Articles

Just when we were thinking that the EU was a complete waste of money, news reached PharmiWeb Towers this week about a ground breaking plan concocted by bureaucrats in Greece to standardise all cvs/res
Just when we were thinking that the EU was a complete waste of money, news reached PharmiWeb Towers this week about a ground breaking plan concocted by bureaucrats in Greece to standardise all cvs/resumes/Zusammenfassung across the continent. The plan, which emanates from CEDEFOP, www.cedfop.gr, The European centre for the Development of Vocational Training, aims to create an environment where employers in all member states can easily compare experience and training of prospective employees regardless of their country of origin in order to create a genuinely level playing field of work through…

You’ve assessed your strengths and weaknesses, set your career and life goals and prepared your CV to ensure you market yourself in the best possible way.
So, you’ve decided it’s time to move on and you are looking for a new role in the pharmaceutical industry. You’ve assessed your strengths and weaknesses, set your career and life goals and prepared your CV to ensure you market yourself in the best possible way. You may feel exhausted after all that but in fact your job search has only just begun - now you need to find out what vacancies are out there! 1. Advertisements The traditional way of searching for a suitable opening is to scour the general press and trade literature for job advertisements. Commercial roles in pharmaceutical sales and marketing are most often advertised in…

More than nine out of ten physicians say they will likely participate in online pharmaceutical drug detailing presentations in the next few months
More than nine out of ten physicians say they will likely participate in online pharmaceutical drug detailing presentations in the next few months and rate the Internet as an 'extremely positive' tool for receiving continuing education programs, according to a survey of doctors conducted by RxCentric. The findings, which were presented this week at the SG Cowen Health Care Conference in Boston, MA, underscore an increasing preference by doctors for Internet-based sales presentations and point out a significant cost savings opportunity for pharmaceutical companies in how they market new drugs. "As the number of new prescription drugs develope…

The NORAS survey is as comprehensive an attempt to assess the state of online recruitment in the UK as we currently have but still leaves much to be desired, the raw stats demonstrate that many sites
The recent publication of NORAS 2002, the first National Online Recruitment Audience Survey is a positive step forward for both recruiters and candidates alike. The survey, run by online recruitment specialist Enhance Media with the aid of several of the major generic job boards, several of the sector specific job boards and the support of ABC Electronic offers an excellent starting point from which those interested in e-cruitment can begin and, despite the self-imposed non-participation of Monster.co.uk, the result is an accurate picture of the state of online recruitment in the UK in mid-200…

The recent reporting season for the major drug developers passed without much in the way of commotion and histrionics. Their results were widely flagged beforehand but then that is the advantage of re
AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) was the first of the big three to please with its first-quarter numbers. It reported an 18% jump in earnings to £1.3b on sales of £4.4b. GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) also pleased with its 14% hike in first-quarter earnings to £1.6b and 6% improvement in revenues to £5.1b. However the star of the show was the smallest of the three large cap medicine makers, Shire Pharmaceuticals (LSE: SHP). The company delighted with its 40% jump in earnings to £54m on sales of £169m. Down in the midcaps the full year results from former FTSE 100 company Celltech Group (LSE: CCH) were also…

Our aim is to reduce the cost per hire and time to fill positions whilst continuing to source high quality candidates. At GSK, e-Recruitment is more than posting adverts on the Internet. It is about l
After internal recruitment methods have been exhausted, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) uses the Internet to recruit its people before using more traditional methods. Our aim is to reduce the cost per hire and time to fill positions whilst continuing to source high quality candidates. At GSK, e-Recruitment is more than posting adverts on the Internet. It is about leveraging a wide range of web-based technology. The e-Recruitment team source candidates, promote the GSK on-line brand, develop on-line recruitment strategies, research and evaluate web information for all of the UK-based businesses. Thes…

When AstraZeneca held an important press conference in Amsterdam less than a month after the World Trade Centre attacks, only ten reporters turned up. But their PR agency wasn’t worried.
When AstraZeneca held an important press conference in Amsterdam less than a month after the World Trade Centre attacks, only ten reporters turned up. But their PR agency wasn’t worried. The picturesque Dutch city may have been unusually quiet, but 33 key industry journalists from nine countries were flexing their fingers and dialing up to participate in the event over the internet. And interested parties from all over the world were not only able to watch the live results of the first head to head clinical trial between Nexium and lansoprazole, but also participate in a real time question and answer sess…

An enterprising postgrad recently increased traffic to his very dry semiconductor physics website by posting naked shots of a young pop idol. But latest figures suggest pharmas don’t need Britney’s b
An enterprising postgrad recently increased traffic to his very dry semiconductor physics website by posting naked shots of a young pop idol. But latest figures suggest pharmas don’t need Britney’s boobs to grab men’s attention. They could try testicles… Men’s health related terms feature high up the hit lists of all the main search engines and it seems the ailing gentleman is now more likely to reach for his mouse than a bottle of Lucozade. The age of the informed patient is upon us and men in particular are increasingly switched on to the internet for health information. Traditionally…

Don’t take this as a come-on, but I think we could really benefit from getting up close and personal. Over the Internet. No, I’m not inviting you to enter into a dubious chat room dialogue, but to hav
Don’t take this as a come-on, but I think we could really benefit from getting up close and personal. Over the Internet. No, I’m not inviting you to enter into a dubious chat room dialogue, but to have a think about your company website. Personalisation has been an Internet buzzword since the end of the 90s when it was pioneered by book-seller Amazon amongst others. The online-trader’s ground-breaking take on the technology was to track clusters of titles purchased by the same individuals and then make recommendations to others users based on this knowledge. Amazon had a retail revolution on…

Fifteen years ago, nearly all CRAs worked as permanent employees of pharmaceutical companies, juggling monitoring and project co-ordination responsibilities from an office base in the South East of En
If you have been a clinical research professional for sometime, you could be forgiven for not recognising the industry today as the same as that which first employed you. Fifteen years ago, nearly all CRAs worked as permanent employees of pharmaceutical companies, juggling monitoring and project co-ordination responsibilities from an office base in the South East of England. But changes in the pharmaceutical marketplace have resulted in radical changes to the way in which pharmaceutical companies resource their clinical development programmes – CRAs monitor sites and Project Managers co-ord…

The human voice is a precious, delicate mechanism; used properly, it rarely goes wrong. The harsh environments and smoky atmospheres of modern living, though, can often cause hoarseness, unreliability
Summer is just round the corner for those of us in the northern hemisphere and with it the propect of exhausting your vocal cords. Whether it's bellowing drinks orders to a friend at the bar, berating Phil Neville's latest misplaced back pass or encouraging small children not to wonder into the middle of the road chasing after a shiny red ball, summer is the season for shouting yourself hoarse, but if you want your voice to last until Dave's last minute winner against the Argies in the final you're going to have to take care of it. The human voice is a precious, delicate mechanism; used prope…

When setting up your online marketing plan ensure that search engine optimisation is not an afterthought to your banner ad spends. They are a primary means to drive traffic to your website and fairly
The increasingly untenable limitations placed on direct to consumer advertising of prescription drugs will doubtless soon be addressed by the powers that be, whether at national or European level and deregulation, when it happens will lead to an explosion in the number of product and therapy area websites being produced by the pharmaceutical industry. But in an online environment already crowded with millions of websites and little to no policing, how can marketing departments ensure that patients searching for the best cure for GORD ever stumble upon their experimental new drug megacurealot w…

EU Health.net is a development of the well-known Blackwell Masters health information database. It has been enhanced to provide information specifically on the activities of the NHS and a major additi
The trend towards healthcare planning in Europe is providing a level of visibility and market intelligence that was previously unavailable. EU Health.net is a development of the well-known Blackwell Masters health information database. It has been enhanced to provide information specifically on the activities of the NHS and a major addition is the insight into policies and initiatives occurring in the European healthcare arena. It covers a total of 120 categories (full list available on request) including cardiology & stroke, cancer, mental health, diabetes, HIV & sexual health, res…

We have already considered in previous articles the role of the nurse adviser and how nurses cope with the transition from NHS into a commercial environment. This month we look at how nurse advisers a
We have already considered in previous articles the role of the nurse adviser and how nurses cope with the transition from NHS into a commercial environment. This month we look at how nurse advisers and medical representatives can get the best out of their working relationship, without compromising ethical standards. The Medical Representative’s Perspective Nurse adviser teams are still a fairly new concept. Many representatives still have little or no direct experience of working for a company that sponsors such a team. This means that there is often a lack of understanding of how these tea…

As R&D costs rise steadily and restrictions on profit squeeze tighter, pharma companies must maintain large commercial and development portfolios in order to remain competitive.
It is a palpable fact that you cannot work in the pharmaceutical industry of the 21st century without coming across a merger or acquisition at some time in your career. As R&D costs rise steadily and restrictions on profit squeeze tighter, pharma companies must maintain large commercial and development portfolios in order to remain competitive. The easiest way to increase your product line is, of course, to buy or in some way amalgamate with another company with an established and complementary portfolio itself. Since the 1980’s pharmaceutical companies have been constantly merging with and acquiring othe…

The sampling process is repeated on a daily basis across the pharmaceutical industry with billions of dollars expended each year.
In the year 2000, US pharmaceutical companies spent 16 billion dollars supporting the distribution and marketing of prescription drug samples to physicians. A full 50% of those costs went directly to communicating the value of the products and another 26% went to the detailing, distribution, and management of the samples. Over the course of a typical month, the average pharmaceutical sales representative will visit 150 physicians, distribute thousands of packages of drug samples, obtain FDA required signatures on 150 sample distribution forms, receive scores of new sample cartons to their home-based office, and expend as much as 25% of their time tediously man…

In turbulent economic times, the need to streamline businesses and control costs is always of paramount importance. This is true whether your strategic mission is to be a low-cost producer or an inno
In turbulent economic times, the need to streamline businesses and control costs is always of paramount importance. This is true whether your strategic mission is to be a low-cost producer or an innovator in your industry. Top executives have often turned to Supply Chain Management in an attempt to achieve these goals. But how do you get past the rhetoric of Supply Chain Management theory that so often is populated with clichés and little real-world action? The solution is not to focus simply on the theory or tactics of Supply Chain Management. These are well known. Rather, we must als…

The role of Clinical Research Associate (CRA) is a vital one in the pharmaceutical industry and as such commands both significant responsibility and impressive remuneration. A Clinical Research Associ
The role of Clinical Research Associate (CRA) is a vital one in the pharmaceutical industry and as such commands both significant responsibility and impressive remuneration. A Clinical Research Associate’s principle role is in monitoring the progress of a Clinical Trial either from an overall standpoint, or focused on an individual area of the trial such as initiation, ensuring the scientific integrity of the data collected or monitoring the well-being of the trial patients. A well-trained and knowledgeable CRA plays a vital role in helping to reduce the time between drug discovery and marketi…

In this two part series we look at 35 typical interview questions taken from countless interviews throughout the UK and North America over the last ten years along with 5 typical questions targetted s
An interview is not like an exam and shouldn’t be treated like one, it is an organic process, the pattern of which changes with every question asked or answered and it is designed to let all the participants establish who is the right person for a specific role within an organisation. You should always remember that the interview process is as much about you deciding whether you want to work for a company as it is about the interviewer(s) deciding whether you are right for a particular role. In this first of a two part series we look at 35 typical interview questions taken from countless int…

What is a portion of fruit? Does one orange = 100 peas or 200? Do you have to eat a whole pumpkin if you can’t find a banana?
With the Christmas/New Year blow-out now consigned to history and resolutions hanging by a thread it’s doubtless the case that many of you have vowed to eat five or more portions of fruit or veg a day as part of your new healthy living regime. But even though this seems like the easiest part of the scheduled new you (well, apart from ‘joining’ a gym) the glossy weekend supplements that have taught us all that five portions a day is the minimum you should be getting (quiet at the back) don’t usually go into details about what constitutes a portion (if I have to come back there, there’ll be trouble). So what is it? Does one orange = 100 peas or 200? Do you have to eat…