NEW HEALTHCARERELATED PRODUCTS, SERVICES, AND COMPANIES
TrialCard’s patented “IA Technology” is designed to replace prepackaged drug samples. By using a device similar to a credit card that can be activated and deactivated, manufacturers can distribute their samples through pharmacies, and can implement patient assistance programs, clinical trials, and cus tomer loyalty and reward programs. The new technology reduces marketing costs and liabilities,allows programs to be activated or de activated at the manufacturers’ discretion, and allows for tracking patient persistency and compli ance. “Half of the U.S. pharmaceutical market is com prised of chroniccondition patients versus patients needing just oneor two treatments,”says David Cun ningham,CEO of TrialCard.“Trial or product purchase is just the beginning of the relationships with customers. Marketing strategies need to center on maximizing the life time value of the customer, with programs focused on reaching and impacting high opportunity patients and con verting them into `franchise’ customers.” The technology is coun terfeitproof, easy to use, and provides a quality branding platform, tangible value, and data access from all points of contact. BIO HIGHLIGHTS SIX PRINCIPLES as Congress continues to debate Medicare Two Medicare plans that were offered recently to the U.S. Senate as amendments to generic pharma ceuticals legislation failed to generate the 60 votes required to move to debate, drawing a disappointed response from the Biotechnology Industry Organiza tion (BIO),which described it as“a missed opportunity.” BIO has developed a set of six principles for Medi care prescription drug coverage that it believes are crucial to ensuring beneficiary access to break through medications and to encouraging research that makes these products possible. BIO’s board of directors adopted these six principles in 1999. Earlier this year, the House passed legislation that met with most of BIO’s principles, including stoploss protection, and a reliance on marketbased delivery solutions. TRIALCARD’S SAMPLE CARD to replace prepackaged samples For the first time the pharmaceutical industry has a method to measure cause and effect relationships, by closing the information loop for distributing product samples Just as customer relationship management replaced the accepted way of doing business in the 90s, TrialCard has developed a simple, patented technology that will transform the sampling process, changing the existing supply chain, says David Cunningham. CECity launches THOUGHTLEADER COMMUNICATIONTOOL to aid compliance BIO’S SIX PRINCIPLES FORMEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG COVERAGE: 1 Rely on the private marketplace and competition, not price controls that harm innovation. 2 Include stoploss protection and protection of those most in need first. 3 Expand beneficiary choices amongprivate plans. 4 Improve patient care through innovations in biotechnology. 5 Maintain Medicare solvency. 6 Donoharm to current coverage and reimbursement. The MedConcert Community Collaboration Plat form, developed by CECity.com Inc., offers a secure, Internetbased channel through which pharmaceuti cal companies can elicit infor mation from, and provide data to, key thought leaders. The communication tool allows companies to track information exchanges with consultants, key opinion lead ers,and thought leaders.Phar maceutical companies and their medical communication partners can interact with consultants and, through the company’s documentation and reporting capabilities, track manuscript and content development. According to CECity exec utives, the launch of its new solution is especially timely in light of the new code of ethics released by the Pharmaceuti cal Research and Manufactur ers of America and the Office of Inspector General’s “Draft OIG Compliance Program Guidance for Pharma ceutical Manufacturers,”both of which address appro priate communications between pharmaceutical companies andphysicians, including thought leaders. “In light of the guidelines and code of ethics, phar maceutical companies will need solutions to help them with thoughtleader development, interaction,commu nication, and documentation,” says Simone Karp, R.Ph., cofounder and executive VP of sales and marketing for CECity.com. “The new portal solution allows for document tracking, with version control, which is especially important as key opinion leaders devel op abstracts and manuscripts for society meetingsandpub lication submission. “As opinion leaders often have hectic schedules and travel frequently, the portal provides an easy way to cen tralize distribution of approved collateral materials, such as updated meeting materials, to these key thought leaders,” Ms. Karp adds.“In addition,an automat ed email subscription service notifies users to return to the portal to view updates and other communications.” The portal solution also provides a surveying tool as a part of the platform that allows pharmaceutical companies to interact with prospective thought lead ers as ameansof documenting and reporting on their areas of expertise. MedConcert can fit seamlessly with CECity’s elearning platforms to create endtoend CME or community education and training solutions. MEDCONCERT COMMUNITY PORTALS CANBECUSTOMIZEDTO PROVIDE ACCESSTO: . Calendar of events . Discussion boards . Shared document libraries . Web conferencing . Links of interest . Surveys . Contact lists . Faculty bios . Document tracking with version control . Task assignments . Virtual PowerPoint slide library . Speaker’s bureaus . Edetailing modules . Literature reviews . Elearning modules 79 PharmaVOICE O c t o b e r 2 0 02 WHAT’S new Industry veteran FORMSMARKETING COMMUNICATIONSCOMPANY Anewmarketing communications company,Tau Communications Partners Inc., has been launched to provide clientfocused strategic and tactical services designed to help pharmaceutical and biotech product managers achieve their marketing and sales goals. TCP, launched by Marcie Tau, who has 10 years of diverse industry experi ence, offers customized services, including:strategic planning and consulting; multimedia education and promotion;developing and implementing accred ited CME programs, satellite symposia, and enduring materials; recruitment and management of thoughtleader networks and advisory boards;faculty training; and professional,association,and public relations. “Today’s product managers are extremely pressed to reach and sustain the sales potential of both their new andmatureproducts with limited financial and staffing resources,” says Ms.Tau, president of TCP.“The primary mission of TCP is to help those clients maximize their sales potential throughout the product’s life cycle by providing innovative,timely,and costeffective solutions to competitive and marketplace challenges. By applying our indepth experience and exper tise in consulting, management, and online and offline communications tech nology,we manage each project so that all materials and deliverables are accu rate, clear, consistent, audiencefocused, and on strategy.” Tau Communications Partners uses a network of highly specialized and experienced industry professionals to provide clients with a wide range of ser vices, problem solving, and strategic thinking. Ms.Tau combines 10 years of her own industry experience with more than 50 years of combined pharmaceuti cal experience of her partners. Before founding TCP, she served in senior man agement positions at a number of major accredited healthcare education,mar keting, and publicrelations agencies serving the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. She recently served as a management supervisor at Medical Educa tion Group and as a VP at Joel Tau Communications. Ted Thomas Associates LAUNCHES MARKET RESEARCH DIVISION nPO!NT Strategic Market Research has been formed to offer a broad range of customized quantitative and qualitative market research products and services for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, specialty healthcare, medical device,health insurance,and healthcare information technology companies.Launched byTedThomas Associates, a subsidiary of Vox Medica, the new company also offers services for the financial institutions that support the healthcare marketplace. nPO!NT,which draws on the technical,scientific,and creative resources of the entire Vox Medica organization, can address its clients’ informational needs through simple and hybrid processes, including personal and tele phone interviews,Webbased systems,direct mail, and fax questionnaires. “Whether the client is looking for a strategic assessment of a specific marketplace prior to development or introduction of a new product or service, or that client is interested in tracking awareness, atti tudes,and usage of a product already on the mar ket, we want to be able to offer a strategybased process that will deliver the very best knowledge update for the client,”says Tim Garde, senior VP of client services at Ted Thomas Associates.“And we want to be able to provide those services all through the life cycle of the brand.” nPO!NT Strategic Market Research initially will operate as a division of TTA,however, the capabil ities of the division will bedeveloped to add value to the capabilities of all the operating subsidiaries of Vox Medica. The division is headed up by Mr. Garde and Neil Wasserstein, senior director of market research at Ted Thomas Associates. “We understand the significant competitive and regulatory hurdles facing today’s pharmaceutical marketer. Because of the significant experience and successful track record of our partners, in all levels and facets of healthcare marketing, we are uniquely positioned to help a client meet and exceed marketing goals — at a reasonable cost,” says Marcie Tau. Double Gene `Knockout’ Piglets Produced The July/August issue of PharmaVOICE addressed the issue of xenotransplantation — the use of animal cells and organs for human transplantation — in the article “Animal Farm.” Xenotransplantation is viewed as one answer to the critical short age of human organs for transplantation. However,one of the biggest challenges for researchers has been to control the human response to transplanted animal organs.To combat that, work has been ongoing to breed animals,particularly pigs,with organs that the human body won’t reject. In a recent development, PPL Thera peutics Plc. has produced the world’s first doublegene “knockout” piglets, which were born as a result of PPL’s proprietary genetargeting technology and nuclear transfer (cloning). Four healthy piglets were born at PPL in Blacksburg,Va., July 25, 2002. A fifth piglet died shortly after birth of unknown causes. The gene that has been double “knockedout” in these pigs, alpha 1,3 galactosyl transferase (GT), is responsi ble for making an enzyme that adds a sugar to the surface of pig cells, which trig gers an immune response in the human patient, leading to hyperacute rejection of the transplanted organ or cell within min utes. The ability to delete or “knockout” both copies of the gene,therefore,provides a vital step in producing pigs with organs and cells which can be used in humans. Because both copies of the gene have been inactivated, tissues from these pigs have been shown to be devoid of the pig sugar that causes the hyperacute rejection. Earlier this year, PPL announced the birth of pigs in which a single copy of the GT gene had been knocked out — the single “knockout” pigs. This development is an extension of that work. “ This could well prove the biggest advance in xenotransplantation research to date,” says Dr. David K.C. Cooper, associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and head of the xenotransplanta tion group, Transplantation Biology Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital.“It is likely, however,that this will not provide the entire answer, and that further gene `knockout’procedures may be neces sary. Nevertheless,a big step forward at this stage would be greatly encouraging to researchers, and would indicate that the organ shortage will be resolved by the use of pig organs within the foreseeable future.” INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT Tim Garde and Neil Wasserstein want to offer a strategybased process that will deliver the very best knowledge update for the client. 80 O c t o b e r 2 0 0 2 PharmaVOICE WHAT’S new New company links THE MARKETING OF SCIENCEWITHTHE SCIENCE OFMAR KETING Nexus Communications Inc. has been formed to offer creative educational solutions to address the marketing challenges in the biopharmaceutical industry. “`Nexus’ is defined as a link, connection, or liaison,” says Michael Caso, president of Nexus. “As such, our mission is to opti mize the vital connection between science and marketing, which is critically important in accomplishing a product’s objec tives throughout its life cycle. This goal of linking the marketing of science with the science of mar keting will be realized through the expertise of the senior manage ment of Nexus, who possess industry experience in healthcare, adult education, communication, management, and strategic mar keting.” The new company is led by Mr. Caso and Karen Overstreet, Ed.D., R.Ph., FACME, executive VP of oper ations. Mr. Caso worked for more than 20 years in the pharmaceuti cal industry, both in sales and pro fessional education,before moving into communications. Dr. Over street, a registered pharmacist with a doctorate in adult education,has worked in medical education for more than 11 years. She is on the board of directors and a fellow of the Alliance for Continuing Educa tion, on the board and president elect of the North American Asso ciation of Medical Education and Communication companies,and is a site surveyor for the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. The company reports that pharmaceutical com panies spent more than $18.5 billion on promotion al and educational programs to market their prod ucts in the U.S. in 2000. “This spend has raised intense regulatory and public scrutiny during the past year,” Dr. Overstreet says. “With the heavy financial investment required for successful marketing,and the high visibility of the associated promotional andeducational campaigns, selecting a strategic partner to plan and implement marketing initiatives is now, more than ever, a criti cally important decision.” BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY ORGANIZATION,Washington,D.C., represents more than 1,000 biotech companies,academic institutions, state biotechnology centers, and related organizations in all 50 U.S. states and 33 other nations.For more information,visit bio.org. CECITY.COM INC.,Pittsburgh, Pa., founded in 1997, is a leading provider of online healthcare education elearning solutions and services. For more information,visit cecity.com. NEXUSCOMMUNICATIONS INC.,North Wales,Pa.,offers creative educational solutions to marketing challenges in the biopharmaceutical industry. For more information,email [email protected] or [email protected]. NPO!NTSTRATEGIC MARKET RESEARCH,Philadelphia, is a division of Ted Thomas Associates that offers market research products and services for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, specialty healthcare, medicaldevice,health insurance, and healthcare information technology companies.For more information,visit tthomas.com. PPLTHERAPEUTICSPLC.,Roslin, Edinburgh,U.K., is a leading company in the application of transgenic technology to the production of human proteins and peptides.The U.S. division of PPL is located in Blacksburg,Va. For more information, visit ppltherapeutics.com. TAU COMMUNICATIONS PARTNERS INC., Raleigh,N.C., is a marketing communications company providing clientfocused strategic and tactical services designed to help biotechnology and pharmaceutical product managers achieve their marketing and sales goals.For more information,visit taucom.com. THE PENNSYLVANIATOBACCO SETTLEMENT INVESTME TBOARD, Harrisburg,Pa., is an 11member investment board created to oversee the investment of $11.3 billion in settlement funds that Pennsylvania will receive during the next 25 years from the national tobacco settlement. For more information, visit state.pa.us. TRIALCARD,Raleigh,N.C., is a transaction services company specializing in improving drug distribution marketing programs.For more information,visit trialcard.com. Follow up PENNSYLVANIA INVESTMENT BOARD SEEKS PARTNER to identify lifescience companies The Pennsylvania Tobacco Settlement Investment Board has issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) for a general partner or group of venture capital firms to invest in the Health Venture Account portion of the Com monwealth of Pennsylvania’s tobaccosettlement funds. “The release of this RFQ is the next step in the Commonwealth’s $2 billion strategy to stimulate the com mercialization of innovative research in Pennsylvania in the areas of life sciences andbiotechnology,”says Penn sylvania Gov. Mark Schweiker. “We are seeking experienced, knowledgeable partners who will be able to help us invest these funds wisely in Pennsylvania companies with earlystage but proven technology.” The group’s vision is that the Health Venture Account will serve as a catalyst to raise at least $400 million that can be used to stimulate the development of earlystage, life sciencesbased companies in Pennsylvania and influence the creation or expansion of about 80 new earlystage lifesciences companies during the next 10 years. The general partner or group of venture capital firms selected through the RFQ process will invest funds from the $60 million Health Venture Account to support the vision for Pennsylvania. The 11member investment board oversees investment of the $11.3 billion settlement funds that Pennsyl vania will receive during the next 25 years from the national tobacco settlement. At Nexus, Dr. Karen Overstreet and Michael Caso lead an experienced team possessing capabilities in adult education, communication, management, and strategic marketing.
