GSW Kicks Off Virtual Trade Show App
iQ.3Dbooth, created by GSW, an inVentiv health company and leader in healthcare advertising, is a 3D mobile application that creates an immersive virtual trade show experience on computers, iPads and other tablet devices. According to the company, the app provides an engaging experience that allows vendors to give physicians and other customers a tour of their products at any time before, during or after a trade show. Optimized for the pharmaceutical industry, iQ.3Dbooth is said to greatly reduce the time and costs associated with building virtual booths, and will allow marketers to reach larger audiences more efficiently with lasting influence.
Intouch Solutions Launches Intouch Science
To advance communication between brands and healthcare professionals, Intouch Solutions launched a new service, Intouch Science. Specializing in clinical guidance, it will offer a blend of digital and scientific marketing capabilities to help pharma companies engage HCPs.
“Intouch Science melds medical communications with technology to create engaging and effective programs specifically geared to HCPs,” says Frank Capan, CEO of Intouch Solutions. The program is said to add a new level of clinical rigor to the company’s content generation, ensuring scientific accuracy in messaging, data presentation and product positioning.
Eisai to Produce Generic Alzheimer Drug
Tokyo-based pharma company, Eisai Inc., announced it has signed a non-exclusive licensing agreement with a manufacturer of generic pharmaceuticals in the United States. The agreement will grant the manufacturer the right to market and sell a generic version of donepezil HCL 23 mg, a drug used to treat moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease. The agreement applies to the U.S. only.
Humana and Eli Lilly Join Research Forces
Leading healthcare company Humana Inc., is collaborating with Eli Lilly via Humana research subsidiary, Comprehensive Health Insights (CHI). Amassing resources, the companies will research the overall healthcare experience of patients with the aim of improving quality of care. In particular, the core initiative of the partnership will be to conduct a retrospective study focusing on the increase in healthcare costs in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Biogen and Isis Collaborate on Neuro Disorders
In their fourth collaboration in two years, Biogen Idec and Isis Pharmaceuticals initiated a six-year research collaboration to advance the treatment of neurological disorders. Biogen is a world leader in neurology and Isis specializes in antisense technology, which is used to pinpoint particular disease-causing genes and turn them on or off. The two companies will work together on drug discovery and identifying clinical development candidates. Biogen Idec will make a $100 million upfront payment to Isis and gain exclusive rights to use the company’s antisense technology.
Endo Subsidiary to Buy Boca Pharmacal
To enhance its growth platform and pipeline, Endo Health Solutions subsidiary, Qualitest, reached an agreement to buy specialty generics company Boca Pharmacal for $225 million. Boca Pharmacal focuses on niche-area generic products including controlled substances, semisolids and solutions. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to Endo’s 2013 adjusted diluted earnings per share and will meaningfully accelerate the growth of Qualitest in 2014.
Abbott Acquires IDEV Technologies
Leading global healthcare company Abbott Vascular acquired IDEV Technologies, a privately-held company that is focused on the development of next generation medical devices for interventional radiologists, vascular surgeons and interventional cardiologists. The $310 million deal expands Abbott’s global peripheral technology portfolio to include IDEV’s Supera Veritas self-expanding nitinol stent to treat peripheral artery disease (PAD)-related blood vessel blockages. Not currently FDA approved, the product is being reviewed under a Premarket Approval application for treatment of the superficial femoral artery, the main artery in the thigh that brings blood to the lower extremities. Supera Veritas is currently approved only for treatment of biliary strictures related to cancer.
FDA Finalizes System Tracking Medical Devices
When fully implemented, the unique device identification (UDI) system has the potential to improve the quality of information in medical device adverse events reports, which will help the FDA identify problems with marketed products quicker, better target recalls and improve patient safety. The FDA will phase in the UDI system to focus first on high-risk medical devices. Many low-risk devices will be exempt from some or all of the requirements in the final rule.
GlaxoSmithKline and CCNC Increase Data Analysis Efficiency
Researchers at GlaxoSmithKline and Community Care North Carolina (CCNC) have determined a more effective way to analyze data and subsequently improve the quality of customer care. This approach, deemed “small data,” focuses on individual patient specifics pertaining to prescriptions, prescription refills and hospital admissions. Concentrating on this data will allow physicians to better determine if patients are in danger of a negative health result.
WorldOne Creates iConsult
WorldOne’s iConsult helps physicians communicate in real time with each other to consult on cases to improve patient care. It connects physicians in various settings, from remote corners of the world to urban settings, to offer more well-rounded diagnoses that result in more successful care. iConsult creates an online community of experts, and verifies that participants are licensed physicians. Universal access to the program is available after verification.
Bayer and Broad Collaborate
Bayer Healthcare partnered with the Broad Institute to collaborate on therapeutic cancer treatment options over the next five years. The Broad Institute is a non-profit biomedical research institution that has deep ties with Harvard and MIT as well as extensive knowledge pertaining to cancer, chemical biology and drug discovery. The Broad Institute has a widespread catalogue of mutational changes that have occurred with different cancer treatments. Together, the two companies hope to pinpoint the genes that stimulate tumor growth and suppress them using new therapies.
Santaris Extends Research Partnership With Shire
Denmark-based pharmaceutical company Santaris, announced a joint expansion of their longtime affiliation with Shire Pharmaceutical, extending partnered research to rare genetic disorders. The two companies plan to focus on drug discovery for Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA). Producing LNA-based drugs will open up previously inaccessible pathways for physicians to treat patients. This shared venture will give both companies the rights to any research and royalties prepared during the collaboration.
FDA Awards Grants For Pediatric Med Devices
Over $3.5 million in grants were awarded to seven winning medical device applicants in order to inspire the development of pediatric medical devices. A panel of experts chose a number of impressive individuals to lead the efforts including: Pedro Del Nido, MD, Boston Pediatric Device Consortium; James Geiger, MD, University of Michigan Pediatric Device Consortium; Yanic Bar-Cohen, MD, Southern California Center for Technology and Innovation in Pediatrics; and Peter Kim, MD, National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation. This initiative is part of the FDA’s commitment to medical product innovation in areas of unmet medical need.
Bio-Solutions Announces New Diabetes Marketing Campaign
Bio-Solutions is partnering with Direct Response Marketing to release an infomercial campaign for their new product, Type2Defense. Type2Defense is a powder made of natural ingredients aimed at maintaining healthy blood glucose levels in both health conscious people and individuals with type 2 diabetes. Bio-Solutions recognizes a drastic surge in the population of people diagnosed with diabetes, type 2 in particular. Their product strives to promote healthy blood glucose levels in order to prevent a type 2 diabetes diagnosis and aid those already diagnosed with the disease.
