Source: Nature Biotechnology 28, 396–398

Social media represent a new way for drug companies to interact with consumers. But transitioning medical communication and marketing campaigns to the internet poses several thorny legal and regulatory issues. Sarah Webb investigates.

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Source: Pharmaceutical Executive

When Apple CEO Steve Jobs heralded the age of the mobile application two years back, few had a clue what it would mean for the way people consume media, advertising, and information.  

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Source: FirstWord

Social media is evolving rapidly. What was once seen as "nice to have" is now considered a "must have" and businesses can no longer ignore the medium in all its guises. Keeping up to date with what is being written about your company and brands on social media channels is key. Not only do you need to know what people are talking about and how people "view" your company, you also need to be in a position to respond to negative comments quickly and effectively.

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 Source: Medical Marketing & Media

Last April, the FDA issued letters to 14 pharma companies for failure to present risk information in paid search placements. New draft guidance on presenting risk information for TV and print followed in May, but guidance on online promotion remains wanting...

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Source: Med Ad News

IRVINE, CA, February 24, 2010 – Ignite Health, an inVentiv Health company, (NASDAQ: VTIV) and a leading marketing agency that specializes in patient-centered medical advertising, recently promoted Matt Brown to President. His former position was Chief Operating Officer. Jackie Herr, co-founder and former President of Ignite, will be retiring from Ignite at the end of March.

Complete Press Release.

Source: FDASM

Ignite Health’s Fabio Gratton, Chief Innovation Officer, had the unique opportunity on January 28 to speak exclusively with Dr. Jean-Ah Kang at the FDA’s Silver Spring, MD office as a follow-up to the Part 15 Public Hearings on the use of the Internet and social media to promote FDA-regulated medical products. Dr. Kang is Special Assistant to the Director in the Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising and Communications (DDMAC), the government organization managing the hearing process.  The two-hour interview focused on the ongoing development of FDA regulations to govern promotion, as well as the results of the hearings and what the pharmaceutical industry can do to participate in the guidance process.

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Source: PharmaVOICE

Fabio Gratton, Chief Innovation Officer for Ignite, is featured in "The Last Word" for the January 2010 issue of PharmaVOICE.  In the article Gratton discusses his experience presenting at the November 2009 FDA public hearing on social media, as well as what the industry should do next, and how the changing landscape of Web 2.0 has become a hot button priority for many pharma companies.

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Source: MedAdNews

Social media has been the dancing elephant in the living room of medical marketing ever since user-generated content on the Web became possible, and the furniture hasn’t stopped shaking since. But 2009 was a watershed year in terms of adoption and next steps, as pharmaceutical companies from AstraZeneca to Sanofi-Aventis...

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Amy K wrote a great post about "The Plight of the Health Activist". In her post she expresses frustration about the sheer volume of information that today's consumer needs to process, and asks for people's suggestions or advice in terms of how best to manage it.

Read Fabio Gratton's response.

Source: Diabetes Health

The official site launch for Accu-Chek Diabetes Link Canada was Monday November 16, and is the first of many proposed sites being developed by Roche to link people with diabetes to various resources.

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