'Round the Sphere: The "R" Word

Several bloggers have picked up on the analysis by IMS, which indicated that Drug sales in the U.S. grew at their slowest pace since 1961 (see "Drug Sales in U.S. Grow at Slower Pace").

This, IMS says, is due to "cheaper copies of top-selling medicines [flooding] the market and U.S. regulators [approving] fewer new products."

Meanwhile, there seems to be a question if generic drugs are as good as brand name drugs (see "Are Generics Worse Than Brand-Name Drugs?" over at WSJ Health Blog). If generics are not competitive to brand name drugs, then market forces should be working in favor of the brand name drug industry.

Also, that remark about regulators approving fewer brand name drugs is deceptive: it could be that drug companies are submitting fewer NDAs for approval! Which leads me to ask over at Pharma Marketing Blog "Is the Pharma Industry in a Recession?" What do you think? Take the poll over there at the top of the right hand column.

Pharm Aid blog today asks: "Has Pharma Hit the Bottom?," which is a weird idea considering economists are just now agreeing the rest of the U.S. economy is in recession!

"In financial markets," says Pharm Aid, "you usually hit the bottom when the news is the worst. And the news can’t get much worse for pharma."

How's that? There was still GROWTH last year, but at a SLOWER pace. Recession, on the other hand, means DECLINE. And that's what I am asking. Will there be a decline in drug sales across the board?

Maybe not. But there could be decline in pharma advertising and marketing spending. Wouldn't that be worse? (Worse for me, anyway.)

Anyway, just thought I'd throw this out there for discussion.

Record Number of New Subscribers Anxious to Read My Review of Killer Drug!

Thanks to some free promotion from spinmeister Peter Rost, a record number of new subscribers have signed up to receive their free issue of Pharma Marketing News.

This month's issue, which will hit the eStands at 8:00 AM this morning (subscribers only) features a review of Rost's new book Killer Drug plus the novel, Big Pharma.

Contributing to these reviews are the following bloggers:

• Jane Chin of Pharm Rep Clinic (she reviews Big Pharma)
• Steve Woodruff of Impactiviti (salient portions of his review, which you won't find quoted by Rost, are included)
• Pharm Aid, who has been following the weekly sales on Killer Drug
• Plus... a few anonymous commenters to this blog

The subscription is free: SUBSCRIBE HERE and get this issue delivered to you FREE!

See a synopsis of this month's issue: August Issue of Pharma Marketing News: Wasting Money on DTC, Time to Rethink How to Engage Physicians, Whistleblower Novels

As you can see, it's not all about Rost!

'Round the Sphere: Coffee and Gossip

I like learning the personal interests of bloggers in the Pharma Blogospehere.

Just recently, for example, I learned that Steve Woodruff over at Impactiviti blog is a coffee connoisseur!

"...I can say that I have just had the best coffee I'VE ever enjoyed in New Jersey..."

Not being a resident of NJ, I can't say whether or not this is faint praise. But the place where he got his coffee is in Lambertville, which is just across the river from me. Since I am just now running out of my Bucks County (PA) Coffee -- the best coffee I have ever enjoyed in PA! -- I thought I'd head on over to Lambertville for dinner and pick up some of that NJ coffee along the way!

Meanwhile, Peter Rost is continuing to burn up NRx's bandwidth with off-topic posts and shameless self-promotion. Other bloggers than myself, including Pharm Aid, are getting fed up with it:

"Since coming to Brandweek NRx, I have received so many self-promotional e-mails from Rost I almost started filtering him," says Pharm Aid, "...but then thought better of it. I've decided to blog about his self-promotion..." You can see the latest post here.

Rost himself continues to "interview" bloggers in this space -- preceded, of course, with a grandiose announcement. His latest interview is with "Jack Friday," aka Insider, at PharmaGossip (see "THE MAN BEHIND PHARMAGOSSIP").

"Jack Friday is a British male, in his 50s, and he has spent his career in the pharma industry," says Rost. "In fact, he’s worked for both Schering-Plough and GlaxoSmithKline, and he still makes his living working for the drug industry."

Boring! Tell us something we all don't already know!

I find it more interesting that Jack Friday is a diehard Chicago Cubs fan.

BTW, Jack states "I know I can trust [Rost] to protect my identity."

Ha! Have you read the Question Authority "TERMS OF USE AGREEMENT AND PRIVACY POLICY"?

Oh, I forgot. NRx is not Question Authority...NOT!