Pharma is big business whose goal is to maximize shareholder value

SUMMARY:

  • Pfizer asks for accelerated approval for a COVID booster shot even though the FDA says it’s unnecessary.
  • From 2016 to 2020, the 14 leading drug companies spent $577 billion on stock buybacks and dividends—$56 billion more than they spent on R&D over the same period.”
  • From 2016 to 2020, compensation for the 14 companies’ top executives totaled $3.2 billion.
  • The drug industry is driven by profits, not by patient’s needs.
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Pharma is big business whose goal is to maximize shareholder value

There is some really bad DTC on TV

SUMMARY:

  • TV continues to be the dominant channel for DTC advertising.
  • Some of the TV spots for drugs are horrible, and some products should even be on TV because of terrible fair balance.
  • TV ads only drive awareness as the first step for online health seekers. More conversations are happening on social media, and pharma seems to be immune to the conversations.
  • One of the reasons for such bad TV is the lack of talent within DTC marketing.
  • Agencies are equally responsible for bad DTC TV.
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There is some really bad <strong>DTC</strong> on <strong>TV</strong>

Help Wanted: Pharma CEO who is a leader

SUMMARY:

  • Leadership is the ability to influence or guide others.
  • Too many pharma CEOs are bad leaders because they fear failure, losing power, and focus too much on metrics not important to the rank and file.
  • Six out of 10 employees said they feel demotivated by their CEOs; 70% say CEO pay was too high in general.
  • The median CEO of the drug companies outpaced the more modest pay gains of their employees.
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<strong>Help Wanted:</strong> Pharma <strong>CEO</strong> who is a leader

Online health seekers after the pandemic

SUMMARY:

  • Online health seeker numbers are still very high, indicating that people are doing their research first before asking for a prescription drug.
  • Online health seekers trust pharma products but find product websites hard to read and inconsistent with their needs.
  • Telehealth numbers are dropping rapidly, but people still want to use telehealth to ask for Rx renewals and ask general questions.
  • By far, people over 50 are the biggest segment of online health seekers.
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Online health seekers after the pandemic

The “business” of the pharma media

SUMMARY: The pharmaceutical trade publications, except STAT News and Endpoints, have remained silent on the sham approval of Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug. Pharma trade magazines have become irrelevant, and most could care less what they print, although they try to suck up with phony awards. It’s up to people within the industry to push back and try to be the change we want and need to see.

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The “business” of the pharma media

Um, about that diabetes drug that helped patients lose weight

SUMMARY:

  • According to the NEJM “in participants with overweight or obesity, 2.4 mg of semaglutide once weekly plus lifestyle intervention was associated with sustained, clinically relevant reduction in body weight”.
  • In the clinical study, participants were enrolled in an “intensive” behavioral study with 8 weeks low-calorie diet.
  • Yet the media has led with “diabetes drug leads to major weight loss”.
  • Will doctors inform patients?
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Um, about that diabetes drug that helped patients lose weight