Articles

Maybe there’s a reason why the symbol for the indulgent season – that period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day – is a jolly, large man in a red suit. As sure as Santa and his sleigh, extra poun
Maybe there’s a reason why the symbol for the indulgent season – that period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day – is a jolly, large man in a red suit. As sure as Santa and his sleigh, extra pounds come around every holiday season. “Planning to prevent unwanted weight gain is one of the best gifts you can give yourself this holiday season,” said Carolyn O’Neil, registered dietitian and former CNN journalist who has reported on food and nutrition for over 20 years. According to a National Institutes of Health study, the weight people gain during the holiday season adds up year after…

Whatever the government’s eventual solution it needs to be creative, quick and sustainable as throwing money at the problem might win elections but won’t address fundamental flaws in the NHS.
Labour swept back to power in May on a platform of reform for public services, and specifically the National Health Service. Cynics might suggest that the government fought an effective campaign in an area where the population could still be feasibly encouraged to lay blame on eighteen years of Tory rule, but the nation’s desire for an efficient, reliable health service was amply demonstrated by the landslide Labour enjoyed. Mr Blair has since pledged to bring an extra 20,000 nurses into the NHS by 2005, pin-pointing the solving of the crisis in nurse recruitment as a fundamental pre-cursor to a reliab…

One of the most common truisms trotted out by pub bores is that 90% of communication is non-verbal, but the fact that the majority of these people can’t find regular sexual partners demonstrates that,
One of the most common truisms trotted out by pub bores is that 90% of communication is non-verbal, but the fact that the majority of these people can’t find regular sexual partners demonstrates that, though we may all know that body language is important, very few of us are any good at it. No situation is more vital to get your body language right than the interview. Interviews are often pivotal points in life and yet up until shaking hands with the interviewer for the first time you are nothing to them but two sheets of professionally put together paper. So how do you wield that extra 90%…

The race is on, but while some companies try to get it right first time, others are just trying everything while mistakes are still an option. The difficulties lie in the choice: today there are sever
The race to effective e-business solutions is on. Case studies of successes and failures are multiplying E-business conferences for the pharma industry are proliferating and shifting from being about theoretical benefits to dealing with real case study, an example of how the market has matured in the past year. A Cap Gemini Ernst and Young/Insead survey published in May 2001 estimates that the Industry has invested between 0.5% and 1% of sales (approximately $2 billion) on e-business over the past year, with mixed results. The majority of respondents (70%) agree that the biggest impact will…

The pharmaceutical industry, like many others is guilty of being too forgiving of email’s shortcomings. We would never accept misdirection or non-delivery of a package delivered by a courier so why so
With ever mounting competition it is becoming increasingly important for pharmaceutical companies to leverage new technologies as a means of gaining competitive advantage. Indeed, a recent study by Accenture Research in the US showed that eighty percent of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies believed Internet-related technologies could not only speed up time to market, but also reduce drug development costs and administration. There is little doubt that email has been one of these key technologies. It has benefited a number of business processes across the industry, speeding up comm…

With a few simple guidelines it’s possible to get yourself a healthy meal at any of the high streets takeaway staples.
Winter, the run in to Christmas, no beach holiday for the next 6 months at least, all of the above mean that having the figure of your dreams can be postponed for a while and the darkened evenings, exhausting post work shopping trips and better telly naturally lead the mind of the thinking person to the takeaway. But even though no strangers are going to have to see your body for a while, that’s no reason to leave your desire to eat healthily on the counter with the wildly ambitious tip dish. Takeaway food usually does away with considerations like low fat and salt, preferring instead to give us the deliciously unhealthy version of Chinese or Indian that always tastes so mu…

Statistics, properly audited and interpreted, allow you to establish hundreds of useful pieces of information about your customers after careful filtering from the enormous mass of information that is
It is a classic paradox of the new economy that a media that arose from the ground up offering free, democratic information access to all also provides companies and governments with an unparalleled opportunity to play at Big Brother. Putting aside these issues though, internet statistics are the single most vital aid to those responsible for websites. Statistics, properly audited and interpreted, allow you to establish hundreds of useful pieces of information about your customers after careful filtering from the enormous mass of information that is the logfile. The web is the ultimate weapon…

It may be dangerous talk in our industry but keeping fit can do more to keep you well than any number of blockbuster drugs, a gym membership can mean a whole new social life as well as a much fitter b
As the long nights draw in and the memories of beaches full of beautiful people trying to push you back out to sea and calling Greenpeace begin to be resolved in intensive therapy sessions, the thoughts of the professional office worker turn to gyms and a vague promise to ‘look good’ in time for next summer. Often these thoughts are as far as the potential adonis or adonette gets but if you are intent on getting into shape there are an exhausting number of gyms up and down the country trying to seduce you with special membership offers and cheap corporate membership. But how do you find your p…

The key to survival will be an effective transition from medicines retailer to medicines services provider. Successive government campaigns have exhorted people to turn to their pharmacist for health
The future looks bleak for the independent pharmacist, or so we are led to believe. The growing power of the supermarkets and their own brand of pharmacy has been impinging on the traditional pharmacists role for a number of years but the recent abolition of Resale Price Maintenance has led many to sound the death knell for the independent pharmacist. This attitude is, of course, both premature and alarmist. RPM was the last legalised price fixing arrangement in Britain and it was inevitable that it would go the way of all the others. There was outcry that the abolition of price fixing in the…

A successful pharmacist requires a combination of skills unique to the role. A high level of scientific ability is a pre-cursor to any role, as mentioned above, in addition to proficiency in mathemati
A career as a pharmacist is a highly responsible one that requires a considerable amount of application and learning. All Pharmacists in the UK have degrees in Pharmacy recognised by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. For those considering a career in research, a postgraduate qualification will be expected in addition to a degree. The majority of Pharmacists are registered with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and such registration can only be achieved after a year of supervised work under a Society recognised Pharmacist. A successful pharmacist requires a combination of skills unique to the ro…

Some areas of the pharma industry are clearly at the cutting edge of new technology. But especially in Europe, this hasn't translated to eBusiness efforts in the sector - it's far behind other indust
Some areas of the pharma industry are clearly at the cutting edge of new technology. But especially in Europe, this hasn't translated to eBusiness efforts in the sector - it's far behind other industries in computerization and automation, particularly in Europe. So why are European pharma not capitalizing on the savings IT can bring, and when will this change? John Band investigates... What images does the pharmaceutical industry conjure up for you? Many people would see a hotbed of new technology. Perhaps a white-coated scientist, using the latest high-tech equipment to analyze the new drug…

E-business is turning from hype to reality and is starting to become that most crucial of things, measurable. Pharmaceutical companies must orient their businesses to take into account the formidable
A few years ago, the internet was booming and any idea or even word starting with "e" was seemingly worth millions. The new economy was here to stay.... Thousands of "start-ups" mushroomed. A year later, the bubble burst and "start-ups" began disappearing... Does that mean that the Internet won't deliver on its promises? Certainly not. But the reality is that the way to invest in the internet has changed. The gold rush has stopped. Pharmaceutical companies are moving away from the model where they outsourced work to pure dot.coms. Instead, they are moving toward a Clicks and Mortar model, wher…

Ayurveda, the 5,000-year-old system of healing from India, suggests a holistic approach to skin health and luster - eating right, and rehydrating the skin from within are crucial aspects of skin care.
Natural creams and lotions are great for your skin, but if you want your skin to look good day after day and year after year, you have to work on it from the inside out. Ayurveda - the 5,000-year-old system of holistic healing from India that's becoming popular in the world of cosmeceuticals and botanicals-based skin care - contends that a balanced diet, proper digestion and regular elimination are vital for clear glowing skin. "Ama" - the residue of improper digestion that can accumulate in the body - is the number one enemy of healthy skin, leading to lifelessness and breakouts, according…

If you have suffered from insomnia for a protracted amount of time you should consult your doctor. For those of us who just can’t seem to drop off from time to time, try some of the methods and advice
The average adult needs around 7-8 hours sleep a night, this enables the body and mind to rest sufficiently in order to be restored for another days activity. Insomnia, the inability to get to sleep, affects most of us at some time in our lives. The reduction in our nightly quota of deep and dream sleep leads to a vicious circle, irritability and tiredness leading to increased stress and anxiety, which in turn affects our ability to sleep the following night. For the majority, insomnia is a passing phase linked to the regular stresses of life, career worries, moving house, money worries etc. I…

The pharma industry mega-merger is a gargantuan task that can make your working situation difficult or even untenable but if you approach the process objectively it can be turned to your advantage. He
The demands of investors and the paucity of promising drugs in the industry has led to a wave of big mergers and acquisitions in the last few years. As a result the industry landscape is full of monolithic companies with worldwide headcounts approaching those of cities. But despite all this action the largest pharmaceutical company in the world still only has a 7% market share and several of the major players still haven’t been involved in any consolidations, both Roche and MSD spring to mind. It’s therefore logical to assume that further consolidation will occur in the sector, consolidation t…

The big change will come in the objectivity of the product web-sites that the pharmaceutical companies produce, or more accurately are forced to produce. Initially comprehensive first generation produ
Business has been living uneasily with the internet for several years now. Through the boom and bust of the first phase of the dot.com dream, through waves of non-event e-mail virus’ and promise after promise about how the internet can and will put millions on companies’ bottom line. As yet, the results have been minimal. If anything B2B, the dream of online procurement and improved efficiencies, has been even more of a disappointment than B2C. Most internet users have bought a CD or a book online but how many people do you know that have placed a stationary order that has been accepted online…

A lack of cohesive planning and poor execution has dogged the Internet and online ventures. After the initial frenzy surrounding any Internet-based idea, the pharmaceutical industry sat back and asses
Customisation is the key to m-health success A lack of cohesive planning and poor execution has dogged the Internet and online ventures. After the initial frenzy surrounding any Internet-based idea, the pharmaceutical industry sat back and assessed the situation, concluding that "e-anything" just does not work. This attitude could infect the mobile health, or m-health, arena. Hooman Bahmandeji, President, MedSphere Corp., USA, says it doesn't have to be that way. A little thought, combined with some in-depth research into what the user really wants, will reap its rewards. If the service is…

In this article, David explains some of the e-initiatives he and his team have launched at Novartis, describes the excitement from seeing first results and speaks about the challenges he is facing.
e-detailing? CRM? Wireless devices? B2B Marketplaces? e-supply chain? Online recruitment? e-clinical trials? All these terms are covered under the umbrella of e-Business. “e” today represents an array of new business opportunities for pharmaceutical companies to leverage their existing skills and customer relationships. But as attractive as e-propositions can look in concept, it is proving a major challenge to pharma industry executives to manage the way to the e-treasure. With the continuing uncertainty in the stock market environment for dot.coms, technology houses and telecomms, there is inte…

Everyone hates interviews, but the more you attend, the better your performance becomes. Initially, it's a good idea to go to interviews even if you're not sure about the job. The experience will se
Everyone hates interviews, but the more you attend, the better your performance becomes. Initially, it's a good idea to go to interviews even if you're not sure about the job. The experience will serve you well when you go for the one you really do want. Before you go - do some research. Find out what you can about the company and which drugs you are likely to be selling. If you can find someone who works for them then brilliant. If not there's usually a lot of information to be found on their website. It is often a requirement that trainee medical reps have spent at least one day shadow…

There are many qualities often listed as pre-requisites for success in the field of pharmaceutical sales - the following are just some - maybe those seen as most important:
There are many qualities often listed as pre-requisites for success in the field of pharmaceutical sales - the following are just some - maybe those seen as most important: Organisational ability - You will have to manage your time and your territory to obtain the best results possible. Can do, will do - Determination to succeed, despite the knockbacks. Self-motivation skills - This is a must! There is no one to make sure you get out of bed and into the office on time. Communication skills - Ability to talk to people on all levels without either being dumbstruck or patronising. Hard working - Willingness to go that ex…