Research Brief - CFOs on finance and procurement-process improvement

What do CFOs Say?

This research brief discusses process performance among medical companies (including health care, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and life sciences), specifically, by pointing out notable deviations from pan-industry averages.

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White Paper - Overcoming obstacles to transformation in the finance function

Finance & Accounting in the Life Sciences

EVPs, SVPs, VPs and senior directors of targeted life sciences and pharmaceutical companies were surveyed to determine the key challenges and priorities facing finance and accounting (F&A), finance administration and commercial operations. This paper shares the results.

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White Paper - Embracing the Sunshine Act

Under the Sunshine Act, the first data submissions reports are due March 31, 2014, and both the life sciences industry and the medical community have significant concerns about the amount of information that must be publicly disclosed. This white paper explores physicians' concerns and outlines actions that life sciences companies can take to help set their providers' minds at ease. Physicians' worries range from tarnished personal reputations to potential identify theft. Read how life sciences organizations can take this opportunity to build better relationships with their customers.

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Breast Cancer - 1 Year of Treatment in Time Lapse

As we come to the end of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, here's an intriguing time lapse video of one young woman and her year of treatment for breast cancer.

Early detection is crucial. Keep fighting.

Flush Out Your Brain and Fight Alzheimer's & Parkinson's

Your brain creates waste, and the waste must be flushed out. We're learning more about this process by studying mice.

A recent Washington Post article illustrates how cerebrospinal fluid flushes out waste that has accumulated in the brain, including beta-amyloid protein. This system has been dubbed the "Glymphatic System" by researchers. The waste removal process is most efficient in the sleeping state. In fact, it is believed to be twice as efficient when sleeping. Findings have been published in the journal Science.

The newspaper article says the waste disposal process could be a factor in Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease.  It is possible a drug could be developed that could improve this cleanup cycle in the brain. Could these findings bring us closer to cures for numerous brain diseases? One can only imagine how big a market this could be if an effective drug makes it to market. Aricept was developed 15 years ago, and a generic will hit the market soon. The time could be ripe for new drugs in this field.

The next time you strive to pull an all-nighter, think about when you will give your brain a chance to clean out the toxins and get back to an optimum state. If this gives you a legitimate excuse to take that long nap instead of raking leaves this weekend, you're welcome.

References:

• Brains flush toxic waste in sleep, including Alzheimer’s-linked protein, study of mice finds
• Alzheimer's drug market starts to shrivel as caseload explodes
• Alzheimer's Disease
• Parkinson's Disease

Factoring the "what ifs" into supply forecasting: Why building a durable supply chain around a protocol is critical

Answering the "What IF" Questions

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Effective supply planning requires decision making that strikes a balance between what's known and unknown, risk and budget, the needs of the trial and those of patients. The ultimate goal is ensuring that the right patients receive the right drugs at the right time. Otherwise, everyone sponsors, investigators, patients and society at large stands to lose. This white paper goes into great detail on the topic, including "what-if" scenarios, real-life disasters, and 15 industry references to additional information.

Provided by: Fisher Clinical Services

How Site Engagement Improves Patient Recruitment Using a Clinical Trial Optimization System

Using site engagement technology, sponsors are able to take greater control over patient recruitment by ensuring their study is top of mind with global sites. This white paper covers many of the issues related to site engagement, including a pharmaceutical company case study.

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Depression: Our Least Supported Major Illness?

I think everyone reading this can say they have been depressed at one time or another. Money problems. A recent breakup. Physical ailments. Addiction. Abuse. Genetics. The list of causes are endless. Maybe you "Buck up" and pull through whatever is causing your depression. Maybe you don't. Some people live lives of quite desperation for decades. Some take their own lives. The societal costs are staggering.

Check out this infographic for some key stats on depression.

Depression goes way beyond "Feeling blue." It can happen to anyone, even those who seem to have it all. The field of depression is a mile wide and 20,000 leagues deep. Major Depression, Dysthmya, Bipolar disorder, Postpartum depression, Seasonal Affective Disorder, and many more varieties make up the landscape.

I could go on, but I think the following TED video does a much better job explaining the primary issues regarding depression better than I can, especially the social implications.

Depression is one of the most studied conditions, with treatments ranging from counselling to pills to light therapy to far more aggressive approaches. We have a lot of research and science surrounding depression, but we don't have a cure, and our current approaches are often unsuccessful.

"It's a Wonderful Life" is an amazing movie. While we would all love to have a guardian angel who could bring us out of our depression and show us how much we have to live for, life doesn't usually provide those types of miracles.

How can health care and the life sciences better tackle depression? More research? More medications? Better health care plans for treating depression? Broader awareness campaigns?

I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Transformation from the Inside Out at Sanofi

In this episode, Craig Flanagan and DJ Mitsch talk about a major culture change at Sanofi Pharmaceuticals North America: how they designed it, implemented it, what the results were, and the future of this significant undertaking. This podcast will be of great interest to anyone at a large company who is considering or has decided to implement a powerful culture change.

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Change Agents + Team Coaching = Transformation from the Inside Out at Sanofi

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Change Agents, Team Coaching & Organizational Transformation -
Sanofi Changes their Culture and the Game of Work!

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DJ Mitsch is in the 2013 PharmaVOICE 100

What Can Statues and Balloons Teach You about Your Marketing?

Does your marketing cover both types?

Do you employ a wide array of marketing vehicles? Do you struggle trying to understand if you're investing in the right ones?

I have a trick I use to help put marketing initiatives into perspective. It's a simple sort of lens, but it can give you the focus you seek when looking at the big picture regarding your marketing.

Think of any marketing device as either a statue or a helium balloon. Both have their strengths, and both can be extremely effective at delivering their message. But there are distinct differences.

Statues are stationary and essentially permanent. Once you learn a statue exists, it is easy to find it again whenever you wish, and you may visit it regularly if you derive a benefit. Helium balloons are obviously impermanent. When a helium balloon is released, it rises into the air, (usually) gets noticed by a number of people, and it quickly expires, often within a few minutes or maybe a few days. You cannot always be sure what path it will take, nor know exactly how long it will be visible.

Some statues are expensive to create, and most require regular maintenance, but they provide the bedrock of your marketing strategy. Helium balloons are relatively inexpensive, but you must be dedicated to launching new ones from multiple locations on a regular basis. Balloons are the worker bees of your marketing efforts. Let them swarm your target market. In some special cases, a helium balloon can even morph into a statue.

Let's break down a collection of marketing initiatives into these two categories.

Print Ad - helium balloon
Web Site - statue
Email blast - helium balloon
Blog post - helium balloon
Blog with RSS feed - statue
Directory Listing - statue
White Paper - statue
Tweet - helium balloon
Web ad - helium balloon
Podcast - statue
LinkedIn discussion - helium balloon
TV commercial - helium balloon
Web video - statue
Live webinar - helium balloon
Webinar archive - statue

Now that you have the concept, you can run all your marketing initiatives through this categorization. Do you have a good ratio, or are you too heavily weighted to one type while neglecting the other? Do your (temporary) balloons guide people to your (permanent) statues?

The next time you are in a marketing strategy meeting, discuss your current efforts as well as possible new initiatives in terms of statues and helium balloons. You will likely make better choices going forward.