Biotech | RSHC Snapshot

Excellent commentary on business and the web

By Betsy Raymond Stevenson, posted July 16, 2010

“Twitter, Twitter Little Stars” in Bloomberg Businessweek, by Felix Gillette — as customers make or break brands online, companies rush to hire social media directors….and figure out what they do

“On Language, the Web is at War with Itself” on NPR, by Linton Weeks

Selling PR to R&D

By Betsy Raymond Stevenson, posted June 28, 2010

Who else has had to convince a skeptical PhD or MD that, without a compelling personal story, media outreach won’t be effective? If you have ever felt that your first task in a presentation was to demonstrate that you don’t wear mouse ears at work, this post is for you.

To be fair, Research and Development management is right to be cautious about how they reach out to reporters. The list of what they cannot talk about is long. And, when they can talk, they must keep in mind the regulations around pre-approval promotion. PR firms that know their way through the ever increasing restrictions around product promotion and new product launches, are often unfamiliar with pipeline communication regulations.

In media interview training, I advise researchers to find analogies for their work to make it easier to understand. I use the same approach to explain the importance of storytelling to researchers. This is almost always a tough sell. To be effective a researcher must base his or her opinion on data. Not on emotion or wishful thinking. Storytelling can look frivolous, at best, at worst like pandering.

Here is the analogy I use to explain the role of storytelling to researchers. If it looks helpful to you, feel free to use it and please share here how you would improve or expand on it.

Authentic, compelling personal stories may not be as hard to discover as a new therapy, but they take research.

Read on …

Trusting Pharma

By Betsy Raymond Stevenson, posted March 2, 2010

Last week’s post, “Curing Pharma,” struck a chord. Not only with the public relations and marketing execs who are RS Snapshot’s primary readers, but with researchers, investors, sales professionals and corporate strategists who shared their thoughts here, and on LinkedIn, on what it will take to rebuild public goodwill towards the pharmaceutical — and biotech — industries. Read on …

Communications, Collaboration and Compliance

By Betsy Raymond Stevenson, posted November 10, 2009

In Ron Winslow’s WSJ story this morning, cardiologist Vincent Bufalino points out that “Only 5% to 10% of a person’s healthcare life happens in the hospital.” No one wants to live in a hosptial, but, human nature being what it is, many people’s daily lifestyle choices and irregular follow-through with their medicines are hurting their health and straining their budgets. “Get with the Guidelines,” a program run by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, is collecting data from doctors on their outpatient results so standards of care can be set and shared based on patient outcomes. Best practices tracked so far are strong on communications. Do doctors remember to ask if their patient has diabetes or if he/she has quit smoking? The program is already positively influencing treatment. 94% of heart patients in participating hospitals were discharged with a prescription for a beta blocker, compared with an average of 78% before the program started.

It seems to me that there is a win-win opportunity here for pharmaceutical and biotech companies to collaborate with physician and patient advocacy organizations to develop smart phone apps that will help patients, and those of us who want to avoid becoming patients, make better daily choices in an integrated way. Sending patients reminders to take their medicines is good, but wouldn’t a more comprehensive app that includes excercise, food choices, even healthy cooking tips, be better? And, what if these more comprehensive apps were targeted for different patient demographics, i.e.; teens, parents, men, women, seniors? And, what if the apps were fun? What if they were games or contests, or simply let patients track and score points?

Do you know of apps, or similar programs, that are already out there and being used? Do you have other thoughts on ways the industry can collaborate and create to improve compliance and overall health care outcomes?

Biotech Expertise

By Betsy Raymond Stevenson, posted October 1, 2009

Context and challenges:

Merrimack needs to raise millions to move their pipeline through development
They need to find the right language to convey their scientific platform’s unique potential to investors

Solution:

Conducted market research analysis of key concepts to identify investor understanding levels
Met with CEO and Senior Leadership Team to share research results and create new investor presentation