Another Pharma "Friend" Leaves the Pharma Blogosphere

Pharma Gazette's Gloria Gamat is leaving the Pharma Blogosphere^TM -- at least for now. Was it something I said? I don't think so, but here's what she says:

The last 14 months of blogging here at Pharmagazette had been rewarding in more ways than one and I want to take this opportunity to thank the whole Know More Media team for believing in me.

However, some things must end and after this post I will no longer be blogging for Pharmagazette.

(I will still be blogging about health and science though, but outside the Know More Media network of business blogs.)

While blogging about pharmaceutical business taught me huge stuff than I could ever learn somewhere else, it is something that I cannot do anymore.

Thank you so much for frequenting this blog. I hope you still find time to visit when Know More Media finds a new resident blogger.

And as for me, I will still be present in the blogosphere...so I hope you find me there some time soon.

So long and best of luck and regards to Know More Media and its team of excellent professionals and wonderful people.

I wish her luck in whatever her new endeavor may be and I hope she keeps us informed about her new blog about health and science by submitting a comment here.

Friend of Foe?
BTW, I am not at all sure that Gloria can be characterized as a "friend" of pharma. In the First Ever Pharma Blogosphere Reader Survey (download summary here), Pharma Gazette was rated "supportive" of the industry -- but not by as wide a margin as several other blogs. Only about 20% of respondents rated the blog as "very" or "somewhat" supportive of the industry, whereas 40% said the same of In the Pipeline, which I don't view as super-pharma friendly (Lowe often criticizes the industry).

In fact, I don't like characterizing people as "Friends" or "Foes" or as Jim Edwards at BrandweekNRX says, "Enemies" (see "More of Pharma's Enemies Join the Blogosphere"; Jeeez Jim! Can you get rid of that Neilsen NetRatings pop-up? I don't want to take your survey and it takes soooo long to dispose of that window that I sometimes quit your blog in frustration!).

Jim was commenting on the entry of the Prescription Access Litigation (PAL) Blog to the Pharma Blogosphere (see "New Pharma Blog Planet Discovered!"). Frankly, I don't think PAL is an industry supporter, but "enemy" may be too strong a word.

Anyway, it's a free blogosphere and bloggers like Jim can call anyone anything, even "turd." But that's another story about another pharma blogger who has fizzled out of the sphere.

Pharma Gazette's Gloria Gamat

Gloria Gamat, author of the Pharma Gazette blog and one of the few but growing numbers of women (a Filipina at that!) pharma bloggers, has just returned from vacation in the Phillipines (Rizal Beach Resort, I assume).

Here she is with her children on their way to nearby island for a "close encounter with whalesharks."

How do I know all this? Gloria tells us this in a recent post to her blog ("Of Summer Beach, Whalesharks and Spiderman 3").

This is a rare glimpse into the personal life of a blogger. Some other bloggers have also offered personal glimpses into their private lives -- The Group Guy, for example, is an avid fisherman (see "Get Off My Back! I Love Sally!").

Unfortunately, I could never do that -- I have no personal life! Just kiddin' (I have to say that otherwise some idiot reading this -- not you, that guy in Scotland or wherever -- might take me seriously).

First, my wife doesn't want her name associated with my blog, especially when I get into a tirade about erectile dysfunction (ED) and when I participate in ED focus groups to get some background for a story (see "My Sojourn as Market Research Subject for Levitra").

Second, and more important, the jerks at Cafe Pharma and that guy from Scotland might start calling my wife a "turd." Then I'd have to get really nasty!

So, I keep my personal life private. But, I am always interested in the personal lives of other bloggers and love to meet them at meetings, such as the Healthcare Blogging Summit (see posts about that here and here).

Some day I hope to meet Gloria in person.