5 Events Every Pharma Marketing Professional Should Know About

The pharmaceutical industry is a dynamic place, and pharma companies have to face many challenges when it comes to marketing their products and services. Apart from knowing the right marketing strategies that would work for their company, pharma marketers also need to keep themselves updated about what’s happening in their industry. This includes being aware of the activities of FDA as well as that of other pharmaceutical companies. Being well-informed about your industry gives you an edge when doing the complex job of pharma marketing.

Here are some prominent events of the pharma world that pharma marketers should know about:

1. An advisory committee of the FDA weighed in on Regeneron/Sanofi’s new treatment for lowering cholesterol and the inhibitor of PCSK9, Praluent, giving a vote of 13-3 for recommending it for approval.

FDA doesn’t need to follow the recommendation of the panel but it often follows. However, the panelists have cautioned that use of the drug should be restricted to only groups of patients at high risk, namely, patients having familial hypercholesterolemia. It is a rare, inherited medical condition in which very high cholesterol levels are present in the blood, as stated byThe Wall Street Journal. Repatha, the PCSK9 inhibitor of Amgen, would also be facing an advisory committee of FDA, for discussion on whether or not the drug should get recommendation for approval.

2. Merck and Samsung Bioepis (Merck’s partner) declared the top line results of Phase-III trials in which the biosimilar forms of two products for rheumatoid-arthritis were investigated – Remicade of Jhonson and Jhonson, and Enbrel of Amgen.

As stated by the companies, the trials had met the primary endpoints, showing that the biosimilar versions are equivalent to original medicines for patients having severe to moderate RA. A new clinical data says that patients having ankylosing spondylitis and RA can shift to biosimilars from medicines of original brand, as stated by Reuters. As found by independent Finnish study, patients having the two conditions found comparable safety and effectiveness after they switched from the drug of Remicade to the drug’s biosimilar copy.

3. FDA gave its response to a lawsuit imposed against it by the drugmaker company Amarin, stating that the agency didn’t have any objection to the data Amarin shares with the healthcare providers, provided the data is supported adequately.

According to the lawsuit, the FDA had violated Amarin’s right to free speech when it did not allow the company to share certain details related to Vascepa, the company’s fish oil drug. The FDA had replied in a letter, stating that it doesn’t have any issues if the drugmaker shares information that has been published in different medical journals, or is supported by the clinical trials conducted by the company, as stated by the Pharmalot blog of The Wall Street Journal.

4. Five resolutions have been introduced by American Medical Association in its annual meeting, aiming at reduction of the increasing costs of generic medicines, as per MedPage Today.

An executive of AMA said to the attendees that medical compliance is lowered by sticker shock. The organization aims to seek help and support from the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, FTC and FDA, for encouraging ways that can enhance competition and choice within the generic drugs.

5. Bayer would sell its unit for diabetes care at $1.15 billion to Panasonic Healthcare.

The diabetes care unit of Bayer includes the company’s business of monitoring blood glucose. A few brands of the unit are Microlet, Elite, Breeze and Contour. Bayer looked for a buyer for this business in 2012 too, and recently the company has put its efforts once again for selling the unit, as stated by Reuters.

These are some of the events of the dynamic world of pharmaceutical industry. Each of them has been big enough to make headlines, and have impacted the pharma industry significantly. Events like these shape the pharma world, and so, it’s important for pharma marketers to be well-informed about such events.

However, some events may work in your favor, while some may pose troubles for your business. Knowing how to respond to the changing situations of your industry, is a key to your company’s smooth functioning. Pharma companies often can’t figure out what steps to take when faced with changes in the industry or any other problem. A specialized life science & pharmaceutical marketing agency can be of great help in such a scenario. Being focused on the marketing of life science & pharma companies only, such a digital marketing agency understands your vertical well, and can suggest you the right measures to take when you encounter any trouble. Owing to their vast experience in working with pharmaceutical companies, they know which strategies work and which ones don’t, when it comes to tackling problems in the pharma industry.