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Welcome to the JUNE/JULY 2009 issue of Pharma Marketing News. This is the Executive Summary version. See Article Summaries below.

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John Mack, Publisher & Editor
Pharma Marketing News
editor@news.pharma-mkting.com

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CONTENTS

• Up Front: Whither Twitter for Pharma?
• Pharma Marketers Dive Deeper Into Social Media: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly Case Studies
• How Should Pharma Engage in Social Networks?: Thoughts on Best Practices
• FDA Draft Guidance on Risk: Reading the Tea Leaves

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What's the Best Way for Pharma to Sponsor CME? This survey attempts to get feedback from the Pharma Marketing Network community on the following questions: Is single-company sponsored CME strongly biased in favor of the sponsor's product(s)? Should pharma-sponsored CME should be eliminated or greatly reduced and other means found for paying to develop CME (eg, direct payment by physicians, government grants, private foundation grants, etc.)? Is industry sponsorship of CME is vital to the improvement of medical outcomes? Is the best way for pharmaceutical companies to sponsor CME is through block grants made to medical schools and/or professional societies? Etc. Please take 2 minutes to answer this survey relating to industry sponsorship of FREE, ACCME accredited continuing medical education (CME) for physicians. Take the survey here. You will be able to see a summary of up-to-date de-identified results upon completion of the survey. Your comments are confidential (anonymous) unless you specifically provide your contact information at the end of the survey and allow us to attribute comments to you personally.

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Article Summaries

Up Front

Whither Twitter for Pharma? Twitter is growing by leaps and bounds! According to comScore Media Metrix data, there were 17 million U.S. visitors to Twitter.com during April, 2009. This represents an 83% gain vs. March and a 3,000% gain vs. year ago. Neilsen, on the other hand, estimates there was a 1,448 percent increase between May 2008 and May 2009. All this makes Twitter attractive to pharmaceutical marketers. But can pharma's Twitter campaigns reach a significant number of people? Will they reach the right people? Is Twitter even appropriate for branded messages?

Download this article and read the details here: http://www.news.pharma-mkting.com/PMNews_86_UpFront.pdf

Pharma Marketers Dive Deeper Into Social Media

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Case Studies There are literally dozens of pharma companies with their toes in the waters of social media, which include blogs, YouTube videos, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, etc. Only a few intrepid pharmaceutical companies, however, have dived deeper. This article focuses in some detail on three interesting pharma social media initiatives: (1) Procter & Gamble's Asacol Community for Ulcerative Colitis Patients; (2) Novo Nordisk's Levemir-branded Race With Insulin Twitter account; and (3) UCB's sponsored epilepsy community on the PatientsLikeMe website. One of these is a good example of how pharma marketers can leverage social media, one is bad, and the other is just plain ugly! In baseball, one hit out of three at-bats isn't bad, but for marriages and social pharmaceutical marketing it's not that good. Topic headings include: A Faux, Dysfunctional Community More Serious Problems What a REAL UC Community Looks Like UCB's Sponsorship Partnership with PatientsLikeMe Pharmacovigilance is Key "Race with Insulin" Branded Twitter Account The Three Big Pharma Companies & Social Media FDA Safe, But... A Reminder Tweet Is It Spam? Missed Opportunity to Educate

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How Should Pharma Engage in Social Networks?

Thoughts on Best Practices The pharmaceutical industry is currently experimenting with social media as a channel for promoting products and/or enhancing disease awareness. Some of these efforts have been less than stellar, while others have been exemplary (see "Pharma Marketers Dive Deeper Into Social Media"). Each pharmaceutical company should have its own guidelines for best practices in the social media space. Pharma companies can either develop best social media practices by learning from mistakes and public criticism (eg, see "Novo Nordisk's Branded (Levemir) Tweet is Sleazy Twitter Spam!"; http://tinyurl.com/m8ftr5) or through discussion and analysis of specific issues. To assist in that discussion, Pharma Marketing News provided two forums: An ePharma Pioneer Club members-only discussion of the first-ever pharma branded Tweet (see "Pharma Twitter Best Practices"; http://tinyurl.com/maoxom), and The "How Should Pharma Engage in Patient/Physician Social Networks?" survey, which explores issues relating to pharma advertising and engagement in social networks. This article focuses on presenting a summary of the above-mentioned survey, including comments from respondents. The results are not meant to offer a scientifically significant analysis, but to suggest ideas that may be helpful to pharmaceutical marketers who are currently working on developing their own guidelines. Topics, survey results, charts include: Need for Internal Guidelines Branded Ad Best Practice FDA Guidance Needed Rules for Engaging in Social Networks A Question of Transparency Clearance by Legal/Regulatory a Barrier Protected Peer-to-Peer Conversations Public Guidelines/Policies

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FDA Draft Guidance on Risk

Reading the Tea Leaves On May 27, 2009, FDA published in the Federal Register draft "Guidance for Industry, Presenting Risk Information in Prescription Drug and Medical Device Promotion." This guidance focuses almost exclusively on print and broadcast promotional ads. It is possible, however, to apply some of FDA's "thinking" to certain kinds of Internet ads such as search engine paid ads. This article reviews the draft guidance with a special focus on how it may apply to the Internet and how marketers can use the comment period to raise the issue of FDA regulation of sponsored search engine ads. NOTE: Just for fun, try "Harry's Drug Risk Parlor Game" to gauge how risky you think Rx drugs are. Topic headings include: FDA Neglects the Internet in Its Studies Omission of Risk Information The Reasonable Consumer Standard Summary of Draft Guidance The Case of Adwords FDA Study on Improving Presentation of Brief Summary

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Pharma Twitter Best Practices An ePharma Pioneer Club members-only discussion of the first-ever pharma branded Tweet. What can we learn from this? Is it a good model for other brands to follow? Listen to Podcast Now!

Pharma on Twitter: Boehringer Ingelheim A conversation with Judith von Gordon and John Pugh, external communications executives at Boehringer Ingelheim, about their use of Twitter and other social media networks. More info here... Listen to Podcast Now!

Each issue of Pharma Marketing News is packed with facts, opinions, and case studies based upon interviews with experts in the field of pharmaceutical marketing. Highlights of presentations from industry conferences, contact lists for experts consulted, and links to references help subscribers keep up to date on best practices and network with their peers.

Do you wish to contribute an article? E-mail John Mack, editor of PHARMA MARKETING NEWS , at johnmack@virsci.com.

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