Upfront

BMS Undergoes Brand Transformation

Bristol Myers Squibb has revealed a new brand to reflect its evolution in light of its acquisition of Celgene for $74 billion late last year. The changes reflect an updated website, logo, and a change in punctuation — removing the hyphen between Bristol and Myers. The company, which was founded in 1858, when Edward R. Squibb joined his Brooklyn-based pharmaceutical company in 1887 with a drug manufacturing firm’s investors, and his two friends William McLaren Bristol and John Ripley Myers.

“We drew inspiration for our brand and brand attributes from our patients and our people," says Giovanni Caforio, chairman and CEO. “Our symbol, the hand, is a simple, universal expression of healing, of giving and receiving care. It is a representation of humanity, of the personal touch we bring to our work and to every treatment we pioneer. Our brand fully embodies our vision, and embraces our commitment of compassionate science and putting patients first. At Bristol Myers Squibb, every day is a new frontier. Every innovation, every treatment is a chance to give people back their lives."

More Than a Number

Advertising veteran Ed Mitzen, founder of the full-service health and wellness marketing agency, Fingerpaint, has written More Than a Number: The Power of Empathy and Philanthropy in Driving Ad Agency Performance. The book was launched with ForbesBooks, the exclusive book publishing imprint of Forbes Media.

Before moving to the agency side of the business, Ed was a client, as such he has a perspective on the important dynamic between an ad agency and its pharmaceutical company client.

In the book, Ed examines this critical relationship. “Reimagining this important dynamic with a focus on the relationship itself as equally, if not more, important to strong ad creative and strategic work," he says. “Before signing with an agency, clients need to ask critical questions such as: What are their people like to work with? Will they act as true partners and challenge us, or just do whatever we ask them? A year from now, will the same team be involved with my business or even working at the agency? Is the team made up of ethical, hard-working people that I would want to “be in the foxhole with?"

Ed also examines the theory that a positive company culture, rooted in empathy for clients, employees, and communities alike, is the key to driving performance and growth to the benefit of all stakeholders.

“I’ve written this book to help marketing directors pull back the curtain on agency culture, so that they can drive positive performance to produce great work sustainably for years to come," Ed says.

The Clinical Survey Says…

Greenphire recently conducted a brief survey with 140 global sponsors, sites, and CROs regarding patient convenience. The results were part of a joint presentation with Denisa McKnight from Roche at the recent SCOPE conference held in Orlando.

What do you see as the top barriers to clinical trials?*
74% indicated that travel, time, and logistics were a barrier to participation
28% responded that lack of awareness was a top issue
25% shared that financial challenges/reimbursements were hindering trial participation

How do you envision overcoming these barriers?*
29% said education
25% said that compensation/immediate reimbursements were key to overcoming these barriers
23% indicated that providing better convenience when it comes to travel/logistics is vital
13% shared that decentralized trials/more flexibility would help with patient participation
10% were simply unsure of what the
“answer" is

What does patient convenience mean to you?
Open-ended responses include:
As many details as possible are handled for patients
Accommodating office hours, remote access, easy reimbursements
Making it easy/inexpensive for a patient to participate in a clinical trial
Valuing their time and making things easy for them

*Note that respondents were able to select more than one

COVID-19 Survey

A recent survey from Health Perspectives Group, shows 73% of people with chronic illnesses feel their condition makes them more susceptible to the novel coronavirus.

As the global pandemic continues and its impact increasingly disrupts daily life in the United States, a new ongoing survey launched in the middle of March reveals specific concerns about the novel coronavirus among people living with chronic illnesses, who feel these conditions make them more susceptible to the virus and are beginning to turn to each other (58%) and their doctors (36%) for more information.

Epidemiologists have identified people with serious chronic medical conditions as one of the two key demographic groups (along with older adults) who are at high risk for poor outcomes from COVID-19.

The survey also found that 70% of respondents have concerns that COVID-19 will hurt their personal economic situation.

Health Perspectives Group fielded the first of a series of ongoing surveys in March among 1,300 members of its Health Stories Project social sharing community who are living with or caring for chronic conditions, tracking their awareness of and concerns about the novel coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19. Survey participants span age groups (18-92), genders, race/ethnicities, education level, location (urban, suburban, rural), and 17 chronic disease areas.

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Awards…

Johnson & Johnson Recognized with NKF 2020 Corporate Innovator Award
Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., part of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, has been selected to receive the 2020 Corporate Innovator Award from the National Kidney Foundation (NKF). The Corporate Innovator Award was established to recognize industry leaders that advance the field of nephrology by addressing an unmet medical need, or improving upon an existing practice, therapeutic or technology. In September 2019, Janssen’s Invokana (canagliflozin) was approved by the FDA to reduce the risk of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD),worsening of kidney function, cardiovascular (CV) death, and hospitalization for heart failure in adults with Type 2 diabetes and diabetic kidney disease (DKD) with a certain amount of protein in the urine. “Diabetes is a key risk factor for DKD, and accounts for 44% of all end-stage kidney disease cases," says Kevin Longino, CEO of NKF and a kidney transplant patient. “However, less than 40% of those with diabetes are completely assessed for kidney disease. The National Kidney Foundation applauds Janssen for bringing forth this treatment and urges patients living with type 2 diabetes to discuss the implications of this option with their healthcare provider."

PPD Earns CIO AwarD
PPD has been named by IDG’s CIO as a 2020 CIO 100 Awards honoree for deploying a data-visualization platform enabling PPD to more quickly visualize targeted patient populations and investigator sites conducting clinical trials for pharmaceutical and biotech customers, helping speed the development of life-changing medicines.

For more than 30 years, the CIO 100 Awards have recognized innovative organizations around the world that exemplify the highest level of operational and strategic excellence in information technology (IT).

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Woman of the Week – Podcast Series

February

Lindsay McNair, M. D., Chief Medical Officer, WCG
Kinnari Patel, Pharm. D., Chief Operating Officer & Head of Development, Executive VP, Rocket Pharmaceuticals
Karmen Trzupek, Director, Clinical Trial Services and Rare Disease Programs, InformedDNA
Renee Ryan, CEO, Cala Health

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Ebooks
Agile Drug Development Required in a New Age of Urgency
Provided By: Cognizant

The Women of the Week: A 2019 Anthology
Provided By: PharmaVOICE

PharmaVOICE Editor’s Take Videos at the SCOPE Summit

Andy Greenberg, Global Digital Lead for Life Sciences, Accenture

Michelle Marlborough, Chief Product Officer, and Lauren Sunshine, Associate Director, AiCure

Larissa Comis, Product Lead, Shared Investigator Platform, Cognizant

Nagaraja Srivatsan, VP and Chief Digital Officer, R&DS Technology Solutions, IQVIA

Tyler Pugsley, VP, Life Sciences, Medable

Jill Johnston, WCG President, Study Planning and Site Optimization Division, WCG

Podcast
Looking for Zebras: Exploring the diagnostic odyssey of patients with rare diseases
Sponsored by: 81qd

Therapeutic Digest
Alzheimer’s Disease