June 29th, 2010
According to the Financial Times, Glaxo donates the most medication to the poor. Merck was in second place and Novartis in third place. The article noted that most Eurpoean companies ranked above their US-based peers. In 11th (last) place was the only Japanese company listed- Daiichi Sanyko.
One advantage cited in the article to donating medications is positioning a company to succeed in emerging markets. As noted earlier this year in BioPharma Pulse, emerging markets are the expected growth areas for the future. Pharma companies may want to consider their overall profile in emerging markets and identify ways to raise their profile. These tactics will likely vary by country as marketing has moved to increased personalization and away from one-sized fits all. Increasing donations may not only raise a company’s profile, but also strengthen the humanity of the donors as well as alleviate suffering.
Tags: Candice Hughes, charity, donations, Hughes BioPharma Advisers, Marketing, pharmaceutical industry
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June 13th, 2010
The newest issue of BioPharma Pulse will be available next week. Learn about how the healthcare bill will affect pharma’s bottom line, customer communication in a crisis, new pharma/physician guidelines and more.
Subscriptions are available free of charge for qualified Editors, Project Managers/Directors, and others at medical communications, pharmaceutical, or biotech companies. Contact admin at hughesbiopharma.com to see if you qualify today!
Tags: BioPharma Pulse, Candice Hughes, Hughes BioPharma Advisers
Posted in About Hughes BioPharma, BioPharma Trends, pharmaceutical industry | No Comments »
June 13th, 2010
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April 21st, 2010
IMS Health released data today indicating that pharmaceutical drug sales growth will slow globally to between 4% and 6% down from 7% last year. Generic drugs and patent expirations will continue to pressure brand drugs.
However, drug sales globally are expected to be up for 2010, growing 5% worldwide. Much of the growth is expected to come from China and India. One challenge for leading biopharma companies will be the large amount of fake drugs in these countries as well as established generic competitors. Successful branded biopharma products need a solid reputation for safety and superiority if consumers are to be expected to pay substantially more for them.
IMS Health predicts that the top disease therapy growth areas will be: diabetes, cancer, HIV, and multiple sclerosis.
http://bit.ly/Pharma_Forecast_2010
http://bit.ly/Drug_Sales_2010
Tags: Candice Hughes, drug sales, Hughes BioPharma Advisers, pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical industry trends, pharmaceutical insights, trend forecasting
Posted in BioPharma Trends, Forecast | No Comments »
January 10th, 2010
Several days ago, you might have noticed my tweet on New Jersey’s potential new guidance on interactions between physicians and pharma. If not here’s the link to the original article at the American Medical Associaton site http://bit.ly/6i9b18
The trend toward tightening guidelines for healthcare provider medical education supported by pharma is strong and continuing so far in 2010. This trend continues to make the environment for profit companies challenging. Combined with the challenging economy, some companies are following last year’s trend of exiting the field.
The guidances are clearer for promotional interactions making this a continued area for potential growth.
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November 17th, 2009
Hughes BioPharma is now on Twitter. We guarantee pithy posts (quantity not guaranteed). Please keep in mind that Twitter posts will cover both Hughes BioPharma topics and the publishing industry and thriller writing (a related venture). The posts will be marked with separate hashtags, but please excuse any unmarked posts. Twitter link below:
http://twitter.com/candicemhughes
Posted in About Pharma Future | No Comments »
November 15th, 2009
This past week was the FDA discussion session on Social Marketing for biopharma communications. (See our Summer/Fall 2009 BioPharma Pulse Newsletter for more details). The meeting was so popular 800 people tried to attend but there was only space for 350. The main theme from biopharma was concern about lack of clarity in FDA expectations.
With perfect timing, SCIP and the American Marketing Association held a joint meeting this past week as well to discuss Tapping Social Media for Market Analysis in the New York City metro region. Panelists included Darryl Ort of the marketing agency Plaid, Tom Anderson of Anderson Analytics, Brook Aker of Expert System USA and Fred Wergeles of CT Chapter chair of SCIP. This meeting was also well attended, emphasizing the growing importance of social media and the need to professionals to keep on top of it. Panelists discussed how to effectively use social media to converse with customers. The main goal is creating a positive awareness of a brand and listening to what consumers have to say. Savvy companies use the feedback in creating strategies and tactics. However, using social media poorly can backfire and leave negative brand impressions.
From an intelligence point of view, social media makes gathering information about ones own brand and competititors brands feasible and beneficial.
Social media is here to stay. The key question is where to spend you marketing dollars.
Posted in BioPharma Trends, Marketing, pharmaceutical industry | No Comments »
October 30th, 2009
This month Pharmafuture turns one year old. We hope you’re enjoying the web site and blog. Just in time for the birthday celebration, the new edition of BioPharma Pulse is ready for release. In addition to trends and issues in social media, this season’s issue covers new drug approvals in 2009 and medical writing trends. Plus there are tips on red flags when hiring a medical writing vendor.
In case you missed the news of Obama’s new healthcare plan, here’s a link detailing his plan:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/health-care/plan
Early features of the plan were addressed in the previous BioPharma Pulse. We’ll be closely watching the voting on this!
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October 28th, 2009
Our new BioPharma Pulse newsletter will be out within a week. A strong focus in this issue is Social Media Marketing. The FDA commented this past February at the DIA Marketing Pharmaceuticals in a Time of Change conference that they had noted a rise in marketing via social media. Product information has appeared on You-Tube, Face Book and other social media sites. Some of these information spots have spurred FDA letters over lack of balance in risks and benefits.
In response to the rising use of social media and perceived lack of clarity in regulations, the FDA is holding a forum for public comment on biopharma marketing for social media in November.
Despite the fact that social media is the current “hot” marketing trend, there remain concerns about the benefits of conducting markeing in this arena. Currently, participating extensively in social media is labor intensive, although technology is beginning to change this time cost. On the other hand, going where the customers are makes a lot of sense. The smartest approach is a balanced one. Get involved in social media, but monitor ROI. Does tweeting raise the overall volume of tweets about a disease, product or company? Does blogging raise volume of chatter on the disease, product or company? What sort of conversations are happening? Are they positive? Have negative conversations been turned around? The minimum goal should be to increase positive awareness, which will increase the likelihood of a sale. If this minimum goal isn’t being met then either the approach is incorrect or that particular social media environment is a poor match for the company or product.
Jumping on the social media bandwagon is easy. But smart marketers don’t just follow trends, they build a compelling story with carefully chosen tools.
To learn more about social marketing and other current trends in biopharma, subscribe to our BioPharma Pulse newsletter.
Posted in Marketing, Regulatory, pharmaceutical industry | No Comments »
May 13th, 2009
On May 6, I was honored to be a panelist at the AMWA New England Chapter meeting along with Tom Gegeny of Envision Pharma and Michelle Horan of Pfizer. We were asked to discuss three areas of medical writing and answer audience questions on career advice and the future of medical writing in our areas.
The topic was timely given the overall business climate. Nearly 30 people attended, packing the restaurant.
One thing that stood out for me was the overall passion for medical writing. While everyone was a least a bit anxious about the immediate future, no one mentioned changing careers. In fact, several new writers attended hoping to start careers in medical writing. Others were interested in switching from one area of medical writing to another.
I asked Tom (the President-elect of AMWA) about numbers of new members. He told me that AMWA is indeed continuing to grow steadily and there are now nearly 6,000 members. I’ve been observing this upward trend for some years. This trend underscores the fact that medical writing continues to be an attractive career option.
As I’ve always recommended to new medical writers, at the meeting I suggested starting off working at a company (either medical communications or pharmaceutical or other related company) before trying to begin a consulting business. It makes sense to learn the ropes first.
For those already in medical writing or considering starting a career, the more you can network and continue learning about the field, the more successful you will be. This applies to all areas of medical writing. The one point made by all the panelists, and some of the attendees as well, is that medical writing is a constantly changing discipline since the regulations that guide our work are always changing. So you need to keep on top of changes and trends.
To learn more about what was discussed during this productive meeting, look for my upcoming article in the fall AMWA Journal.
Tags: American Medical Writers Association, AMWA, Candice Hughes, career advice, Medical Writing, medical writing trends
Posted in Medical Writing, pharmaceutical industry | No Comments »
