Pharma Strategy Blog

Commentary on Pharma & Biotech Oncology / Hematology New Product Development

Posts tagged ‘health’

Try something new for 30 days

By on July 27, 2011

Recently, I was inspired by Google’s Matt Cutts TED talk on how he made a few simple changes in his lifestyle and tried them for 30 days. With the tendency to be more desk bound as a consultant, I have found more weight has slowly crept on, much to my dismay, which is not good for general health and well being. I decided to do something about it.

My goals were to:

  1. do more walking (an hour a day)
  2. eat smaller portions
  3. cut out sugar
  4. get outside more
  5. experiment with a new work flow using some tools and apps I recently signed up for.

So far this month, the plan is doing well. In Boston last week, for example, I probably walked more in 4 days than I had in the previous 2 months! I’m now thinking of getting a Fitbit and recording my exercise/step levels to see what impact that has.

The video is well worth watching and only 3.5 mins long – check it out!

What health and well being changes are you making in your life?

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Mobile health and the impact for Pharma

By on May 11, 2011

“In God we trust, all others must bring data.”

W. Edwards Deming

The beauty of following many people on social media sites such as Twitter is that people in various communities, ie science, cancer, market research, PR and communications, etc all share links daily.  Occasionally, one catches my eye and reveals a hidden gem.

This morning was one of those days.                                                 Follow MaverickNY on Twitter

Take a look at this quick but useful (12 pages) slide deck on mobile health from Susannah Fox of Pew Internet:

Fox Mobile Health 2011

Social media is changing the way we interact and do a lot of things

Mobile and access to wifi is very much part of facilitating that change.  Go out on a busy street at lunchtime and notice how many people are using their iPhone, iPad or Android PDA to access data or do something.   Wifi access is included in this category – can you remember the last time you connected your laptop or desktop to an ethernet cable – I can’t.  Everything is now wireless, even printing.

The consequence of this trend is that many people are now searching for health information online, via their mobile or wifi (6 in 10 according to the Pew Research).

Does this trend have an impact on Pharma?

Absolutely it does. This social change actually has many useful implications for Pharma and their agencies:

  1. Are your brand or unbranded sites optimised for mobile?
  2. Are your sites Flash heavy?
  3. Is it easy to access health or disease information you generate through apps?
  4. Is your site optimised for languages such as Spanish?

It always amuses me (not) how many Agencies have flash heavy sites when a client calls and desires a recommendation for a new vendor, which actually happens quite often.  PR and Communications agencies are notoriously bad at this.  If I’m trying to send a link to your site to someone on an iPhone and they can’t read it, I’m not going to refer you. Fixing this glitch and dragging your agency into the digital age will improve your image enormously – image matters.

Imagine what the experience would be for patients trying to find out health information on the go and they can’t access anything because it’s coded in ugly Flash?  They will quickly go elsewhere for health information.

Scaling a website from a desktop or laptop to a mobile device is very different, both in the look and feel.  This blog, for example, looks very different on a mobile device than on a PC screen – check it out for yourselves.  The optimisation makes it much easier to read a blog post.

If I have a horrid time trying to find the incredibly tiny Prescribing Information or Reimbursement link on your brand site on a laptop, it’s going to be very difficult for a patient or caregiver to find it on a mobile device.  That’s something that is very easy to fix and will improve things for patients immediately.

Optimise it with big clickable, easy to see and read buttons!  Make the text large, navigation and UI a breeze to read and use.  Easy to use sites will ensure repeat visits, increased customer loyalty and sharing of the content.  Hard to use sites will not.

The Pew Report highlighted two key trends in online health discussions that I think are really important to Pharma, which they defined as:

  1. The Mobile difference
  2. The Diagnosis difference

Where the Diagnosis difference is helping people find, read and share information about a disease or diagnosis.  This could be a patient or caregiver, but interestingly, 1 in 4 adults use apps on their Smart phones.

WebMD is a still a main destination site for people seeking independent health information, but apps are becoming increasingly important.  That one area where Pharma companies can make an impact in a thoughtful, rather than promotional way.  My big assumption here though, is that patients themselves are consulted for ideas through focus groups and involved in the development of tools for monitoring their condition that are useful to them.

The end result?  People are more likely to share links or apps virally and blog about them to others, thereby helping to increase awareness, adoption and hopefully, longevity if the site or app is really useful and fills an unmet need.

Overall, this is an interesting area where Pharma can get easily involved in Web 2.0 – what are your thoughts or comments?

2 Comments

Is there a better model for health care?

By on May 7, 2010

Recently, I've been doing so much research and analysis of advanced cancers, it struck me that we spend millions of dollars on healthcare at the end of life when it likely won't have much impact, yet the real change happens when we catch and treat, or preferably prevent, diseases such as cancer earlier.  This is not exactly rocket science.

Maybe we need a change in approach?

By that, I mean a greater focus on prevention, health and wellness rather than medicate and palliate end of life care.

How much of illness is as a result of poor body management, for want of a better term?  Obesity, cardiovascular disease, sedentary lifestyles and lack of exercise all take their toll.

Most people don't do anything until a major wake-up call comes, but by then, it may well be too late do much.

What we need is a wellness model and people educating themselves to take better care of things earlier and having more responsibility for their choices.  After all, we can't expect an unlimited pot to be available at the end of the rainbow to cover the inexorable rising cost of treatment.  That's totally unrealistic and impractical.  

Eventually, the pot runs out and there is no more.

What then?

4 Comments

Do blacks have a higher risk of polyps or colon cancer than whites?

By on September 26, 2008

A new study reported in JAMA suggests that compared with white individuals, black men and women have a higher
incidence and mortality from colorectal cancer and may develop cancer
at a younger age. Colorectal cancer screening might also be less effective
in black individuals, if there are racial differences in the
age-adjusted prevalence and location of cancer precursor lesions.  Colon polyp on a short stalk.Image via Wikipedia

The study also found that blacks are more likely than whites to have large colon
polyps, and their tumors tend to be located higher in the colon where
they are harder to detect.

Blacks
are already known to have higher rates of colon cancer than whites and
up to 43 percent higher death rates from the disease, which kills
52,000 Americans annually.  Since 1985,
colon cancer has risen among black men and is unchanged among black
women, while declining by as much as 25 percent among whites.

Early detection of colon cancer is considered key to successful treatment.

In
a study of approx. 5,500 blacks and 80,000 whites who had
colonoscopies, researchers at Portland VA Medical Center found nearly 8
percent of blacks had one or more polyps sized more than 9 millimeters
in diameter, compared to slightly more than 6 percent of whites.

The
tumours detected in blacks were more likely to be in the upper part of
the colon where a sigmoidoscopy would be unlikely to find it because the procedure that looks only at the
lower half of the colon.  In addition, the
incidence of large polyps was noticeably high among black women younger
than 50, the age when adults are recommended to begin getting
regular colonoscopies.

Several factors may
account for the racial disparity in colon cancer rates, including
genetic differences that account for about a third of all cases of the
disease.  However, blacks also have poorer access to health care and lower
rates of participation when screening is offered.  These results, if repeated in other studies, strongly suggest that consideration should be given to initiation of screening before age 50 years in black women.

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Abiraterone in prostate cancer

By on September 25, 2008

Dr Johann de Bono, whose group presented the phase I data that generated so much recent interest, has been captured on video at the Prostate Cancer Foundation Scientific Retreat.

In the talk, covers the background behind the drug's development in prostate cancer, as well as explaining the data so far in patients who have failed standard docetaxel chemotherapy.

You can view the videos here and here.

There is more information on a previous post about how abiraterone works in prostate cancer.  The drug is now in phase III development and new trials in breast cancer are expected to start soon.

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FTC warns about bogus cancer cures

By on September 19, 2008

The absolute last thing you need when you or a family member is seriously ill with cancer is an illegal scam from snake oil salesmen.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
has charged five companies with making false and misleading claims for
cancer cures and said yesterday that it has reached settlements with several others.  In their press release, the five companies being sued for false and deceptive advertising will go before administrative law judges and included the following:

Omega Supply

Native Essence Herb Company

Daniel Chapter One

Gemtronics

Herbs For Cancer

Settlements were reached with other companies who paid restitution ranging from $9,000 to $250,000.  In all, over a 100 warning letters were sent out asking companies to address the bogus claims. 

The FTC, the Food and Drug Administration FDA) and Canadian authorities, are launching a consumer education campaign warning about bogus claims for cures.  It includes videos and a wealth of information in a cartoon format, including excellent snippets such as this:

"Natural doesn't always mean effective. Scammers take
advantage of the feelings that can accompany a diagnosis of cancer.
They promote unproven – and potentially dangerous – remedies like black
salve, essiac tea, or laetrile with claims that the products are both
“natural” and effective.  But “natural” doesn’t mean either safe or
effective when it comes to using these treatments for cancer. In fact,
a product labeled “natural,” can be ineffective and even downright
harmful."


Interestingly, one of the lawyers for the five companies was maintaining that the FTC's actions represent censorship.  The reality is that there are no credible scientific evidence that any of the products
marketed by these companies can prevent, cure, or treat cancer, since few if any, have undergone controlled clinical trials. 

Given the high standards maintained by the FDA and other regulatory authorities, the burden of proof lies with the companies to prove their claims or risk being labelled snake oil salesmen at best.

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