Pharma

'A much-anticipated Facebook game from Boehringer Ingelheim, makers of Dulcolax, Zantac, and an array of prescription medications, is just one example of how pharma brands are plowing ahead with digital campaigns.'

David Shaywitz writes:

'From the digital health/start-up side is in many ways the mirror-image of this: the space seems to be brimming with promising nascent ideas; yet, as I’ve discussed before, the measurable health impact of these technologies is usually unclear (at best).

Some emerging digital health companies don’t worry about this – they are deliberately seeking to circumvent the regulatory process by aiming directly at consumers, and avoiding explicit health claims. Others seem to be leaning pretty heavily on the concept of being so disruptive that, in effect, the world will change for them.'

Glen Llopis writes:

'Today, your ROI is directly related to your thought leadership activities and the manner in which you allow social media to play a role in sharing your voice and POV.

What is the impression that others have about your leadership impact and influence outside of your organization? Are you the type of leader that only focuses on company related issues or are you expanding your voice to address wider industry problems your leadership perspectives can add value to a conversation?'

'The possibilities for brands to facilitate this type of engagement are limitless. So what could make this happen?

Digital resources prescribed as part of care regimens. To achieve this, pharma must develop and curate reliable, objective information online. But this information must be geared toward optimizing the patient/HCP relationship. Physicians must contribute to digital resources and participate in online conversations with the goal of starting dialogue before consultation, and maintaining it through the treatment cycle.'

Mark Senak (@eyeonfda) writes:

'Sometimes as change occurs, the strategic aspects of it slip by us.

Make no mistake, however, in today’s market, particularly in healthcare, a Twitter strategy is an essential component of any media strategy.'

Dominic Tyer (@Dominic_Tyer) of PMLiVE writes:

'Pharma-sponsored websites and mobile apps that provide disease information or management tools are strong drivers of action among patients, according to Manhatten Research.

The eHealth analysts found that 51 per cent of online US adults use pharma-sponsored digital resources, and a significant portion of these people - 43 per cent – subsequently discussed prescription drugs with a doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

These sponsored resources include - unbranded as well as branded - condition and treatment information, disease management tools, doctor discussion guides or mobile apps or websites.'

Pharma's digital evolution offers the prospect of a seamless flow of communication and data for customer profiling and decision support.

It moves communication with patients and healthcare professionals beyond a website model into a distributed, inter-related system. Enabling enhanced customer engagement through access to information and services that advance the experience of care, the industry has the opportunity to build a framework that directs perpetual innovation, and to drive performance through intelligence by aggregating execution and data capture from digital channels.

Key findings of a new Manhattan Research ePharma Consumer study include:

* 51 percent of online U.S. adults (ages 18+) use pharma-sponsored digital resources, such as condition and treatment information, disease management tools, doctor discussion guides, or mobile apps or websites

* 43 percent of consumers using pharma-sponsored digital resources have discussed prescription drugs with a doctor, nurse, or pharmacist as a result

* Reliance on pharma-sponsored support is even more common once a consumer is suffering from a chronic condition: 75 percent of angina patients and 68 percent of rheumatoid arthritis patients use these types of digital resources

Faisal Ahmed (@sickonthenet) offers the fourth entry in his feature-packed series focusing on practical steps that pharma companies can take in order to establish themselves within digital environments.

In this installment:

* Mobile websites

* Mobile SEO

* Bluetooth marketing

* SMS marketing

* QR codes

* Applications

'The Gatorade Company maintains a “mission control center” in the heart of the company’s marketing floor, said Bonin Bough, director of digital and social media for parent company PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP). The glass-walled room is staffed by five people who sit behind computer screens and monitor in real time the social media discussions of Gatorade products.

But they don’t just read the comments and log them.

They also write back.'

The next generation of K computers used in drug development "will be 240 times faster than the machine here, so we can do the calculations much more quickly, and run different programs simultaneously," says Prof. Hideaki Fujitani of the University of Tokyo.

Prof. Fujitani remarks of the tests he will be responsible focusing on novel treatments for leukemia and lung cancer that "what [currently] takes a month to simulate here will be done in three or four days."

'Globally, 79 percent of respondents [to a Fleishman-Hillard global online survey; n=4,612] said they primarily followed companies on a social network to learn more about their brands; that was also the leading response from consumers in China, Germany and India.

The second most popular reason to follow companies, at 76%, is to receive discounts or coupons; that’s the leading answer in Canada, Japan and the United States. Other top reasons to follow companies on social networks include obtaining exclusive information (73%, and especially popular among French and Indian consumers), giving positive feedback (69%) and generally sharing opinions (67%).'

Rosina Samadani (@truthoncall) writes:

'When big pharma leverages technology, open data and social media to develop innovative patient-facing apps, it's a win to the fourth power (i.e., a win-win-win-win). They win with faster, better, and more efficient ideas; they win again if they apply lessons from the process to other aspects of their organization; start-ups win by getting both a big partner with a vested interest in their success and key early attention; and, most importantly, the patients win with more innovative tools and services.

And that's the great thing about pharma getting it. We all benefit.'

Pharma 3.0 can be described loosely as “Pharma + Web 2.0”, that is: social media will play a big role.

The advent of social media has brought a voice to the end consumer. With a greater wealth of knowledge at their hands, the patient has become more knowledgeable about their ailments, and more critical of the medicines they are taking.

As a result, the pharmaceutical company has had to redefine who the customer is. For the industry, 'customer' is no longer synonymous with 'healthcare professional' alone. Rather, a focus needs also to be put upon delivering real value to the patient, and this is where social media, and related technologies, are coming into play.

Newer, more dynamic pharma companies appearing in Asia are able to put into place the business partnerships and innovation required to fully take advantage of Pharma 3.0. Traditional Big Pharma companies, however, are burdened with an entrenched value network that needs to be disassembled and reconfigured.