Impactiviti Daily 052710 Top Pharma News

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Impactiviti has launched a new venture, and we’d like to ask for your help to make it a success! Introducing the Impactiviti Talent Network – on-line job search joined to social networking. This can help you as a job seeker, AND as a company posting openings!

TODAY’S NEWS:

Head of Pfizer R&D pulls up stakes, goes to AstraZeneca.

Pfizer‘s Inspra meets primary study goals early – Pfizer reported Thursday that it plans to stop enrolling patients ahead of schedule in a late-stage trial of Inspra (eplerenone) after those taking the drug experienced a significant reduction in risk of cardiovascular death or heart failure hospitalisation compared with those receiving placebo...more

Sanofi‘s prostate cancer drug: 28% survival improvement in study – Sanofi-Aventis’ cabazitaxel candidate prostate cancer drug combined with prednisone reduced the risk of death by 28 percent compared with another treatment, the outcome of a final-stage trial showed. The French drugmaker said on Thursday that the combination of the treatments led to an improved median overall survival of 15.1 months against 12.7 months in patients who took a chemotherapy of mitoxantrone with prednisone/prednisolone…more

Intermune to lay off 40% of workforce – InterMune Inc. said it will fire about 60 employees, or 40 percent of its workforce, to reduce costs after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rejected the company’s lung drug earlier this month...more

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I don’t usually wander into political waters on this blog. But I found this article to be so compelling and cogent, I had to share. America’s New Culture War: Free Enterprise vs. Government Control. Worth the read!

JUST FOR FUN

Splash of yellow. From my backyard. And, daisies in the evening.

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Impactiviti Daily 051910 Top Pharma News

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TODAY’S NEWS

Sometimes I can’t help but voice a bit of skepticism, especially when it comes to sexual disorder treatments. So, count me as less than convinced about this experimental treatment from Boehringer-Ingelheim – Data from pivotal Phase III clinical trials demonstrate that a higher proportion of pre-menopausal women with Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD) receiving flibanserin 100mg reported both an improvement in their condition and a meaningful benefit from their treatment, compared to placebo…more (the single-question Patient Benefit Evaluation appears to me to be really…ummm…meaningful).

Lung cancer preventer for former smokers? Interesting – A drug approved to treat a range of conditions may also work to prevent lung cancer in people who have given up smoking, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday…more

AstraZeneca replaces Nexium sales force with telemarketers. And it works.

J&J‘s recall of OTC products. This is becoming a huge black eye, for a company that managed to keep quite a good reputation over the years. It will be an interesting case study of reputation management and quality improvement, esp. for a company that has been a leader in social media usage in this sector.

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PLUS

Red Meat – maybe this picture isn’t so simple after all. Intuitively, this result is actually not too surprising. AND – Are you in a Museum?

JUST FOR FUN

I only rarely get to see hailstorms. That’s what makes this video particularly awesome. Must be seen to be believed!

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Impactiviti Daily 050410 Top Pharma News

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I had an absolutely delightful time at the SOBCon conference this past weekend, interacting with a great group of very high-quality entrepreneurs/social media types. Summary blog post here.

TODAY’S NEWS

FDA to Sepracor on new anti-epileptic drug candidate (STEDESA) – Nah.

FDA to AstraZeneca/Pozen on arthritis drug (VIMOVO) – cleared for takeoff.

Obamacare and the drug stock sell-off.

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PLUS

For a contrarian industry view – Marcia Angell on Big Pharma, Bad Medicine

Today’s sunrise, from my backyard in Boonton, NJ. Stunning.

JUST FOR FUN

Fire-breathing manholes in Manhattan. I just like the fireman’s quote…!

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Impactiviti Daily 040710

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TODAY’S NEWS

Abbott Labs: Minus 175 – Abbott laid off approximately 175 sales reps in the US, Dow Jones reported yesterday. The company “shifted resources” within its US pharma business, and layoffs were not related to a specific brand…more

AstraZeneca and a winning strategy to get lawsuits dismissed (Seroquel tie to diabetes) – The drugmaker has used a similar strategy — questioning expert witness’ qualifications and whether plaintiffs have strong evidence that Seroquel caused their diabetes — to get numerous other lawsuits over the drug dismissed….more

FDA, Forest Labs, and Daxas for COPD – could be rough ride.

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PLUS

What does a sunrise in Virginia Beach look like? This, perhaps!

JUST FOR FUN

30 Ethereal Examples of Smoke Photography. Pretty sweet.

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Impactiviti Daily 031610

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TODAY’S NEWS

AstraZeneca still waiting for the upside of MedImmune acquisition.

Pfizer: More Lipitor, fewer heart complications – A reanalysis of research data found a high dose of popular cholesterol pill Lipitor lowers risk of heart attack and stroke in some patients with both heart disease and kidney disease, the drug’s maker said Monday…more

Fred Hassan heads to Bausch & Lomb.

Novartis‘ Tekturna post-heart attack: Not a good idea. “Given these results, we are not currently recommending the use of this agent in addition to other inhibitors of the renin-angiotensin system in this specific patient population.”

Access to docs flat, but appointments on the rise.

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eLearning Development – From modules to virtual preceptorships to virtual worlds, we’ve got the partners you need in the Impactiviti network. Contact us (stevew at impactiviti dot com, or phone at 973-947-7429) for recommendations.

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“I hate her uterus!” DTC, infertility, and a very effective on-line campaign. IncreaseYourChances.

JUST FOR FUN

Human, squirrel, or anvil? A great Dilbert cartoon today!

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Impactiviti Daily 030110

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TODAY’S NEWS

WebMD makes some changes to rigged depression test. This kind of thing is just stupid. Come on, people.

Astellas looking to buy OSI. Smart pharma companies are looking up to gain a strong oncology franchise.

Shire gets approval for its Gaucher drug.

AstraZeneca buying out Merck‘s interest in certain jointly-marketed products.

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PLUS

Some new primary-care doctors are going for a cash-only practice (from KevinMD). Can hardly blame them – soon all the government/regulatory/insurance nonsense will bring back the barter system!

JUST FOR FUN

50 Brilliant Bird’s-Eye view pictures. Eye candy!

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Impactiviti Daily 020410

NEXT WEEK: IIRUSA’s ePharma Summit, Philadelphia, PA. I’ll be there, reporting live via social media. You?

TODAY’S NEWS

AstraZeneca looking down the barrel of 26,000 Seroquel lawsuits. Or so.

New treatment for debilitating hand condition – The Food and Drug Administration Tuesday approved the first drug designed to treat a debilitating hand condition known as Dupuytren’s contracture. The drug, called Xiaflex, is manufactured by Auxilium Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Malvern, Penn., and the company expects to begin selling it by the end of March. An FDA advisory panel in September unanimously recommended approval of the drug…more

A new kind of drug export – BMS employee accused of stealing secrets to try to start own pharma company in India!

Six key areas of learning for pharma and healthcare marketing in 2010.

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Outsourcing – Considering outsourcing training technology functions, or meetings/logistics, or even the entire training department? Contact us (stevew at impactiviti dot com, or phone at 973-947-7429) for recommendations of outsource partners.

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Want to know the latest about Facebook adoption, and how it impacts business? Read this great post by Jay Baer. And, while we’re talking social networking: what is the goal as it relates to business (my post yesterday on Holistic Common Sense). Plus, Jon Richman on the Seven (soon to be Nine) Uses of Social Media in Business. And, over 1/2 of all adults now go online for health information, while physicians are very heavy users of internet resources (did you know that 1/3 have changed a patient treatment based on an internet search?)

JUST FOR FUN

When engineers get laid off and have too much time on their hands. Sheesh!

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Impactiviti Daily 012810

TODAY’S NEWS

Pfizer trimming pipeline projects after Wyeth acquisition – Pfizer Inc., the world’s biggest drugmaker, said Wednesday it is quitting plans to sell popular pain drug Lyrica as an add-on treatment for anxiety as it shaves about 100 projects from its combined portfolio after swallowing rival Wyeth…more

AstraZeneca: 8,000 more cuts coming. Ouch – The reduction will take place by 2014 and comes on top of approximately 12,600 jobs the drugmaker has already cut. The jobs will be eliminated from sales and marketing, R&D, and supply chain operations, along with basic infrastructure…more

Cephalon shuffling the executive leadership suite.

Enzon selling specialty pharma biz to Sigma-tau.

Apple’s new iPad – gamechanger for eHealth? I say Yes – here’s why.

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Governments, pharma, and canceling orders. I agree with Vasella’s perspective about binding contracts.

JUST FOR FUN

If you haven’t seen it before – very funny and all too true. The client-vendor relationship (video). Don’t be “that client”!

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Impactiviti Daily 011310

TODAY’S NEWS

FDA warning letters to Lilly, Bayer, Amylin, Cephalon.

Wow: ARBs for hypertension reducing Alzheimer’s symptoms? – Drugs commonly used to lower blood pressure, sold by AstraZeneca Plc, Sanofi-Aventis SA and Merck & Co., may also reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers from Boston University analyzed the medical records of more than 800,000 U.S. veterans and found those taking angiotensin receptor blockers were up to 24 percent less likely to develop dementia than patients on other medications. Patients already diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease were half as likely to be admitted to a nursing home and had a 17 percent reduced risk of dying if they were taking the medications…more

FTC wants to put a stop to the “pay-to-delay” deals – Jon Leibowitz will hold a press conference today to ask Congress to include a provision in the health care reform bill to end deals in which brand-name drugmakers offer payments or other inducments to generic rivals to delay copycat versions of best-selling meds…more

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PLUS

Social Media, Opportunity, and Serendipity – my guest post on the Hive Awards blog.

JUST FOR FUN

Visual awesomeness. Photo of Martian dune field. Quite spectacular!

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Impactiviti Daily 120709

TODAY’S NEWS

Celgene to buy Gloucester Pharmaceuticals, another company with a focus on developing drugs for blood cancer. I really like Celgene’s laser-like focus in its product portfolio – very smart.

Keep those new blood thinners coming.

AstraZeneca‘s Seroquel gets an expanded label for Major Depressive Disorder (add-on treatment).

Folotyn: 30K/month cancer treatment?? Wow (from NY Times).

The race for the new oral MS drug approval – did Novartis just take the lead?

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Medical Device Training. The Impactiviti network of providers has what you need.  Contact us (stevew at impactiviti dot com, or phone at 973-947-7429) for recommendations.

PLUS

Pharma: Socializing in a Straitjacket? A somewhat shallow brushstroke in AdWeek about pharma and social media. AND – only TWO FDA inspectors in all of China (where much drug manufacturing is moving)? I bet that gets changed fast!

JUST FOR FUN

Will a young dog remember a family member who has been gone for 3 months? Watch and see!

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