Pharmaco - Articles

Switzerland has been a major force in the development of new medicines for over a century. Around 5% of current global pharmaceutical R&D is attributable to Swiss companies.
An international outlook Switzerland has been a major force in the development of new medicines for over a century. Switzerland’s success has been due to its well-established pharmaceutical industry, but this innovative capacity is now being supplemented by a burgeoning biotech industry. The Swiss companies have always had an international outlook and this has been an important contributor to their success. For example, within 15 years of its formation in 1896, Roche opened affiliates in France, Germany, Italy, the USA, the UK and Russia. Swiss companies have now established their presence in over 100 countries, with…

The healthcare industry has utilized the Internet most recently as both a marketing tool and as a facility to pass on important medical information. Leading drug maker Abbott Laboratories will be look
The healthcare industry has utilized the Internet most recently as both a marketing tool and as a facility to pass on important medical information. Leading drug maker Abbott Laboratories will be looking to increase media exposure for its rheumatoid arthritis treatment after launching a dedicated website for the drug. Other websites created were designed to offer additional sources of information for patients suffering from illnesses as serious as cancer to those with allergies and asthma. Online healthcare information Online colorectal cancer resource launches HealthTalk Interactive has…

Roche's recent announcement of an EU price point of $20,570 per year for its novel HIV fusion inhibitor Fuzeon has brought the issue of pricing HIV therapies to the fore. Roche's premium pricing strat
Roche's recent announcement of an EU price point of $20,570 per year for its novel HIV fusion inhibitor Fuzeon has brought the issue of pricing HIV therapies to the fore. Roche's premium pricing strategy, which has already faced criticism from patient advocacy groups, could have ramifications for the future of HIV treatment. In the short term though, drug companies may have difficulty justifying such high prices. The Market Brief 'HIV Pricing Strategies in the US and UK' ocuses on pricing strategies for HIV in the US and UK, each representing contrasting systems: there are no restrictions…

The considerable investment and overheads required for the development of new drugs mean that pharmaceutical companies must establish brand loyalty throughout a product’s lifecycle in order to protect
The considerable investment and overheads required for the development of new drugs mean that pharmaceutical companies must establish brand loyalty throughout a product’s lifecycle in order to protect sales at patent expiry. While marketing has always been key to this, the advent of the Internet has meant that there are now a whole host of new opportunities for influencing market trends. In the brief Using the Internet at Patent Expiry: Creating Brand Loyalty Through Online Tools, Datamonitor examines the various options available to pharmaceutical companies for extending sales beyond patent…

With the recent patent expiry of Claritin, a drug that netted Schering-Plough some $5 billion in sales in 2001-2002, the antihistamine market will soon be flooded by a raft of cheap generic copies of
With the recent patent expiry of Claritin, a drug that netted Schering-Plough some $5 billion in sales in 2001-2002, the antihistamine market will soon be flooded by a raft of cheap generic copies of this one-time blockbuster. Datamonitor investigates the market in light of this patent expiry and the challenge facing Schering-Plough as a result. The expiration of Claritin's patent and subsequent switch to OTC status will dramatically alter the non-sedating antihistamine market both now and in the future. The ramifications of these changes are analyzed in depth in the brief Claritin: Easing…

In rheumatoid arthritis treatment a shift towards the earlier use of DMARDs has threatened the dominance of the NSAID class of drugs. This has opened up considerable opportunity for drugs such as Remi
In rheumatoid arthritis treatment a shift towards the earlier use of DMARDs has threatened the traditional dominance of the NSAID class of drugs. This has opened up considerable opportunity for drugs such as Remicade and Enbrel, the current DMARD leaders. With Abbott's Humira recently approved in the US and awaiting approval in Europe, Datamonitor looks at the other DMARDs capable of upsetting the applecart. Arthritis is the collective term for a wide variety of diseases that affect the tissue and bone of joints. There are over 100 different types of arthritis with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) an…

The proposed merger between Pfizer and Pharmacia will create a company with total ethical sales twice those of its nearest competitor. Declining R&D productivity, and a flood of patent expirations hav
The proposed merger between Pfizer and Pharmacia will create a company with total ethical sales twice those of its nearest competitor. Declining R&D productivity, and a flood of patent expirations have provided the incentive to consolidate, as companies that perceive themselves as strong seek to separate themselves from the weak. Datamonitor examines the potential implications of the Pfizer and Pharmacia's merger. The brief Pharmaceuticals:"Survival of the Fittest" analyses the potential of five key big pharma players - AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKl…

The pharmaceutical industry’s expectations for increasing revenue rely to a large extent on ensuring that their heavy R&D investment translates into new drugs. In 2000, the global pharmaceutical indu
Translating R&D investment into new drugs The pharmaceutical industry’s expectations for increasing revenue rely to a large extent on ensuring that their heavy R&D investment translates into new drugs. In 2000, the global pharmaceutical industry was projected to have invested US$58 billion in R&D (1). In recent years, there has been an increasing emphasis on clinical trials and this has been reflected by a steady rise in R&D costs. For example, the proportion of industry R&D expenditure allocated to clinical studies increased between 1996 and 1998 from 32.5% to 39.5%, res…

The pharmaceutical industry, much of which dreams of having the marketing agility of a primitive vertebrate, has found a sales-promotion tool that sometimes works in the United States and New Zealand.
One of the most heated debates in the pharmaceutical industry is aping the struggles of a hundred million years ago. The typical titanosaur was about 30 metres long and weighed a lithe 80 tonnes. It was very single-minded (as it had to be because it needed over a tonne of food a day) so it did not pay much attention to anything non-edible. However, when it saw danger – or felt something take a chunk out of it – it swung into action; as it thrashed around in the mangrove swamps, not much of the surrounding vegetation survived but the predator was long gone: it took about five seconds for the…

Lung cancer is one of the most prevalent forms of cancer to afflict both men and women, accounting for nearly 15% of all cancer cases. The size of the lung cancer market - estimated at $1.6bn in 2002
Lung cancer is one of the most prevalent forms of cancer to afflict both men and women, accounting for nearly 15% of all cancer cases. The size of the lung cancer market - estimated at $1.6bn in 2002 - can help make or break a drug. Datamonitor examines the potential impact of Eli Lilly’s Affinitac on the current treatment leaders and the lung cancer market as a whole. In Strategic Perspectives: Lung Cancer Datamonitor considers the current drug regimens used in first- and second-line therapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC) in the seven major marke…

Drug development is an expensive and risk-intensive process. Even if a company manages to get its products to market, success is not guaranteed as there is the threat of competitors to contend with.
A Risk-intensive process A huge cost is involved in successfully getting a drug to market, now estimated at around US$800 million (1). In addition, the considerable failure rate makes the process highly risk-intensive. Only about 15 percent of new drugs entering development subsequently reach the market (2). Even if a company manages to get its products to market, success is not guaranteed as there is the threat of competitors to contend with. Companies are finding it increasingly more difficult to dominate the market before competition arrives. Over time there has been a shortened period be…

Is GSK a thrusting new pharma co or an ageing dinosaur? Pfast Forward went to the UK HQ to find out.
HAVING BEEN INVITED to the UK Pharma headquarters for GlaxoSmithKline, Pfast Forward thought it appropriate to gather the industry’s general perceptions about the new organisation. Taking the scientific approach of asking the opinion of friends and colleagues, two distinct camps formed. On one side I listened to views, which likened the new company to the thoughts a parent may have over their two-year-old child, namely a mixture of excitement, pride and with most of the teething problems over, rewarding. The alternative opinion painted the company as too large, dependent upon patent expiring crutches and only capable of paying lip service to modernising. To be honest I was in camp two but ke…

Despite significant initial interest in angiogenesis inhibitors, they have failed to live up to expectations and are yet to be approved by the FDA for cancer treatment. However, there are a number of
Despite significant initial interest in angiogenesis inhibitors, they have failed to live up to expectations and are yet to be approved by the FDA for cancer treatment. However, there are a number of drugs in phase III clinical trials that should finally gain US approval. Iressa and Thalomid look set to demonstrate the potential of the angiogenesis inhibitor class and possibly reap the reward. As a result of the 1970s discovery that angiogenesis is implicated in tumor growth, anti-antigenic, designed to block the formation of new blood vessels thereby 'starving' the tumor's supply of oxygen…

Lets have a look at the healthcare market and some of the things that are changing within it and then assess the impact of the changes on companies’ ability to achieve effective recruitment.
The world is changing. Recruitment in healthcare is moving into new, uncharted areas. Everyone will have to learn techniques to be able to recruit in the new labour market place. Just how true are these [recently] frequently heard remarks and will we all have to do new things and learn new techniques? Lets have a look at the healthcare market and some of the things that are changing within it and then assess the impact of the changes on companies’ ability to achieve effective recruitment. There is now doubt that the number of companies operating in the sector is going down as mergers/acquisitions c…

Increasingly it seems that locational flexibility may be an essential point to mention on the CV for a career-minded corporate animal in the Life Sciences sector.
Clients taking part in a recent PiR survey on the European recruitment market were using words like “geographical flexibility”, “career mobility” and one even coined the phrase “Euromobile” to describe their ideal worker of the future. What does this mean then for professionals looking for new opportunities and for businesses searching for talent in Europe? Increasingly it seems that locational flexibility may be an essential point to mention on the CV for a career-minded corporate animal in the Life Sciences sector. There is no getting away from the fact that companies are looking for a new breed of worker who will move across…

Pfizer's acquisition of Pharmacia for nearly $60 billion in stock has created the largest pharmaceutical company in the world with annual revenues of $48 billion.
Pfizer's acquisition of Pharmacia for nearly $60 billion in stock has created the largest pharmaceutical company in the world with annual revenues of $48 billion. This acquisition comes at a time when the pharmaceuticals and biotech companies are under increased scrutiny and are facing unprecedented challenges. The general public is clamoring for reduced drug prices, and the general malaise affecting corporate America has sparked a closer watch from regulatory authorities. On the other hand, most major pharmaceutical companies have become saddled with declining research productivity, directly affecting their product pipeline. Wit…

More than nine out of ten physicians say they will likely participate in online pharmaceutical drug detailing presentations in the next few months
More than nine out of ten physicians say they will likely participate in online pharmaceutical drug detailing presentations in the next few months and rate the Internet as an 'extremely positive' tool for receiving continuing education programs, according to a survey of doctors conducted by RxCentric. The findings, which were presented this week at the SG Cowen Health Care Conference in Boston, MA, underscore an increasing preference by doctors for Internet-based sales presentations and point out a significant cost savings opportunity for pharmaceutical companies in how they market new drugs. "As the number of new prescription drugs develope…

The recent reporting season for the major drug developers passed without much in the way of commotion and histrionics. Their results were widely flagged beforehand but then that is the advantage of re
AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) was the first of the big three to please with its first-quarter numbers. It reported an 18% jump in earnings to £1.3b on sales of £4.4b. GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) also pleased with its 14% hike in first-quarter earnings to £1.6b and 6% improvement in revenues to £5.1b. However the star of the show was the smallest of the three large cap medicine makers, Shire Pharmaceuticals (LSE: SHP). The company delighted with its 40% jump in earnings to £54m on sales of £169m. Down in the midcaps the full year results from former FTSE 100 company Celltech Group (LSE: CCH) were also…

Our aim is to reduce the cost per hire and time to fill positions whilst continuing to source high quality candidates. At GSK, e-Recruitment is more than posting adverts on the Internet. It is about l
After internal recruitment methods have been exhausted, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) uses the Internet to recruit its people before using more traditional methods. Our aim is to reduce the cost per hire and time to fill positions whilst continuing to source high quality candidates. At GSK, e-Recruitment is more than posting adverts on the Internet. It is about leveraging a wide range of web-based technology. The e-Recruitment team source candidates, promote the GSK on-line brand, develop on-line recruitment strategies, research and evaluate web information for all of the UK-based businesses. Thes…

When AstraZeneca held an important press conference in Amsterdam less than a month after the World Trade Centre attacks, only ten reporters turned up. But their PR agency wasn’t worried.
When AstraZeneca held an important press conference in Amsterdam less than a month after the World Trade Centre attacks, only ten reporters turned up. But their PR agency wasn’t worried. The picturesque Dutch city may have been unusually quiet, but 33 key industry journalists from nine countries were flexing their fingers and dialing up to participate in the event over the internet. And interested parties from all over the world were not only able to watch the live results of the first head to head clinical trial between Nexium and lansoprazole, but also participate in a real time question and answer sess…