Economists are struggling to explain  an exodus of women from Wall Street , but one is not the least bit surprised by the data: Sylvia Ann Hewlett, founding president and chairman of the Center for Work-Life Policy, a nonprofit think tank based in New York. In an article in the Wall Street Journal Ms Hewlett explains why women are leaving Wall Street and this author is wondering if it applies to pharma as well

Help Wanted: CEO for pharmaceutical company who can inspire employees and provide leadership in a time of turmoil.  Most be able to focus on patients and have a belief that focusing on customers leads to good business. Fred Hassan of Schering-Plough, by far is a high-paid layoff leader.

An iPhone application has come to market that is rapidly gaining popularity with physicians – and providing marketers with another channel to reach medical professionals. The iStethoscope  turns the iPhone into a, as the name suggests, stethoscope, allowing the doctor to listen to a heartbeat and see the heart waveform. The free app is ad-supported.

The  Hatch-Waxman Act passed in 1984 to hasten the introduction of generic competition into the pharmaceutical market. According to an analysis from  IMS Health , $734 billion have been saved in the past 10 years through the use of generic pharmaceuticals.

Branded drugs are on the decline while generics are increasing.  The reasons for this are many but perhaps the two biggest reasons are that consumers today are frugal and that co-pays have increased for people who have health insurance. The challenge for DTC marketers now is two fold: first, they have to convince consumers to ask their doctor about the brand and second they have to make sure that consumers get branded medications not generics

This week I had to pay a visit to my doctor’s office to get some antibiotics for a pesky ear infection.  While I was waiting to see the doctor I was really surprised when a patient came out to the lobby and told the nurse “I don’t need any more x-rays because you people want to make money from my insurance company”.

So your legal and regulatory people still are not ready to sign off on a social media initiative for your brand because the FDA has not issues guidelines.  While you’re watching Rome burn however there are some things that you should be doing with social media that does not require legal and regulatory approval

“If something needs to get done, you do it” is the tag line for new online campaign for Viagra that engages men with a golf question.   Will this new campaign get men to ask about Viagra

There is a letter in this week’s Time Magazine from one of senior people at GSK regarding Time magazines scathing article on Avandia.   As I read his response I could not help but think how out of touch he his with the reality of marketing drugs to consumers who have a wealth of information at their fingertips via the Web

Since 2004, the primary care physicians at Tufts Medical Center have offered patients the option of being part of either a traditional general medical practice or a retainer practice. Patients in the retainer practice have longer visits, around-the-clock access to one of five physicians, comprehensive wellness and prevention screenings and on-time office appointments within 24 hours of a request. But unlike other boutique practices, the retainer fee of $1,800 per year that these patients pay does not go directly to the doctors’ coffers