Impactiviti Daily 042810 Top Pharma News

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Note: there will be no Impactiviti Daily for the remainder of this week, as I’ll be away at a conference…

TODAY’S NEWS

Biotech: finally profitable – The biotechnology industry is finally profitable, according to a new report out today from Ernst & Young. The report states that biotech companies in the world’s largest hubs — the United States, Europe, Canada and Australia — achieved collective profitability in 2009, marking the first year the industry has ever crossed into the black. The companies in those regions posted an aggregate net profit of $3.7 billion in 2009, compared to a net loss of $1.8 billion in 2008…more

Making quite a living as a pharma whistleblower – drug rep hits the legal lottery twice.

Merck to close three NJ facilities – not a big surprise, post-merger with Schering.

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Managed Care/Managed Markets Training – The need is growing, not shrinking. Proven and successful programs are available from Impactiviti’s partner network.  Contact us (stevew at impactiviti dot com, or phone at 973-947-7429) for recommendations.

PLUS

What are we Doing….Really?

JUST FOR FUN

You really can’t make stuff like this up: Handyman injured after chopping down branch he leaned ladder against.

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Impactiviti Daily 042710 Top Pharma News

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TODAY’S NEWS

The name is changed, but the pump remains the same – Kapidex (proton pump inhibitor from Takeda) is now Dexilant.

Covidien launches Exalgo (pain reliefe) and Pennsaid (NSAID anti-inflammatory).

FDA panel to Acura: Nah – It was red faces all around at Acura Pharmaceuticals Thursday after an advisory committee voted almost unanimously not to recommend approval of the group’s lead product Acurox, an instant release, tamper resistant form of oxycodone. In a damning and decisive looking 19-1 poll, the committee highlighted the fact that the niacin used to deter abuse by producing painful facial flushing if the drug was crushed and sorted or taken excessively orally, could easily be counteracted by eating food or taking aspirin…more

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Emotional Intelligence Training – Emotional intelligence – it doesn’t always come naturally. Proven and successful programs are available from Impactiviti’s partner network.  Contact us (stevew at impactiviti dot com, or phone at 973-947-7429) for recommendations.

PLUS

Decades to learn, 90 minutes to write, 7 minutes to read. Seven Profound Business Truths (quick e-book).

JUST FOR FUN

This one had me laughing uncontrollably. If you like scientific-sounding verbiage accented by a droll and deadpan delivery, you’ll love this.

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Impactiviti Daily 042310 Top Pharma News

COMING UP SOON: BDI’s Social Communications and Healthcare half-day gathering. NYC, May 11 – all details here. I will be leading a roundtable. Use discount code IMPACT for $155 registration rate.

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TODAY’S NEWS

Allergan – Rolling high-stakes legal dice re: Botox. Here and here.

Novo’s Victoza: nice results in comparison with Merck‘s Januvia. Plus, an experimental Januvia competitor gets dropped by Forest Labs.

Experimental once-a-day malaria drug looking really good – An experimental once-a-day malaria drug worked as well at treating the mosquito-borne illness as Novartis AG’s twice-daily pill Coartem, according to a study published today in the journal Lancet…more

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Account Management Training – Need to make your account managers more effective? Creative and successful programs are available from Impactiviti’s partner network.  Contact us (stevew at impactiviti dot com, or phone at 973-947-7429) for recommendations.

PLUS

Surround Yourself with Smart People.

JUST FOR FUN

Serene Sunrises. 40. A visual treat.

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Impactiviti Daily 042210 Top Pharma News

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TODAY’S NEWS

Novartis gets niche transplant drug approved in US –  Drug developer Novartis AG said Thursday it received Food and Drug Administration for the organ-rejection drug Zortress. The drug was first approved outside the U.S. six years ago as Certican and is available in more than 70 countries. It is used to prevent organ rejection in kidney transplant patients. The company reported $118 million in sales in 2009…more. Meanwhile, ex-Novartis executive moves on to head up Bayer HealthCare.

Merck growing its vaccines business with an acquisition.

Patient adherence: an immensely costly problem – Medical costs of patient non-adherence to therapy costs the US $106 billion each year, according to an Express Scripts study, and missed opportunities for use of cheaper meds and delivery systems costs another $57 billion…more

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eLearning Simulations – One of the best ways to learn, when things cannot be done live/on-site, is with well-crafted simulations. The Impactiviti Partner Network is your resource if you’re looking for great partners in technology and instructional design.  Contact us (stevew at impactiviti dot com, or phone at 973-947-7429) for recommendations.

PLUS

The Intersection of Life, Business, and Social Media. According to me. In 2 graphics.

JUST FOR FUN

Ten lovely bridge designs.

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Impactiviti Daily 042010 Top Pharma News

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TODAY’S NEWS

Busy days at Novartis: Licensing deal with Array for oncology drugs; major quarterly profit rise; buying up more generics with Oriel purchase; oral MS drug Gilenia draws closer to review; however, bad timing on Tekturna.

Nexavar and tailored treatments for lung cancer – The study found that Nexavar prevented lung-cancer from progressing in 61 percent of patients with KRAS mutations. The research, presented yesterday at the meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Washington, was designed to show how gene testing of tumors can improve treatment when drugs are matched with biomarkers that predict their success…more

Evista and tamoxifen guarding against breast cancer, but with some differences –  The latest results from a landmark, long-running study find that both tamoxifen and raloxifene help prevent breast cancer in postmenopausal women, although some differences are starting to emerge between the two drugs. Raloxifene (Evista), originally an osteoporosis drug, was less effective at preventing invasive breast cancer and more effective against noninvasive breast cancer than tamoxifen. But raloxifene compensated by having fewer side effects and a lower likelihood of causing uterine cancer than its older cousin. Both drugs work by interfering with the ability of estrogen to fuel tumor growth…more

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Social Media consulting – Listening/monitoring. Facebook pages. Strategy. Community-building. The Impactiviti Partner Network is your resource if you’re looking to move intelligently into social media.  Contact us (stevew at impactiviti dot com, or phone at 973-947-7429) for recommendations.

PLUS

Feeling blue? Good – here’s 10 Amazing Blue Animals for you…

JUST FOR FUN

Bring TIM to shorten those drawn-out meetings!

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Impactiviti Daily 041910 Top Pharma News

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TODAY: A Rant

Instead of the usual digest of news items, today, a long-overdue rant, triggered by this blog post by Rich Meyer. The phrase I’m going to key in on:

You can’t rotate people into an eMarketing role and expect them to develop cutting edge digital strategies because by the time they learn it’s already changing.

For years, I’ve seen how pharma companies “rotate” people through both marketing and training, and the deleterious effects this has on both disciplines.

Sure, I understand the rationale from the talent development side. But Training and Marketing are disciplines. They require long-term thinking, long-term commitment, and acquisition of skills both broad and deep.

Having worked extensively on both the eLearning and eMarketing side of the equation over many years,  one of the most difficult barriers I’ve faced to adoption of new technologies is this “18-months-and-I’m-on-to-my-next-job” mentality. How can anyone put in place a long-term plan that will do the company and its audiences the most good, when the premium is placed on short-term performance?

As I have labored, with others, to try to inject a long-term perspective into the thinking of pharma about social media, this is one of the biggest roadblocks. Effective use of social networking should be viewed with a 3-5 year horizon. You can build a sand castle in a day. But what we need is long-term architects.

And don’t get me started on the pervasive ill-effects of reporting quarterly (short-term) numbers to Wall Street.

Short-term thinking is one of the banes of business these days. It gives us companies like Enron. What we need is some courageous leadership that wants to do what’s right, not just what’s expedient or expected.

Rant over.

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PLUS

Lasik for the Soul – gaining a clear vision. And, a new meta-job-search site: LinkUp.

JUST FOR FUN

How to Demolish a Boeing plane. Fun time-lapse video of plane getting…well, demolished!

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Impactiviti Daily 041510 – Today’s Top Pharma News

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TODAY’S NEWS

Novartis announces a major US reorganization, including re-aligned business units, and cuts. Ouch.

Crystal ball – what will be the biggest drug(s) in 2014? Here are some educated guesses.

Use Remicade early in Crohn’s, the results say – “The results are pretty definitive,” Sandborn told MedPage Today. “Most patients should receive infliximab combination therapy as the most effective strategy.“…more

Genzyme‘s Campath for MS:  preliminary data look quite promising – Data presented on Wednesday at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology showed that after four years, 71 percent of patients had no relapse or worsening of disability. That compares with 35 percent for patients taking Rebif, a rival drug made by EMD Serono, an affiliate of Germany’s Merck KGaA and Pfizer Inc…more

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ANY Pharma sales training – The Impactiviti Partner Network is your resource if you’re looking for a great training provider. We “matchmake” best-in-class partners to meet your training needs – at no cost to you!  Contact us (stevew at impactiviti dot com, or phone at 973-947-7429) for recommendations.

PLUS

I’m Restless – how about you?

JUST FOR FUN

Come out of your shell. Cool photos – just trust me and look.

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Impactiviti Daily 041410

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TODAY’S NEWS

Merck, Schering, Merger, Management, Munificence – it pays to be an exec at an acquired pharmaco.

What’s on the the docket for biotechs in the coming quarter? A nice, quick summary.

Kids’ suicide risk appears to be level across all anti-depressants. Now:  what about the risk of untreated depression??

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Software training – Do your employees need training on software programs? The Impactiviti Partner Network is your resource if you’re looking for a great provider.  Contact us (stevew at impactiviti dot com, or phone at 973-947-7429) for recommendations.

PLUS

Plus: What’s the Single Answer to Pharma’s biggest Digital Marketing Questions? I agree with Wendy Blackburn here.

JUST FOR FUN

Sand and Water. Some fabulous sand sculptures. Plus, eye-catching (even eerie) pictures of running water.

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Impactiviti Daily 041310

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TODAY’S NEWS

Hugely encouraging results for Novartis‘ new experimental (oral) MS treatment – Novartis’ Gilena has delivered an impressive performance in a Phase III trial in patients multiple sclerosis, cutting relapse rates by 62% in treatment-naïve patients and sustaining its effects for more than two years. Importantly, data from the two-year FREEDOMS study, presented at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting, also showed that relapse rates were reduced by a significant 44% in patients who had previously been treated with other drugs for MS, highlighting the potential benefit of switching therapies…more

Gilead starts late stage testing of “4-in-1” HIV pill.

An interesting account of regulatory “unintended consequences.” How to make a cheap drug very expensive.

Cephalon hopes to gain more cheddar by adding some Swiss. Sorry – couldn’t resist…

Celgene: the new “big kid” on the block.

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Coaching Skills – The Impactiviti Partner Network is your resource if you’re looking to improve the coaching skills of your employees.  Contact us (stevew at impactiviti dot com, or phone at 973-947-7429) for recommendations.

PLUS

An amusing patient health video made by J&J. Well worth 4 minutes of your time. The Appointment.

JUST FOR FUN

Oldie but goodie from The Onion – American to start charging fees to Non-passengers.

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Impactiviti Daily 041210

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Coming up on May 11th: BDI’s Social Communications & Healthcare event – half day session in NYC with Case Studies and Roundtables (I’ll be leading one of the roundtables). Top speakers from J&J, Pfizer, and more! These are always great networking and learning events. Hope to see you there!

For more information, including registration, please click here to visit the event website. Use promo code IMPACT for a discounted rate of $155.

TODAY’S NEWS

Lilly in an Indy pullback.

Taking another look at medical uses for hallucinogens. Timothy Leary would be proud!

Byetta (once-weekly) and possible cancer risks. Frankly, I have a bit of problem with this sort of stuff. When you pump rats with mega-doses of just about anything, what do you expect? Eternal life?

If you need a Monday morning dose of super-sized, complex words in a cloud of oncology verbiage, this one’s for you. Otherwise, nothing to see here…

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Selling Skills – We can recommend best-in-class partners and programs for your needs.  Contact us (stevew at impactiviti dot com, or phone at 973-947-7429) for recommendations.

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Letting Go.

JUST FOR FUN

Visual treat – Steel Giants floating on a blanket of Fog.

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