Recruitment - Articles

Over the past 30 years, numerous clinical trials evaluating a variety of different classes of drugs have conclusively shown the benefit of blood pressure reduction in reducing the risk of strokes and cardiovascular mortality. Moreover, such trials have clearly demonstrated that blood pressure is unlikely to be controlled with a single drug and often two or more therapies are required to achieve blood pressure targets.
Over the past 30 years, numerous clinical trials evaluating a variety of different classes of drugs have conclusively shown the benefit of blood pressure reduction in reducing the risk of strokes and cardiovascular mortality. Moreover, such trials have clearly demonstrated that blood pressure is unlikely to be controlled with a single drug and often two or more therapies are…

Altana has announced the delay of its US application for Daxas until late 2005 due to clinical trial enrolment taking longer than originally anticipated. The news will be of further concern to the company's investors, coming on the back of the recent announcement that another of its respiratory drugs, Alvesco, failed to win full FDA approval.
Daxas is Altana's selective phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE-IV) inhibitor that is being investigated as a treatment for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in partnership with Pfizer the and . Altana confirmed earlier this year that a US 12-month long-term efficacy study in COPD was still in the recruiting phase, which is likely to be the 1,100-patient OPUS study that will determine the effect of Daxas (roflumilast) in the treatment of…

Treatment with combined estrogen/progestin doubles the risk of VTE in post-menopausal women and for obese women the risk is even higher, a recent study showed. However millions of women no longer taking HRT remain at risk of osteoporosis, which presents a huge market opportunity for non-hormonal classes in treating and preventing osteoporosis.
The final data on the incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in the Womens Health Initiative Estrogen Plus Progestin clinical trial was published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The aim of the trial, part of a 15 year program to investigate morbidity and mortality in women that started in 1991, was to determine whether hormone replacement therapy with combined estrogen and progestin may offer some cardioprotection t…

Healthcare professionals in the UK are already experiencing the benefits of being able to view this extensive product and disease-based resource online at a time and place that is convinient to them
Built by PharmiWeb Solutions on behalf of AstraZeneca in the , The Nexium GP Resource is an exciting new audio visual resource intended as an aid to decision making in the management of reflux disease and appropriate prescribing of NEXIUM® (esomeprazole). To read more about NEXIUM, view the prescribing information by clicking here. This is an innovative way for AstraZeneca to provide educational resources and communicate product and disease information to busy healthcare professionals in a format and at a time that is convenient to them. Features of this resource include: ·   &n…

In 2001, Flame Health was launched in response to the increasing need for an efficient, dedicated recruitment service for the health sector.
In 2001, Flame Health was launched in response to the increasing need for an efficient, dedicated recruitment service for the health sector. Created as a remedy to the traditional agency approach, Flame Health Ltd prides itself on innovation and has become a pioneering business with a firm emphasis on consultancy.  Scott Liversidge, Managing Director comments on the growth of the company and how they have developed through the three years, “Since our inception, we have grown significantly and continue to deliver highly focused solutions for 2004 and beyond.  As a prospective client, we make it our business to understand your requirements by w…

Recruitment is a very inexact science – the statistics in favour of making the right decision based on the traditional interview alone are horrifyingly low (the percentage is in single figures). This is a fact that has really only been acknowledged in recent years and, as a result, organisations have looked for ways to improve the success rate of their selection choices.
Assessment centres have their origins in the military where they were used in training and development.  The idea was then adopted by large commercial organisations, which used them as part of graduate recruitment programmes.   However, the emergence of competency based selection, over the last 20 years or so, has brought the assessment centre into more common usage amongst serious recruiters. What is an…

The recent government suspension of the manufacturing license for major flu vaccine maker Chiron in the UK has left many countries facing a severe shortage in flu vaccine supply for the 2004-05 season. In the light of previous vaccine provision difficulties, Datamonitor's Laura Harris argues that, in the longer term, cell culture vaccines could resolve the annual flu vaccine quandary...
On , the government announced it was to suspend the manufacturing license of California-based vaccines company Chiron, due to concerns about its manufacturing process. The news came soon after the company had announced a delay in shipment of four million doses since they did not meet sterility standards. Chiron, one of the world's largest vaccine companies with sales of $678 million in 2003, currently man…

Last week, Merck & Co sent shockwaves through the pharmaceutical market with the announcement that it had voluntarily withdrawn its blockbuster arthritis drug Vioxx. Datamonitor's Adele Schulz examines the likely impact of this event, for the remainder of 2004 and beyond, on both Merck and its rivals...
In the days since Merck's action, speculation has been rife as to the implications for the remainder of the COX-2 market. What is certain is that existing pipeline products will be subjected to additional FDA scrutiny, most likely delaying the US launch of Novartis's Prexige (lumiracoxib) and Merck & Co.'s Arcoxia (etoricoxib), particularly as the emergence of Vioxx's (rofecoxib) cardiovascular side effects only occurred after 18 months means lengthy clinical trials are likely to be need…

Isotechnika's Q2 loss shows a sharp reversal in fortunes. Profit in 2003 was largely attributable to a research payment for ISA247 from Roche, which has since pulled out of part of the deal. Isotechnika will be hoping that Roche continues to support ISA247 in the field of transplantation, but, says Datamonitor's Timothy Pang, it would be boosted by the cash that a new partner would bring...
Canadian drug development specialist Isotechnika reported a Q2 loss this week of C$4.55 million, or six Canadian cents a share. This loss contrasts with the profit reported for Q2 2003, which Isotechnika credited mainly to an C$8.4 million research payment from Roche. Roche and Isotechnika had been jointly developing ISA247, the Canadian company's lead candidate, as part of a global co-development deal s…

Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly looking to technology to increase sales, according to COLIN WILLIAMS, Head of Marketing at PharmiWeb Solutions...
Faced with spiralling marketing costs, reduced product lifecycles and an increasing reliance on ‘blockbuster’ drug launches, many pharmaceutical companies are turning to internet technologies to help them more effectively market and sell their products and develop new channels to an increasingly complex customer base. The challenge faced by sales professionals in the pharmaceutical sector is to identify how new communications technologies can provide their companies with a crucial competitive edge and keep tabs on their rivals’ initiatives. One of the biggest buzzwords currently being used in the pharmaceutical industry is ‘e-detaili…

Due to more and better screening practices leading to earlier diagnosis, survival rates for breast cancer have risen to as high as 87% in some developed countries. But globally, 380,000 people (mainly women) will still die from breast cancer in 2004. Datamonitor's Fleur Pijpers explains that in the future, new targeted therapies could lead to successful treatment for each individual patient...
Chemotherapy drugs (cytotoxics) are currently the gold standard in breast cancer treatment, and are expected to remain so through until 2008. Antihormonal treatment also remains an option for patients that are suitable, but the future of effective treatment for breast cancer resides with more targeted therapies. This move is largely propelled by the harsh side effects experienced by cancer patient…

Having worked as a recruitment consultant for six years I soon realised that online recruitment was my main source of applicants. This maybe due to how easy it is for applicants to apply online and more people having Internet access. Which type of site do you tend to look at on the web? A news site? A site about your hobby or team? A job board such as Pharmiweb? With more people searching for jobs online, more companies see the benefit and use job boards to direct them to their careers page
Since 1994, when the first Internet recruitment sites were born, online recruitment has grown to a multi-million pound industry with sites ranging from small niche industry sector job boards to the generalist recruitment sites.Over the years we have seen recruitment sites come and go, and now, after…

Eventually, methods developed by research laboratories need to be transferable to face the rigours of external validation or the production line. Many researchers, however, are unaware that this procedure must be adequately documented, a crucial issue when it comes to regulation and outsourcing.
Steve Westcott MD Melbourn Scientific provides some pragmatic advice Any method must be capable of providing results that have integrity and are fit for purpose. Validation is a crucial way of ensuring that challenges such as a change of operator or small changes in analytical conditions will still result in reliable data. However, although the validation protocol states the challenges that are to be applied to the analytical process and the deviations from the norm that are considered acceptable,…

Pharmaceutical practices from manufacturing to marketing are coming under increasing scrutiny from watchdogs, regulators and shareholders. As huge fines and record settlements erode profits, Datamonitor's Andrew Jones argues that pharma companies must focus on tightening compliance...
Pharma companies have been making the headlines for all the wrong reasons recently. Reports in the press suggest that AstraZeneca will likely be found guilty by the EC of competition abuses following the charge in July 2003 of allegedly "misusing the patent system and other regulatory procedures for the marketing of drugs". AstraZeneca could face fines that reach as much as 10% of turnover. Eli Lilly is also in the spotlight for marketing abuses, being issued a subpoena over the marketing and promotional prac…

After my many years of conducting interviews and recruiting for both junior and senior employees, I have come to the conclusion that if there is one single thing that a person can do to secure a second interview or a desired position it is believe in themselves.
Self-Confidence or No Confidence? Having worked with young adults in a supportive role, assisting them to get their foot on the career ladder, it has become evident that generally speaking the one thing they have in common is a lack of confidence. At the other end of the scale, in my role as a sales manager I have come across some extremely confident – in some cases, even arrogant – candidates. Neither of these situations is ideal. In order for a prospective employer to hire you, they have to believe that you will be competent in…

The trade in discounted prescription drugs between Canada and the US has elicited considerable controversy on both sides of the border. Yet recent figures show that sales of drugs via Canadian pharmacies have not been as great as some had predicted. However, as Datamonitor's David Deon explains, pharmaceutical companies could go further by driving the expansion of online prescribing in the US...
and have generated about $545,000 in sales in the first five months of their state-sponsored websites offering Canadian drugs, according to figures made public last week. These are the first public accounting figures showing how much residents are using the websites, which were created by the governors of the two states. Yet the level of sales recorded represents a fraction of the cross-border bus…

Bacterial skin diseases like gangrene can now expect an onslaught of new specialist medications. However, skin infections make up a relatively small proportion of the $20.4 billion annual global antibacterial market, which, says Datamonitor's Amber Gibson, raises questions about why such conditions are the current focus of so much antibacterial product development...
Although skin and skin structure infections represent one of the most common types of bacterial ailments, they are still relatively infrequent when compared to respiratory tract and urinary tract infections. Skin and skin structure infections accounted for only 3% of the $6.5 billion US drugstore sales attributable to antibacterial infections in 2003. However, skin infections are the one sector of the anti-bacterial market wher…

What exactly is a Curriculum Vitae? Is it a List of your Skills and Experience? Is it a Mini Biography? Is it a chance to get someone to fully appreciate your Skills and Achievements? Truth be known, It’s none of these.
What is a CV? A CV in its purest form is nothing more and nothing less than a chance to market yourself to prospective recruiters and employers to increase your chances of being invited to an interview. A CV is an Interview-Winning Tool. It is not a Personal Biography, or a List of your skills and experience, it is a fluid document which means different things to different people, but is relevant to all. CV Myths Before looking at what makes a good CV, lets first dispel a few myths: ‘The more they know about me, the more chance they have of being impressed’ Wrong…

‘To change Career, or to change Company?’ Although these seven words are easy to utter (and utter you will, over and over again), they are actually very deceptive as really what you are asking is, ‘Which direction should my life now take?’
Consider these statements:   1.  I enjoy what I’m doing at the moment, but I often wonder if I would be better suited to something else   2. Although I have a good Idea of what I want to achieve, I have no motivation to get there.   3. I’ve worked at this company for a long time, and am very comfortable, but I’m not sure what else there is for me to do here. If you recognise any of these statements then it is highly likely you have reached the ‘Career Crossroads’. Although it sounds like a kind of Career Mid-life crisis it really isn’…

Everyone knows that first impressions count. There have been countless articles on how to ‘Dress to impress’, and how to make sure the first five minutes of your interview are geared towards creating the perfect ‘First Impression’.
Everyone knows that first impressions count. There have been countless articles on how to ‘Dress to impress’, and how to make sure the first five minutes of your interview are geared towards creating the perfect ‘First Impression’. But what about last impressions? Is saying goodbye less important that saying hello? When the interview is over, and you jump up from you chair declaring that you’re ‘Glad that’s over, as I’m desperate to head off down the pub to catch the game’, or ‘I’m happy the interview is finished as I’ve had loads of interviews this week, and…