SUMMARY

Many issues are clouding the picture for investors interested in the pharmaceutical sector. There's concern about product recalls and litigation (e.g., Merck's Vioxx), blockbuster drugs going off patent (e.g., Pfizer's Lipitor) and new hurdles to drug approval at the Food and Drug Administration. Although a few drug stocks are up this year -- notably AstraZeneca (up 33%) -- most drug stocks are down anywhere from 3% (J&J) to 16% (Merck).

In this environment it is more and more difficult to pick a high-performing drug company stock and institutional investors need the insights from pharmaceutical business experts to guide their decisions. This is the mission of Vista Research, a specialized unit of Standard & Poor's, which provides institutional money managers with timely access to members of the Society of Industry Leaders (SIL) - a growing network of more than 100,000 industry thought leaders and practitioners.

Topics covered and questions answered include:

• Why is it important that investors get information about new drugs?
• What is and is not appropriate information to share with investors?
• Member benefits for pharmaceutical marketers
• About consultations between Society members and investors