I was amazed at the more than 700 women attending the 2008 Women’s Healthcare Business Association (HBA) national conference today. As a first timer at the event (distinguished by the bright orange sticker on my name badge), it was easy to engage in conversations—even for those weary of the press. And for marketers, there was only one thing on their mind:

“The first thing out of everyone’s mouth when they come to my table is, ‘How are you handling the new PhRMA guidelines?’” said Tammy Kornfeld, senior account manager of Beyond Branding at Compas. The new marketing code is set to take effect in January 2009.

Kornfeld said the company is distributing flash drives with presentations explaining the tactics pharma companies can employ under the new regulations. “Reps may not be able to pass out pads and pens anymore, but there are many things that they will still be able to do,” she said. Kornfeld also added that, though the gifts are gone, corporate material can still be distributed. (more…)

Andy Levitt, founder and CEO of HealthTalker, continues his coverage of the Health 2.0 conference.

Today was Day 2 at Health 2.0 in San Francisco, and the overwhelming theme for me at the conference was this: it feels a lot like it did eight years ago.

In many ways, I am impressed with the number of companies that are all focused on the same goal of improving the way people consume healthcare and related information. Many more start-ups and early stage companies presented again in the standard, rapid-fire demo mode, where each company has less than four minutes to make their pitch. While this does allow for greater awareness of some of the new companies out there, it all starts to sound the same after a while.

A lot of companies talked of significant traffic to their sites or to their communities – but I had to wonder if in fact all of this traffic is coming from the same people, continuing to search many websites, hoping to find the answers or feedback that they want to hear.

A colleague of mine had an interesting insight: that the experience for a consumer to search for information online happens as a very intimate moment. If you or a loved one was just diagnosed with a serious disease, you will likely then turn to many websites to find answers and seek hope.

So where do you place your trust? (more…)

Ultra-orphan? It’s a phrase I never heard before, but increasingly, companies are taking it on and finding it a useful way to describe the very smallest patient groups.

“Language is very important, and you have to understand how it affects perception,” says Maria Hardin, vice president of patient services for NORD (National Organization for Rare Diseases). “You have to think of the 30 million patients with rare diseases as a whole. We don’t want to salami slice it any more than we already have.”

Hardin presented today at CBI’s Pre-Approval Access conference, here at the Hilton Baltimore, and said she is concerned that classifying some drugs as “ultra-orphan” and others just “orphan” will artificially divide services and access to life-saving drugs. “We refuse to use that word,” she says.

Instead, says Hardin, the word “ultra-orphan” has been put into play by pharma companies that specialize in treating rare diseases. But sources say that this sub-classification has at least one utilitarian purpose.

“How do you explain to a regulatory agency that your trial only has 30 patients in it–and half of those are on placebo control?” asks Mark DeRosch, senior director of regulatory affairs for Vertex Pharmaceuticals. DeRosch plays a part in the development of the company’s promising cystic fibrosis candidate, VX-770.

Pharma sales forces were out, well, in force for a two-day leadership summit put on by the Center for Business Intelligence this week in Philadelphia. As a newbie on the pharma reporting scene, I eagerly await these conference opportunities…especially the ones that deal with important sales management topics. This conference, in particular, presented sessions on just about every topic under the sales force sun—from cool new ways to reach physicians to interactive detailing and closed-loop promotion. In particular, I appreciated Matt Pammer’s presentation on examining the benefits and challenges of a rep-facilitated e-detailing program, and how it can complement a sales force strategy. (more…)