INDUSTRY at Large
Kowa and Football Player Help those with High Cholesterol
Kowa Pharmaceuticals America has announced a partnership with Kurt Warner, Super Bowl winner and two-time NFL MVP, and his wife Brenda, to launch First and Goal, a national education initiative to help people prioritize heart health. The campaign encourages the 71 million Americans living with high cholesterol to develop a personalized game plan to get to goal.
“I found the key to success is making small steps toward achieving your goal, whether managing your cholesterol, making the cut in professional football, or taking home a championship ring," Mr. Warner says.
First and Goal helps initiate productive conversations around cholesterol treatment, a significant public health issue. Up to 75% of Americans stop taking statins, the most commonly prescribed therapy, within the first year, demonstrating the clear need for more education and supportive resources. The campaign also includes prompts to speak with a doctor about the potential for drug-drug interactions, a common reason why patients stop taking statins.
The online hub, FirstandGoalHeartHealth.com, is designed for both people with high cholesterol and their support systems at home, and includes: lessons learned over a decade of cholesterol management; healthy lifestyle tips, including advice on meal planning and making lasting changes to get more active; Four Downs of Cholesterol Management treatment plan and track progress in collaboration with a healthcare professional; and Medication Tracker.
AbbVie and Michael J. Fox Foundation Provide Support for Parkinson’s Patients
The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) and AbbVie have launched Partners in Parkinson’s, a new health initiative offering support for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD).
Partners in Parkinson’s provides patients and caregivers with virtual and face-to-face opportunities to connect with knowledge and support. These include an educational website (partnersinparkinsons.org) featuring the first online tool enabling patients to locate a movement disorder specialist. The website also connects patients and caregivers with AbbVie Parkinson’s Disease Advocates who are available to provide one-on-one support.
According to an online survey conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of The Michael J. Fox Foundation and AbbVie, among more than 500 patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s, as few as 28% are seeing a movement disorder specialist.
“No two cases of Parkinson’s disease are alike; patients and caregivers need high-quality, trustworthy information and resources that can help navigate a Parkinson’s diagnosis and progression," says Todd Sherer, Ph.D., CEO of The Michael J. Fox Foundation and 2012 PharmaVOICE 100 honoree.
Innovation Increasing in Cancer Area
The pace of annual global spending on oncology medicines, which is approaching the $100 billion threshold, has moderated over the past five years, even as a surge in innovative and targeted therapies has brought new therapeutic options to the growing number of patients being treated for cancer and as survival rates for most tumor types continue to increase, according to a new report by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics.
Growth in global spending on cancer drugs, including those used for supportive care, increased at a compound annual growth rate of 5.4% during the past five years, reaching $91 billion in 2013, compared with 14.2% from 2003 to 2008. The recent lower growth rate reflects fewer breakthrough therapies, as well as patent expiries, reductions in the use of supportive care medicines, and stronger payer management.
Younger Americans Getting Medications without Prescriptions
The Internet is increasingly becoming the source for young people who want prescription medication without going to a doctor, according to a new poll from Zogby Analytics commissioned by the Digital Citizens Alliance. The survey showed that 28% of current college students or recent grads — up from 13% from last year — either ordered prescription medication or know someone who did without the necessary prescription by going through the Internet.
Almost one-third of all young people who responded to the poll say they or their friends have taken prescription medication to help study during finals. Of those who took medication, one-third of that group got the drugs without a prescription.
Other findings include:
- 31% of respondents said they had given prescription medication — either their own or someone else’s — to a friend to use. That’s up 8% from last year.
- 72% of respondents said they think it is common for students to share prescription drugs.
- Men were more likely than women to get medication to help get through finals, 38% to 26%.
Awards…
Ashfield Sales Team Wins Supplier Award from Lilly
Outsourced healthcare service provider Ashfield Commercial and Medical Services has received the Lilly Global Supplier Award for its UK-based Discovery syndicated sales team. The Ashfield Discovery Team received one of 11 awards presented each year as a result of nominations made by Lilly procurement departments throughout the world.
Eisai’s Contributed to Neuroscience Honored
Eisai has received the University College London’s Enterprise Partner of the Year 2014. This award recognizes Eisai’s commitment to exploring new ideas and paths to drug discovery in neuroscience through open innovation with UCL.
The organizations recently formed a major drug discovery alliance to investigate new ways of treating neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. This collaboration maximizes UCL’s early-stage and translational research in neurodegenerative diseases and Eisai’s expertise in drug discovery, development, and bringing new agents to market in an effort to increase benefits to patients
Maricich Healthcare Communications Wins at the Healthcare Advertising Awards
Maricich Healthcare Communications has taken home the Best of Show recognition, as well as nine awards, at the 31st Annual Healthcare Advertising Awards. The Best of Show awards are given to entrants whose work exhibits the highest standards of excellence. For its work for DermOne Dermatology Centers, Maricich won a Best of Show and a Gold in the Total Advertising Without TV category. The Maricich team was also awarded a Silver in the New Media/Email Blasts category and a Bronze in the Poster category.
Medivation Founder Honored as EY Entrepreneur of the Year
Medivation Founder, President and CEO David Hung, M.D., has received an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2014 Award in the Life Sciences category. The awards program recognizes entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and success in areas such as innovation, financial performance, and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.
Publicis Receives Awards
Publicis Healthcare Communications Group (PHCG) has earned two Lions at the inaugural Lions Health Festival in Cannes. The agency won a silver award for its Takeda Schizophrenia Education broadcast program and a bronze award for the print campaign for Sanofi Pasteur’s Vivaxim.
Innovation Corner…
CEO Roundtable on Cancer Launches the Project Data Sphere Initiative
Project Data Sphere, an independent not-for-profit initiative of the CEO Roundtable on Cancer’s Life Sciences Consortium (LSC), has launched a new data sharing platform (ProjectDataSphere.org), with the goal of advancing research to improve the lives of cancer patients and their families around the world. The CEO Roundtable on Cancer was established in 2001 with the mandate to bring bold and imaginative solutions to cancer care.
“The Project Data Sphere initiative, with its broad access approach, will help define an additional path to accelerate cancer research," says Christopher Viehbacher, chair of the CEO Roundtable on Cancer and Sanofi CEO, and a 2010 and 2011 PharmaVOICE 100 honoree.
This platform has been specifically designed to provide one place where the community can broadly share, integrate and analyze historical patient level, comparator arm data from academic and industry Phase III cancer clinical trials. Initial data sets have been provided by AstraZeneca, Bayer, Celgene, Janssen Research and Development, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Pfizer, and Sanofi US. PDS is currently working with these and other organizations, including the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology (sponsored by the National Cancer Institute), Amgen, and Quintiles to provide additional cancer data sets.
In order to ensure that researchers can realize the full potential of this data, PDS teamed with CEO Roundtable member SAS Institute to provide analytic tools available to registered users within the Project Data Sphere environment.
Milestones…
West Celebrates without Borders Campaign
West Pharmaceutical Services has celebrated the 10th annual West without Borders fundraising campaign. During the past 10 years, West has focused its philanthropic efforts on charities that aid cancer research and care, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education and children with special needs in the communities where our employees live and work. During this time, West has raised more than $6 million for a variety of charities located around the globe through West without Borders and other campaigns.
“Our efforts over the past 10 years have truly made a difference to children in need, and we look forward to our team extending the same generosity this year," says West’s Chairman and CEO Donald Morel Jr., Ph.D.
