TODAY’S NEWS
Sepracor to be purchased by Japanese company, according to report – By purchasing Sepracor, which sells drugs to treat central nervous system and respiratory disorders, Dainippon would be able to open a sales channel in the U.S. for its new schizophrenia drug currently in phase-3 clinical studies…more
Pfizer fined $2.3 Billion (not a typo!) – Officials from the Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services said the world’s largest drug company promoted four drugs for use on certain ailments or at dosages that were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration…more Plus, Jim Edwards adds 10 amazing facts about the settlement.
On the Pfizer fraud (note that the nonsense occurred at Pharmacia, before Pfizer acquired them), here’s the “money quote” from one of the internal whistleblowers, which perfectly underscores my recent blog post on the Gold-in Rule:
“In the Army, I was expected to protect people at all costs,” said the whistleblower, John Kopchinski, a West Point graduate and Gulf War veteran. “At Pfizer I was expected to increase profits at all costs, even when sales meant endangering lives. I couldn’t do that.” (hat tip: PharmaGossip)
Forest Labs on the hot seat for questionable promotional practices – those 88 pages make clear that one of the principal means by which Forest hoped to persuade psychiatrists, primary care doctors and other medical specialists to prescribe Lexapro was by finding many ways to put money into doctors’ pockets and food into their mouths…more And, more commentary here on Daniel Carlat’s blog.
Novartis reports results on Diovan and reduced cardiovascular events – Novartis presented data at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress in Barcelona, Spain, which demonstrated that the addition of the angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) Diovan (valsartan) to a non-ARB-based treatment regimen for high blood pressure provided a significant 45% relative reduction in cardiovascular events…more
Promising (though very early) results for a new Genentech cancer drug – In a small study, the drug, known as GDC-0449, shrank tumors in 18 of 33 patients, or 55%, with an advanced form of a skin cancer called basal cell carcinoma. In addition, the drug had a dramatic, though temporary, effect on a 26-year-old patient who had undergone multiple surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation in an unsuccessful battle against a brain cancer called medulloblastoma….more
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Hospital/Large Account Selling. Does your hospital field force need training programs? Are you expanding your expertise in selling to large and more complex accounts? Contact us (stevew at impactiviti dot com, or phone at 973-947-7429) for information and recommendations!
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Ask the Ten Questions. As a consultant, here’s what I ask to try to help bring shape to your training/marketing initiative.
JUST FOR FUN
We don’t see them too often at this latitude. But here are 30 great aurora borealis shots. One day, I want to see one of these “live”!
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