Digital Pharma blog
Byte-sized roundup
08/03/10 permalink A roundup of digital developments, including Pfizer’s new Facebook page and beta-phase science blog, Lundbeck, BMS, Baxter and Janssen-Cilag on Twitter, Shire supports Rare Diseases Day, Merck Serono’s fertility survey and NHS online health checks expand to ‘mid-lifers’.
Pfizer has launched an official Facebook page which it hopes will appeal to a wide range of people, including consumers and employees, both past and present.
It has nearly 2,800 fans and links out to a number of interesting company initiatives, including a two-part beta-phase site to showcase its science expertise and people who work at the company. (Read More.)
AZ outlines its online principles
02/03/10 permalink AstraZeneca says it has an obligation to use social media to help empower patients and prescribers to make informed decisions about its products.
The pharma company made the assertion in its submission to the FDA’s ongoing hearing into pharma’s use of social media and the internet.
AZ is one of a number of big pharma companies that chose to make a written submission to the US regulator before the offical deadline passed on Sunday rather than present in person at the hearing’s first stage in November. (Read More.)
Novartis tells cystic fibrosis stories
25/02/10 permalink Novartis has launched a new disease awareness campaign for cystic fibrosis that blurs the lines between fact and fiction.
Its figurehead is ‘Christopher Morgan’, a fictional character Novartis has created to tell a story that's based on the experiences of real people with cystic fibrosis.
Novartis first used the Christopher character in its Becoming Christopher and Christopher Chronicles films. (Read More.)
Searching for clinical trials
23/02/10 permalink A new clinical trials search and referral engine has launched to help patients who are considering taking part in a trial to find information.
London-based TrialReach, which went live last week, has details of more than 70,000 clinical trials and intends to include every trial authorised and regulated by health authorities anywhere in the world.
The site’s Google-like design certainly signposts the scale of its ambitions, and there does seem to be a need for more patient-friendly trial information. (Read More.)
The MHRA is a late guest at the information party
12/02/10 permalink The MHRA is considering putting its database of patient information leaflets (PILs) and Summaries of Product Characteristics (SPCs) online and seeking views about such a move.
It’s an interesting move from the regulator, which is to be applauded for its plans to make accurate information about medicines more widely available to the public, but the MHRA is coming rather late to the party here.
A lot of this kind of information has been available to the public for more than a decade on the Medicines Commendium website, which uses PILs and SPCs provided by pharma companies in their MHRA or EMA approved form. (Read More.)
UCB’s online epilepsy community
08/02/10 permalink UCB has launched an online community for US epilepsy patients to record ‘real-world’ experiences of the condition.
In addition to providing disease information the company hopes its partnership with PatientsLikeMe will also improve drug safety and ultimately lead to advances in epilepsy treatments.
It’s not the first such pharma-patient community, as the ePharma Rx blog points out (citing examples from Novartis and Johnson and Johnson), but it’s refreshing to see a company that doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel and goes where patients go. (Read More.)
New EMA website previewed
03/02/10 permalink The European Medicines Agency is preparing to overhaul its website to make it easier for users to get information.
This will be cause for celebration for anyone who has found themselves lost within the labyrinthine turns of its current online home.
A sneak preview of the new EMA site was included in a short promotional film the agency recently put online to celebrate its first 15 years. (Read More.)
Byte-sized roundup
29/01/10 permalink In this week’s roundup: PM Society to recognise Digital Media Pioneer, ABPI expands Twitter use, DH accredits health information and Facebook fights flu.
Later today the PM Society’s annual Advertising Awards will take place in London and this year the gongs on offer include the inaugural Digital Media Pioneer award. The Society aims to tweet award results as they happen using the hashtag #pmawards.
Meanwhile the Society’s digital working group is putting the final touches to a series of digital principles that will be submitted shortly to the PMCPA. The UK industry’s Code of Practice regulator is then expected to review and amend them as it sees fit, before publishing them in a Q&A format. (Read More.)
What next for European pharma and social media?
28/01/10 permalink Ever since the FDA announced its social media and internet hearing last September the big question over here has been what next for European pharma in this arena?
Already tightly regulated in its other marketing and communications activities, much of the industry seems to be waiting for hard and fast rules for digital before undertaking online initiatives. (Read More.)
Online patient recruitment drive for GSK’s anxiety drug
26/01/10 permalink GlaxoSmithKline is readying to move its post-traumatics stress disorder candidate orvepitant into phase II trials, a move being supported by an online patient recruitment drive.
The 12-week COPE (Clinical Trial with Orvepitant in PTSD Experiencers) trial aims to enroll around 240 patients across 25 sites in the US.
The COPE website, run on by patient recruitment firm MMG, has a simple, consumer feel without being overly glossy. (Read More.)
Byte-sized roundup
22/01/10 permalink In this week’s roundup: P&G taps social media for Prilosec OTC, UK launches new data site, analysis of pharma on Twitter, an awareness push for dysphagia and the BBC to look into AZ's Seroquel.
Proctor & Gamble has launched a US social media website for its consumer heartburn brand Prilosec OTC.
P&G aims to build a community around its Offical Sponsor site, which is looking for “real people to sponsor in pursuit of real passions”. The site collects together Twitter chat from its community and has a Twitter account of its own. (Read More.)
Glucose monitoring for the Nintendo generation
20/01/10 permalink The Nintendo DS that arrived in our house on Christmas has already become my eldest son’s most favourite present of all time ever, and I suspect he would even forgo television for just a few more goes on Lego Star Wars.
It’s this kind of product loyalty Bayer is looking to tap into with its new Nintendo DS compatible meter to ensure children with diabetes regularly test their blood glucose levels.
The Diget meter plugs directly into the popular gaming systems, and by doing so children can collect rewards for keeping up with their testing regime. (Read More.)
Byte-sized roundup
15/01/10 permalink In this week’s roundup: Roche answers cancer testing questions, Novartis uses SMS in fight against malaria, UCB goes to Facebook for epilepsy patient community, FDA gets transparent with bloggers and voting is underway in Twitter awards.
Roche has set up a nice-looking section on its corporate website that aims to answer patient questions on cancer tests and offers users the chance to rate how useful they find the pharma company's answers.
The questions featured include what will happen at an initial consultation, what a biopsy is and how long tests take. (Read More.)
Virtual diabetes patient community launched on Second Life
13/01/10 permalink Patient group Diabetes UK has, quite literally, set up shop on Second Life, establishing its own office in the online virtual world.
Second Life allows participants to guide a personalised character, or avatar, around its world, combining elements of social networking, chatrooms and a 3D gaming-like experience.
Diabetes UK is using the site to set up a virtual patient community for diabetes sufferers. (Read More.)
Byte-sized roundup
08/01/10 permalink Includes online petition against NICE decision, Shire brings ADHD to Twitter, ViiV joins Twitter, Doctors.net.uk launches iPhone app and Diabetes UK scoops web award.
An online petition calling on UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown to overturn NICE’s preliminary rejection of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Sprycel (dasatinib) and Novartis Tasigna (nilotinib), two chronic myeloid leukaemia treatments, has gathered more than 6,500 signatories.
The petition, hosted on the official website of the Prime Minister’s Office, will remain open until 11 January and aims to influence NICE’s final guidance, which is expected in April. (Read More.)
Roche tackles sidewiki
21/12/09 permalink Becomes second pharma company to post entry on its corporate website.
Roche has become the second pharma company to tackle sidewiki on its corporate website, posting an entry that sets out its policy on the technology.
Google’s universal commenting tool, which uses a special sidebar to allow anyone to add a comment to any website, has caused some soul-searching in pharma. (Read More.)
A Year in Digital (5/5)
16/12/09 permalink Our review of 2009's top digital developments concludes with thoughts from Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma's John Pugh.
Favourite use of digital (pharma)
• Microsoft's future of healthcare. It's their vision of the possibilities that I fell in love with.
• Novartis and Proteus Biomedical's compliance chip.
• Bayer Diget (Read More.)
A Year in Digital (4/5)
15/12/09 permalink There's praise for Twitter and Physicians' social networks as our review of digital developments in 2009 continues with Bayer Schering Pharma's Len Starnes.
Favourite use of digital (pharma)
Physicians' social networks. This is pharma's new engagement channel offering the industry an opportunity to normalise its relationship with physicians and connect with emerging real-world medical wisdom.
Favourite use of digital (non-pharma)
No surprises here, but it has to be Twitter. Once the extremely steep learning curve has been mastered the true value of the channel becomes all too evident. I'm addicted. (Read More.)
A Year in Digital (3/5)
14/12/09 permalink Pharmafocus' review of digital developments in 2009 continues with Roche's Sabine Kostevc, who looks at initiatives outside pharma that impressed her this year.
A number of Roche's own interactive educational initiatives, such as those explaining biotechnology or what it takes to develop a drug, had very good feedback from users this year.
But, given the regulatory restrictions on pharma communications, I tend to look outside our own area for inspiration. So I will focus on the non-pharma 'digital' initiatives that particularly impressed me by reaching different audiences, educating, entertaining or just delivering their corporate message. (Read More.)
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