Awards… » Bayer is Awarded by HBA Bayer HealthCare is the recipient of the 2011 Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association award for ­corporate programs advancing women’s careers. Bayer HealthCare’s Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) is the winner of the 2011 HBA ACE Award. HBA created the award to ­recognize corporations’ efforts to strengthen the advancement, ­commitment, and engagement of women’s careers in the healthcare ­industry. The WLI was established and grew organically as a grassroots effort to foster women’s leadership at Bayer. » CSL Behring is Recognized CSL Behring, a biotherapeutics ­company specializing in plasma- derived and recombinant therapies, has been named Life Sciences ­Company of the Year by Philadelphia Business Journal and Pennsylvania Bio. The Life ­Sciences Company of the Year award is the most recent in a series of recognitions for CSL Behring’s ­innovation in providing ­important therapies. Earlier this year NORD ­honored CSL Behring for new treatments brought to market for ­patients with rare diseases. » Digitas Health Wins at OMMA Awards Digitas Health has been awarded in the medical and pharmaceutical ­categories at this year’s OMMA Awards. The agency’s “I Pick My Nose" campaign for MedImmune’s Flumist took top honors for Web Site Excellence and Integrated Online Campaign. This marks the second year Digitas Health won the Integrated Online Campaign honor in a health category. In addition, the agency was awarded one of only three Member’s Choice Awards. INDUSTRY at Large Lilly Steps Up Efforts to Improve ­Diversity in Clinical Trials Eli Lilly and Company announced findings from a prospectively designed observational study that ­resulted in new ways to increase minority ­participation in clinical trials. The study, released at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically ­Underserved meeting in Washington, D.C., assessed the impact of ethnicity on the second-line treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). As part of Lilly’s goal to improve health outcomes for all patients, the company is working to increase enrollment of diverse populations in clinical trials, and the company is making trials more accessible in minority communities. Lilly has taken steps to ­increase the number of underserved minority ­participants, including: the selection of new trial sites likely to include more than 50% minority patient populations; providing patients with information ­regarding patient assistance programs that help them secure treatment; and on-site visits to trial sites to identify and address existing barriers. Drug Sales through Distributors U.S. prescription sales through primary healthcare ­distributors reached a total of $268 billion in 2010, representing 87% of sales, according to the 2011-2012 HDMA Factbook. Branded pharma sales have ­decreased; branded specialty pharmaceutical sales ­increased slightly to 13.5% of these sales. Employers Lack Awareness of Specialty Drugs 25% of employers have little or no understanding of specialty pharmacy and 53% have only a moderate understanding of this benefit, ­according to a new ­survey released by the nonprofit Midwest Business Group on Health (MBGH). SPBT Extends Membership The Society of Pharmaceutical and Biotech Trainers (SPBT) has opened membership to all parties involved in or committed to serving the profession of training in the life sciences. Previously, membership was restricted to training professionals working directly for a pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, or diagnostic company. SPBT is the only organization tailored to learning and development in the life-sciences industry. Racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to develop cancer and die from it than the general U.S. population. But only 17% of clinical trial participants are, in fact, minorities. Quote of the Month “A scientifically based and ­transparent approach to the ­quantitative assessment of benefit/risk needs to be developed and ­implemented widely. The current ­approach is largely empirical and can lead to ­unnecessarily ­different ­regulatory ­outcomes ­between agencies." Paul Huckle / GlaxoSmithKline PharmaVOICE.com Whitepapers Identifying Strategic Partners for Product Development Sponsored By: Snowfish Selecting the Right Call Center Partner: Tips for Success Sponsored By: PhoneScreen Improving Trial Efficiencies: Making the Business Case for ePRO Sponsored By: PHT?Corp.

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