Pharma Marketing Network

The PhRMA Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals, which became effective in July 2002, affirms that a sales rep's primary function is to educate and inform doctors. In pursuit of this function, certain activities are supposed to be forbidden. However, there may be some differences among pharmaceutical companies regarding the interpretation of the Code and how it is applied in practice. Pharma Marketing News hosted a survey of its subscribers and visitors to the Pharma Marketing Network Web site about this issue.

Pharmaceutical advertising was historically directed toward health care professionals and mainly communicated through medical journals. Rigorous research is needed to evaluate and determine the most effective format for communicating benefit and risk information to consumers. New standards for drug advertising to consumers should be grounded in data derived from this type of research.

In a world crowded with many similar competing consumer goods, the most successful companies have been those who control the marketing, sales AND distribution systems. Government intervention, complex reimbursement systems and numerous intermediaries, however, handicap the pharma industry, which is a long way behind Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) in terms of product branding.

This article summarizes a presentation made by Lynne Brookes, Vice President, US Marketing, Cephalon Inc. at EyeforPharma's Successful Product Branding in Pharma conference in London, UK on 23 March 2004 in which she discussed the marketing strategies behind Gabitril and Actiq.

As US pharmaceutical companies search for best practices to battle patient drop-off, their European counterparts have overcome Byzantine regulations and reduced margins to implement strikingly effective compliance programs.

Yahoo's record earnings and Google's IPO announcement are hot financial stories, but they also herald an important trend that is changing the way marketers think about the interactive channel. Search Engine Marketing, also known as SEM or Search, is one of the fastest-growing e-marketing strategies today.

Vol. 3, No. 5: May 2004 - CONTENTS Up Front Pushing the Envelope is Bad for DTC ...

Featured Conference 2nd Annual Aligning Medical Affairs and Marketing Optimal Drug Promotion Through Innovation and Collaboration ...

Featured Conference 3rd Annual Forum on Patient Compliance and Persistency April 19-20, 2004 *...

While at a recent conference, I was struck by the fact that most speakers-especially vendors-often were pretty critical of the industry. I hear there are too many silos, too much focus on short-term results, not invented here mentality, etc., etc. What a great idea it would be to get all these smart people together and write a book that looked ahead to where the pharma industry might be in five or ten years. Bring all these innovative ideas into it and describe the pharma company of 2010. Call it Healthy Pharma 2010!