Recently, several interesting links floated past me in my Twitter stream, leading to some broader thoughts about the Pharma and Biotech industry. First up was a link from someone (I have sadly forgotten who), which illustrated how the bulk of the US's healthcare costs is taken up by the portion of sick and often (but not always) elderly people needing expensive treatments.  Think about it, cancer is mostly a disease of aging as are Alzheimers, Parkinsons and chronic heart disease.

Griffin Technology: Clarifi - Protective case with built-in close-up lens for iPhone 3G Take sharper pics on the iPhone 3G (tags: iPhone evernote camera wishlist )

Since improvising my blog writings in January, the readership has gone up ten-fold, much to my surprise.

After the recent success of Genentech's Avastin (bevacizumab) in metastatic colorectal, lung, breast and brain cancers, it was a little surprising to hear that the adjuvant data in colorectal cancer missed the mark, with the survival data not showing a significant benefit to the Avastin arm.  The Genentech press release announced: "Results from a phase III study of Avastin® (bevacizumab) plus six months of chemotherapy following surgery in patients with early-stage (adjuvant) colon cancer (NSABP C-08). The study showed the addition of one year of Avastin to chemotherapy did not result in a statistically significant improvement in overall disease-free survival (DFS), the primary endpoint, compared to chemotherapy alone after surgery

This is an interesting slideshow on medical blogging, but many of the comments are just as apt for science blogging too: Examining the Medical Blogosphere: An Online Survey of Medical Bloggers View more Microsoft Word documents from Ivor Kovic . On a related theme, the recent Pew report raised some interesting statistics: "61% of American adults look online for health information." I'm only surprised it was as low as 61%.  When asked: "Now thinking about all the sources you turn to when you need information or assistance in dealing with health or medical issues, please tell me if you use any of the following sources… • 86% of all adults ask a health professional, such as a doctor.  • 68% of all adults ask a friend or family member.

Twitter is a great tool for all sorts of things ranging from news, information, even inspiration as this tweet this morning from Ann Curry of MSNBC shows: The other thing that struck me early this morning was reading the commentary on my Twitter stream from the 140 Characters conference in New York.  Like many people, I've been wondering what the Next Big Thing is on the web, since there have been peaks and troughs with most platforms over the last 20 years…

This morning, I was fascinated by a tweet from Bertalan Meskó (soon to be Dr Mesko) about Layar , the world's first mobile augmented reality browser.  Take a look at this short video: Now imagine how it could potentially be used in the Pharma world… sales reps, account managers, medical science liaison officers and other field (or office) based people could use it to find information about the surrounding area for every doctor's office or hospital they visit.  Perhaps they need to find other physicians or outpatient clinics, profiles and important customer information about their target list, maybe they need a cafe with wifi to download reports or key data such as sales or clinical trial information while in between appointments (or even access that through the browser), or they have someone with them and need somewhere for lunch etc etc.  Imagine you could use an augmented reality browser on your smart phone to find all this information and more? The opportunities with this sort of integrated app/browser are endless, especially if customised for each company.  You're almost limited only by your own imagination with these sort of useful web2.0 tools coming out to help improve the speed of available information and work efficiency

NEJM — The FDA as a Public Health Agency The traditional tools of a regulatory agency are regulation, approval or disapproval of applications, and enforcement. As a public health agency, the FDA should always ask whether delays in approval or safety problems can be prevented — a mandate that requires extensive and creative engagement with regulated industries, patient and consumer groups, and others

This is National Men's Health Week in the UK and to accompany it the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) shared a press release highlighting the shocking difference between men and women in cancer deaths. Lifestyle, diet, alcohol and exercise were thought to be major contributing factors. Here is a link to short (4 min) CRUK audio clip

This short and simple Slideshare story tells a wonderful parable that could be just as true for Pharma and Biotech, as it is for big and small business.  As more and more people use the internet creatively in the Digital Age, things are a-changing: Corporate Life View more Microsoft Word documents from Thiago S . The moral of the story?   Adapt to change or die.