Jublia, from Valeant for toenail fungus, has made heavy use of the celebrity route in its advertising. First, they used tennis legend John McEnroe and now are adding talk show host Mario Lopez to the mix. Most of us remember Mario as Slater on Saved by the Bell.The Jublia ads are light in tone and […]
Outdoing Bernie is hard to do but Hillary seems to be more anti-drug company than the avowed socialist candidate. Hillary is tired of high drug prices. Here is someone that charges a public university $225,000 for a canned speech and is outraged at high prices from drug companies. Never let hypocrisy affect a good political […]
Bernie Sanders, the fast rising socialist/populist candidate for President, does not particularly like drug companies. He thinks they make outrageous profits and is for introducing legislation to cap prices. He will propose Medicare negotiate prices, something prohibited under the prescription drug act. He will also require disclosure of costs of developing drugs, and require transparency […]
There are no doubt some very expensive prescription drugs that have industry critics upset. Gilead has launched a hep C cure with pills costing one thousand dollars a pill for a three month daily treatment. Some cancer drugs cost $100,000 or more that extend life by a few months. Critics are pushing for government action […]
I kid you not. Kim Kardashian is the subject of an FDA warning letter to a drug company. OMG, and LOL! WTF! Kim decided to post on Instagram how great this morning sickness pill worked. It is called Diclegis from Duchesnay. Kim is paid to promote the drug but is not quite up to speed […]
We are hearing the term patient engagement a lot these days. It is the subject of many blogs, articles and conferences. But what is it? That depends on who is defining it. From a drug makers perspective patient engagement is getting prospective drug users to know about your disease category, drug and keeping them persistent […]
Our colleague Marker Weigand passed away last week. Marker was a DTC colleague at Amgen who was stricken with ALS. He will be remembered by all who knew him as a wonderful person and loving family man. I am always shocked when someone so young passes prematurely. I knew Marker as a Facebook friend and […]
The FDA is interested in researching how drug ads are perceived when viewed alone versus with a spouse. They feel that when viewed with a spouse, drug benefit and risk may be interpreted differently. I think the study could yield interesting information. Does viewing with another person cause different benefit/risk takeaways? The FDA has a […]
I asked noted advertising critic Bob Garfield to speak at the DTC National last week. As usual Bob basically said media as we know it is dead and we are all missing the radical shift from mass to targeted advertising. In the Q&A, I told Bob that for our Industry the reality is that DTC […]
We have an impending health care cost crisis facing many Americans. Anyone with employer subsidized insurance has seen their share of the cost rise over the years. My personal premiums as a Pfizer retiree have risen every year and now approach $5000 a year plus my deductible. So before I see much reimbursement I pay […]
