Monthly Archives: February 2009

When the Condition You Treat is High Costs

By Patrick Clinton | Published: February 13, 2009
An unmet medical need isn’t always an untreatable disease. Sometimes it’s a glitch in the healthcare system that can be made to work better by the application of just the right molecule. That was the take-away from a conversation I had the other day with John Babich, a noted radiologist and CEO of the Cambridge, MA-based [...]
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Traditional vs. Digital, or
Integrate! Integrate! Integrate!

By Brittany Agro | Published: February 11, 2009
Can pharma rely on one agency to create both its traditional and its interactive advertising? Or is there a “best agency model” (pure digital, digital group within larger holding company, or a mixture of both) that industry can follow? This was the question addressed by four panelists today at the ePharma Summit in Philadelphia. Bill [...]
Posted in Advertising, E-Media, Marketing | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

AZ is All A-Twitter

By Brittany Agro | Published: February 11, 2009
When it comes to digital and social media, is Big Pharma finally getting it? Yesterday, AstraZeneca launched a branded YouTube channel for its asthma drug Symbicort, joining the ranks of Abbott, GSK, J&J, and most recently, Santofi-Aventis. This news arrived just in time for the 8th Annual ePharma Summit, where industry experts are gathered to [...]
Posted in E-Media, Events, Technology | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Gilead Making a Bundle

By Walter Armstrong | Published: February 10, 2009
Gilead Sciences has once again proven that independent biotechs can innovate with the best of Big Pharma. The Silicon Valley company’s wizardry at weaving multiple drugs into a single weft enabled it to overthrow GlaxoSmithKline as king of HIV in 2007. Yesterday, at the 16th annual Congress of Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), the biotech [...]
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Vertex Names Emmens President, Future CEO

By Cassandra Blohowiak | Published: February 6, 2009
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Thursday appointed Matthew Emmens president, with an expected transition to CEO and chairman in May 2009, when current CEO Joshua Boger is set to retire. Emmens, a 35-year pharma industry veteran, has been a Vertex director since 2004. He previously served as CEO of Shire plc and Astra Merck Inc., and as president for [...]
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