New healthcare-related products, services, and companies
Lumina Seeks to Support Medical Affairs Teams Trend: Pharma and biotech medical affairs organizations are playing an increasingly critical role in addressing the information needs of healthcare professionals and patients. KnowledgePoint360 has launched Lumina, a suite of targeted medical communications and strategic services focused on the needs of medical affairs organizations, one of the fastest-growing functions in the pharmaceutical industry. The Lumina suite includes strategic planning, thought-leader profiling, strategy workshops, competitive intelligence, scientific content development, clinical education support, protocol development, knowledge documents, clinical trial landscape analysis, advisory boards, and digital communication solutions. These elements are specifically tailored to the needs of medical directors, medical science liaisons, clinical operations, medical information, and scientific publications teams. “Medical affairs organizations have been faced with an ever-increasing number of responsibilities over the past several years, often without sufficient resources to ensure their success," observes Joseph Kohles, Ph.D., managing director for Alligent BioPharm Consulting and a former international medical leader for Roche. “KnowledgePoint360 divisions have a long history of exceptional support for medical affairs organizations, and with the introduction of Lumina, we offer resources that address their many strategic and tactical objectives," adds Greg Thompson, M.D., medical director of KnowledgePoint360. { For more information, visit knowledgepoint360.com. Lilly Launches Physician Payment Registry Lilly’s physician payment registry is aimed at helping the public better understand how the pharmaceutical company works with U.S. physicians and compensates them for their services, and how these collaborations benefit patient care. The company’s website, lillyphysicianpaymentregistry.com, allows visitors to search payments to individual U.S.-based physicians and the institutions or research organizations that receive payments on behalf of a physician. Payments are reported in several categories, including research-related payments, educational programs, and other services such as commercial consulting. The registry also discloses non-cash forms of value provided, such as business meals, as well as travel expenses paid by Lilly when a physician is performing services for the company. These disclosures are part of Lilly’s obligations under its corporate integrity agreement with the federal government. The majority of payments reported on the registry (63%) are related to research, including clinical studies for investigational medicines. “When healthcare professionals work together with the pharmaceutical industry, patients benefit from our combined expertise," says Jack Harris, M.D., VP of Lilly’s U.S. medical division. { For more information, visit lillyphysicianpaymentregistry.com. In other news… Wolters Kluwer plans to divest its pharma-related business as part of a strategy to focus on core health markets in terms of content and clinical decision support solutions globally. The pharma business, which includes the Source and Adis brands, provides marketing and publications services, business intelligence products, and advanced analytical tools and services. According to Nancy McKinstry, CEO and chairman of Wolters Kluwer, the divestment will allow the health division to take full advantage of its positions in the fast-growing areas of professional information and clinical decision support solutions. “The pharma business delivers great value to our pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device customers globally," says Bob Becker, president and CEO of Wolters Kluwer Health & Pharma Solutions. “Moving forward, we are excited about continued opportunities to deliver value to global customers through our portfolio of leading brands in content and clinical decision support." The company expects the planned divestiture to close around or shortly after the end of the year. { For more information, visit wolterskluwer.com. AROUND THE GLOBE inVentiv Health Communications/Europe is a new company that brings together inVentiv Health’s advertising, public relations, public policy, market access, medical education, marketing, branding, and digital services in a unified offering serving Europe. inVentiv Health Communications/Europe is based in London and led by Bob Chandler, inVentiv Health’s senior VP of marketing and communications and founder of Chandler Chicco Companies. Advertising agencies GSW Europe and Junction 11 are now operating as inVentiv Health Communications/Europe, while other companies, such as Chandler Chicco, retain their brand names. { For more information, visit inventivhealth.com. Indianapolis-based Pearl IRB is partnering with Trafalgar Ethics Board of Toronto to provide integrated United States-Canada central institutional review board services. The partnership is designed to eliminate duplication and help streamline work for clients, resulting in decreased site-review times. { For more information, visit teboard.ca or pearlirb.com.
