Medical comms - Articles

Researchers in Auckland have decoded the structure of a molecule that may provide clues for a new type of diabetes drug.
Researchers in Auckland have decoded the structure of a molecule that may provide clues for a new type of diabetes drug. Through a combination of biology and chemistry, researchers at the Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery have mapped the atomic structure of myo-inositol oxygenase (MIOX), a key enzyme involved in the body’s metabolism of sugars. Details of the structure, outlined in the prestigious US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may allow researchers at the Wilkins Centre to create a new class of drug for the treatment of diabetes. Diabetes affects about 200 million people worldwide, and is estimated to kill four million people…

From October 1st 2006 the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 - is coming in to force, making it illegal in the UK to recruit or select candidates based on their age and to discriminate based on age whilst in employment rather than based on skills and competencies. This will apply to discrimination againt young and old, and it WILL dramatically affect recruitment and employment in the UK.
Here is a quick round up of the main points from the Regulations  According to the Employers Forum on Age: "More generally, employers must audit carefully their recruitment advertising and procedures. For example, minimum requirements for experience or qualifications are likely to constitute indirect discrimination against younger persons - employers in most cases should therefore avoid langu…

In 2005, 44% of 'mid pharma' revenues were derived from products that have been discovered outside of the in-house development pipelines. In fact, even in the absence of any further external sourcing between now and 2010, the dependence on revenues of products that came from external pipelines will continue to increase, coming to stand at 49% by 2010.
Datamonitor defines 'mid pharma' as those companies within the PharmaVitae company universe with less than $10 billion in ethical revenues in 2005, excluding Japanese and biotechnology companies. Within this group, the players can be broken down into further sub-groups: the 'big six,' those focused on the central nervous system (CNS) market, those focused on the cardiovascular (CV) market, and domestic players.  The 'big six' - Boehrin…

A new DPP-4 inhibitor class of oral anti-diabetic medicines, working by the novel mechanism of incretin enhancement, is poised to revolutionise the management of Type 2 diabetes. Data presented at a recent European Association for the Study of Diabetes meeting suggest they will help fill the unmet need for effective anti-diabetic drugs without unacceptable side effects. Numerous agents are in development with two, Galvus (vildagliptin, Novartis) and Januvia (sitagliptin, Merck) awaiting approval
Type 2 diabetes already affects 230 million people and is rising at epidemic levels with a worldwide prevalence of 350 million forecast for 2025. The global population is getting progressively older and more obese, even in developing countries, and that increases cases of Type 2 disease with their a…

Rapra Technology’s First International Conference on Silicone Elastomers took place in Frankfurt on 19-20 September attracting over 120 delegates from as far away as Australia, Brazil, Russia and the US. Presentations covered silicone elastomer materials, liquid silicone rubber, the processing of silicone elastomers, additives and finishing for silicone elastomers. Delegates praised the breadth of the programme content and the practical nature of many of the papers.
International Conference on Silicone Elastomes Highlights Future Growth Rapra Technology’s First International Conference on Silicone Elastomers took place in Frankfurt on 19-20 September attracting over 120 delegates from as far away as , , and the . Presentations covered silicone elastomer materials, liquid silicone rubber,…

Counterfeit anti-infective drugs are a serious issue, causing significant morbidity and mortality, particularly in poorer countries, and having a huge financial impact on pharmaceutical firms worldwide. To make matters worse, high-tech solutions proposed and applied in the developed world are not easily transferable to the regions of Africa and Asia, where more than 50% of drugs may be fake.
The impact of counterfeit anti-infectives is highlighted in an upcoming article in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. This article underscores the fact that the increasingly widespread production and distribution of counterfeit drugs is a growing problem, causing significant morbidity and mortality, an increase in drug resistance and toxicity, and reducing the effectiveness of healthcare provision. The fa…

The Hellenic Competition Committee has issued GSK with a favorable decision, indicating that it can restrict the supply of pharmaceuticals to wholesalers to prevent parallel importation of these drugs, without breaking competition laws. This is an important step for legally restricting parallel importation from one of Europe's biggest parallel trade markets, as Datamonitor's Dr Mark Belsey discovers…
In November 2000, Glaxo Wellcome (now GlaxoSmithKline), imposed restrictions on wholesalers' supply of three of its drugs, Imigran (sumatriptan), Lamictal (lamotrigine) and Serevent (salmeterol) in the Greek market. Parallel importation of these drugs was known to take place, whereby these drugs were purchased at a low price in the Greek market and then exported out of the country and into Eu…

Running clinical trials and recruiting experienced clinical personnel in the UK has certainly challenged many senior managers and recruiters over the past year. At a recent UK conference, both the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) and a UK pharmaceutical website were quoted as stating that there continues to be a skills shortage across all disciplines; a lack of long-term educational investment and less development of the existing talent pool were cited as the main reaso
Running clinical trials and recruiting experienced clinical personnel in the UK has certainly challenged many senior managers and recruiters over the past year. At a recent UK conference, both the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) and a UK pharmaceutical website were quoted a…

Strategic Research Institute’s Phase IV Clinical Trials (PCT) conference features a fully packed informational two day event organized into a series of discussions focusing on the major Phase IV and Patient Recruitment/ Retention issues of today.
Strategic Research Institute’s Phase IV Clinical Trials (PCT) conference features a fully packed informational two day event organized into a series of discussions focusing on the major Phase IV and Patient Recruitment/ Retention issues of today. Some of the topics include the following: Selecting and Qualifying Investigators Key Drivers & Growth Opportunities in Phase IV Trials Patient Recruitment & Retention Effective Use of Technology for Data Collection and Analysis Optimizing Your Post-Marketing Clinical Research The Phase…

GAIN VALUABLE INSIGHT INTO: • How CMS’ movement toward P4P will Impact Healthcare and Payors Nationwide • Large Employer HR Strategy: How Aligning Incentives and Creating a Health • Information Exchange will Reduce your Healthcare Spend • Health Plans: How Data, Transparency and Consumers will Affect your P4P Initiatives
Pay for Performance in Healthcare: Strategies for Achieving Value & Improving Health Outcomes has been designed as the perfect forum for thought leaders in pay for performance and value-driven healthcare to convene and share critical perspectives on the current status and future of P4P. A dynamic mix of speakers, panels and case studies will provide the forum for interactive discussion and issue dialogue. Please join us in November 13-14 for this exciting even…

Highlights Include: Five Presentations from CMS including an Update on the 2007 Landscape Understanding the Short- and Long-Term Impact of Part D Strategies for Driving Senior Enrollment Innovative Approaches to Public & Private Partnerships Analyzing Patient Perceptions of Out-of-Pocket Costs The Importance of Pharmacoeconomic Data Securing Favorable Formulary Coverage in the Part D Environment The Future of Employer Plans
Please join your colleagues to discuss what the Part D market looks like today, how things could change in the future, and some of the critical short- and long-term considerations for all stakeholders including pharmaceutical and biotech marketers, managed care organizations (MCOs), pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), and CMS. Highlights Include: Five…

i3 Pharma Resourcing focuses on the provision of high calibre clinical research personnel to the pharmaceutical industry, via our permanent and contract resourcing services. If you have recently been involved in the recruitment of clinical research staff, you will be aware that there continues to be a shortage of trained, experienced CRAs. With pressures on both human and financial resources throughout the industry, new staff are required to “hit the ground running”.
Background for clients i3 Pharma Resourcing focuses on the provision of high calibre clinical research personnel to the pharmaceutical industry, via our permanent and contract resourcing services. If you have recently been involved in the recruitment of clinical research staff,  you will be aware that there continues t…

We would like to invite you to join us here at our offices in Maidenhead, Berkshire from 10.30 onwards to 14.30.
Saturday 9th September 2006, i3 are opening our doors from 10.30…………. We would like to invite you to join us here at our offices in Maidenhead, from 10.30 onwards to 14.30. You will have the chance to meet our experienced recruitment team for both internal i3 opportunities and opportunities with our Pharma Resourcing division. Please bring along your questions and an updated CV, should you be interested. We will also be holding a number of presentations during this time. We cover a number of areas…. Clinical Research Associates Data Management Project Managers Clinical Trials Administrators Finance Entry- level opportunities (partnership training course) Quality Assuran…

In an earlier field report, we looked at some of the issues surrounding manufacturing process instructions (MPIs) and manufacturing process records (MPRs). I want to look at the issue of recording data in MPRs in more detail, as the format of your MPR has a huge impact on its usability and therefore the error rate.
There are a number of different aspects to data recording and formatting. Each is considered separately below. Overall structure Structure is important for two reasons: it helps your users find their way around, and it can help to reduce the number of signatures required in the document.The structure of your MPR is necessarily related to the structure of your MPI; indeed, the two may be combined as one document. If your instructions are just that – a list of instructions with n…

Paul Hawkins, the General Secretary for the Health and Beauty Association, tells us his philosophy for career progression and how the H&BA’s new website will help them to progress. The website itself promotes HBA’s attempt to bring Health and Beauty companies together in debating and discussing how to develop and adapt the industry to meet changing customer and consumer needs. Paul hopes the move towards e-business will do just that.
Focus On: Paul Hawkins Paul Hawkins, the General Secretary for the Health and Beauty Association, tells us his philosophy for career progression and how the H&BA’s new website will help them to progress.  The website itself promotes HBA’s attempt to bring Health and Beauty companies together in debating and discussing how to develop and adapt the in…

You may not exactly be breaking into the gold vaults at Fort Knox, scaling the heights of MI5 à la James Bond or hacking into The Pentagon security system, but you want to enter the pharmaceutical industry, which can be nearly as difficult.
You may not exactly be breaking into the gold vaults at , scaling the heights of MI5 à la James Bond or hacking into The Pentagon security system, but you want to enter the pharmaceutical industry, which can be nearly as difficult.  However, the industry is currently undergoing rapid growth and development providing interest and opportunity for the feisty new graduate.  Despite this, available positions are limited and competition is fierce so you have to demonstrate that enthusiasm, drive and ability you know you have.  Read up and be k…

With overall healthcare spending set to continue rising, payers are implementing cost containment measures, increasing the importance of developing a robust and flexible pricing and reimbursement (P&R) strategy. In formulating and adapting a P&R strategy, it is vital for drug developers to understand how P&R fits into the US healthcare market, and to identify the different types of P&R controls.
In the , the two most important payers are the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and private payers. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important for drug developers to set up P&R policy tracking and to implement P&R strategy that is capable of rapidly responding to changes in the P&R environment. The introduction of Medicare Part D in January 2006 highlights the imp…

Candidate Profile: Paul Collins Current Job Title: Clinical Project Manager II Department: Clinical Commenced with ICON: July 1997
Candidate Profile: Paul Collins Current Job Title:  Clinical Project Manager II Department: Clinical Commenced with ICON: July 1997 Paul Collins is a Clinical Project Manager II at ICON and has worked for them since July 1997.  Paul explains the reasons for the longevity of his career at ICON and why he enjoys the working environment so much he has stayed there for nine years.  Paul answers our questions and describes his step by step journey to the top of the career ladder, recounting the support and development he received at every rung. 1. Can you summarise your career history with ICON? I started with ICON as a student during m…

Andy Sarfas is our mover and shaker of the week. He is the Global Internet Business Manager for Reckitt Benckiser.
Focus On: Andy Sarfas   Andy Sarfas is our mover and shaker of the week.  He is the Global Internet Business Manager for Reckitt Benckiser and is responsible for consumer portfolios ranging from household to healthcare, for example popular products Calgon and Clearasil.  Reckitt Benckiser’s values are summed up in four simple words: Achievement, commitment, entrepreneurship and teamwork, which Andy believes is reflected in their commitment to the development of online marketing.  Andy tells us how he enjoys the travel this role allows him to partake in, (but admits he is less thrilled with travelling to and from every day), and discusses the future of mar…

David Mitchell is the Commercial Director at McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a company that produces remedies for self-treatment available at pharmacies and supermarket stores.
Focus on: David Mitchell Every week we will be providing a light hearted focus on the movers and shakers in the Pharma industry.  We will be quizzing them about their thoughts on e-business and its future in the industry, whilst also divulging some trivia about their personal lives.  David Mitchell is the Commercial Director at McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a company that produces remedies for self-treatment available at pharmacies and supermarket stores, an area he feels will become ever more significant over the next few years. David answers our questions this week, giving us an insight into everything from hi…