and Analysis for Specialty Reps
• Strategic Business Planning
• Achieving Results over a Customer Development Continuum
• Effective Business Relationships

…and many more!

Contact Impactiviti for your specialty training needs – we’ll connect you with optimal providers who have what you’re looking for!

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Impactiviti is a pharma consultancy focused on helping pharma/biotech/medical devices companies identify optimal partners for training/marketing needs. This vendor/client “matchmaking” service is provided free of charge to pharma, biotech, and medical device companies.

Subscribe to the Impactiviti blog via e-mail

Subscribe to the Impactiviti blog via RSS

(Image credit)

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Today’s Top Three in Pharma 012209

Social Networking in our industry*. PharmaExec looks at the use of social networking platforms among physicians. And, an abstract of Manhattan Research‘s findings (scroll past TOC to read excerpt). A new kind of social network has been gaining traction among doctors – namely, physician-only communities where doctors can exchange ideas, opinions, and information about treatments with their peers…

Earnings reports: Abbott Labs comes in strong. J&J, maybe not so much. King, looking at increasing threats from generics.

Obesity may be a top health concern, but the drugs developed to treat it aren’t getting rave reviews.

* As a long-time user of social media applications, I have a deep interesting in the use of these approaches in pharma. The challenges of social media use in a highly-regulated industry are well-documented and problematic. But it won’t be an option in the future. Every pharma will have to deal with the FACT that social media use is increasingly pervasive, and responsible PR/Communications/Marketing must come to grips with it.

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Impactiviti is a pharma consultancy focused on helping pharma/biotech/medical devices companies identify optimal vendors for training/marketing needs.

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