GSW Opens New York Office
New location solidifies inChord’s presence in the Northeast pharmaceutical corridor and facilitates interaction between other East Coast corporate entities. Gerbig, Snell/Weisheimer (GSW) has recently expanded its operations by opening an office in New York. The new office enhances the capacity of GSW and its parent company, inChord Communications Inc., and allows greater access to its clients. “GSW has experienced fantastic success in recent years, growing by more than 500% since 1997,” says Blane Walter, chairman and CEO of inChord. “This growth has resulted from a client-focused approach and commitment to providing liberating ideas that help our clients’ brands win in the marketplace. Now we’re taking that same model that has been so successful for GSW in Columbus and London and bringing it to New York.” The New York office services a number of new clients, including the global marketing account for Biogen’s Avonex. There are no immediate plans to transfer any existing accounts from GSW’s Columbus office. GSW’s New York office is located at 1180 Avenue of the Americas, where inChord’s branding company, Y, also is housed. The office is headed by Vince Parry, president of inChord’s New York operations, who provides strategic oversight. Mr. Parry, who joined inChord in November 2001, also serves as the founder and president of Y. Elisa Cooper-Broski serves as senior VP, creative director, and Diane Pencek serves as senior VP, director of client services. “We are extremely fortunate to be launching this operation with such an experienced and talented team,” Mr. Parry says. “Elisa and Diane bring tremendous strategic and creative skills, along with an unmatched understanding of the pharmaceutical marketing industry. Their know-how, combined with our ability to tap into the vast resources of inChord, has enabled us to launch the new office and begin serving clients with very little ramp-up time.” GSW’s three offices — Columbus, London, and New York — work in collaboration under the guidance of the GSW Leadership Council, led by Phil Deschamps, president of GSW. The Leadership Council is responsible for all strategic decisions related to the agency’s business and brand. Other members of the council include Bruce Rooke, GSW’s chief creative officer, Daniel Teper, GSW’s chief global officer, and Mr. Parry. Vince Parry, president of inChord’s New York operations, heads up GSW’s new office in New York.
Thomson PDR Introduces Clinical Handbooks
Thomson PDR, publisher of the Physician’s Desk Reference, is launching PDR Clinical Handbooks, portable mini-textbooks for clinicians. This service enables pharmaceutical companies to provide the most up-to-date information on disease states and treatment options in a portable format. “Pharmaceutical companies have a broad array of educational resources for physicians they can sponsor,” says Dik Barsamian, Thomson PDR VP of sales and marketing. “What distinguishes PDR’s resources, such as PDR Clinical Handbooks, are the instant brand recognition and high level of credibility PDR enjoys in the medical community.” The practice-oriented content of each PDR Clinical Handbook contains a detailed discussion of disease management guidelines, including pharmacotherapy options, as well as a summary of the latest clinical trials in a therapeutic area. Relevant charts and tables also are included. In addition, clients can elect to provide CME accreditation of sponsored handbooks. PDR Clinical Handbooks are written by thought leaders renowned in their respective fields. The PDR Clinical Handbook for Hyperlipidemia, which has been supported by an educational grant from Abbott Laboratories, was written by Scott M. Grundy, M.D., Ph.D. Other handbooks available for sponsorship are currently being created for depression, diabetes, community-acquired pneumonia, and asthma. PDR Clinical Handbooks can be delivered to physicians during rep detail visits or at medical convention booths. Intellisphere Launches Medical-Education Division Intellisphere LLC, publisher of the MD Net Guide journal series, has launched a new medical-education division anchored by the hiring of Lisa Baez and Jeronimo Careeno, formerly of TV Interactive (TVI) of Boca Raton, Fla. “The launch of this new division completes the full spectrum of media channels available to our clients for distribution of their programs,” says Michael J. Hennessy, chairman and CEO of Intellisphere. “Our powerful print and Web-development capabilities now include broadcast production for cable, network television, and Internet viewing.” Ms. Baez produced “Healthy Solutions” for seven seasons, which is hosted by Emmy-award winning actress Mariette Hartley. Ms. Baez’s production talents, including writing, editing, and production development, are expected to propel the execution of multiple media projects for Intellisphere’s newest division. Mr. Careeno is responsible for the artistic direction of the medical-education division, conceptualizing and designing television programming for patients and their physicians. Intellisphere’s recently launched Family Medicine Net Guide, targeted to the patient marketplace in print, is now moving forward to offer broadcast content through television and the Internet for patients and physicians. Lisa Baez and Jeronimo Careeno lead Intellisphere’s recently established medical-education division. Dendrite Establishes Pharmaceutical CRM Effectiveness Business Unit Dendrite International Inc. has established a fully dedicated pharmaceutical CRM effectiveness business unit, providing the global pharmaceutical industry with expert, flexible business process outsourcing services to improve management of its customer relationships and to maximize CRM software investments. The new unit includes Dendrite’s recently established CRM Center of Excellence, which is located in Norcross, Ga., and is dedicated to providing services to pharmaceutical companies using software applications developed internally by Dendrite or have deployed non-Dendrite-developed software, including proprietary solutions and those developed by third parties such as Oracle, Siebel, and SAP. The ISO 9001: 2000-certified facility, which includes dedicated resources for international clients, also provides managed hosting, hardware services, help-desk services, application consulting and support services, collaborative learning services, 21 CFR Part 11 regulatory validation services, training, account management, and operation support and program management. Dendrite Group President Sheli Gupta serves as VP and general manager of the new center. “To provide the deployment and service flexibility and expertise that is increasingly being demanded by the global pharmaceutical industry, Dendrite is committed to developing a world-class service facility for customers regardless of which software applications they use,” says Paul Zaffaroni, Dendrite president and chief operating officer. Dendrite’s CRM effectiveness business unit also supports the company’s new CRM Software Enhancement Kit offering, which provides industry-specific software and service solutions. The software offering blends Dendrite’s information management, business intelligence and analytics, commercial operations solutions, and CRM channel solutions. Sheli Gupta (left) serves as VP and general manager of the new center. According to Paul Zaffaroni (right), Dendrite’s goal was to develop a world-class service facility for customers regardless of which software applications they use. Novartis and Pfizer Take Top Honors in Award for Excellence in Medical Journal Advertising Novartis and Pfizer were the winners in the first annual Doctors’ Choice Awards from the Association of Medical Publications (AMP). The awards honoring excellence in medical journal advertising were presented during a cermony in October that drew more than 300 industry executives to the New York event. The winners — including pharmaceutical manufacturers and their advertising agencies — were selected from 288 ads that appeared in 2002, with awards going to both the company and the agency. Awards were presented in 12 medical specialties from allergy to psychiatry and four size categories. Novartis’ four-page ad for Elidel for eczema was the highest-scoring ad and also won top honors in the pediatrics and four-page unit categories. The ad was created by Noesis Healthcare Interactions, a division of CommonHealth. The ad was headlined, “Looking for steroid-free eczema control?” and announced a major advance in the treatment of a persistent skin condition. Pfizer won top honors in four categories: anti-arthritics (Bextra for arthritis pain), anti-infectives (Zithromax for respiratory infections), cardiovasculars (Lipitor for lowering cholesterol), and neurologicals (Neurontin for epilepsy). GlaxoSmithKline won two awards for Valtrax (for genital herpes) and Sanofi-Synthelabo won two awards for Ambien (for insomnia). Unlike other award programs, this one is evaluated by the doctors themselves. Using an e-mail survey of practicing physicians, doctors were asked to rate more than 288 representative ads that appeared in 2002. More than 6,800 physicians responded, each one evaluating 10 ads. The ads were judged on their ability to communicate, provide information, generate excitement, and encourage action. “There’s nothing more rewarding than to see our work recognized by physicians and to provide them with compelling communications that help make Elidel an important part of their practice. This award is a testament to the collaborative efforts of Noesis and Novartis,” says Bruce Epstein, president of Noesis. November 2003 New Healthcare-related Products, Services, and Companies What’s New Follow up Association of Medical Publications, Westfield, N.J., includes 240 medical publications in addition to service companies associated with the medical field. For more information, visit amponline.org. Dendrite, Morristown, N.J., develops and delivers solutions that increase the productivity of sales, marketing, and clinical processes for pharmaceutical and other life-sciences clients. For more information, visit dendrite.com. Gerbig, Snell/Weisheimer, Columbus, Ohio, a subsidiary of inChord Communications Inc., is a full-service marketing and advertising agency. For more information, visit gswa.com. Intellisphere LLC, Plainsboro, N.J., is a young media company, built upon its featured brand for physicians, MD Net Guide. For more information, visit mdnetguide.com. Noesis Healthcare Interactions, Parsippany, N.J, is a full-service healthcare communications company and a division of CommonHealth. For more information, visit commonhealth.com. Novartis Pharmaceuticals corp., East Hanover, N.J., an affiliate of Novartis AG, is a world leader in pharmaceuticals and consumer health. For more information, visit, novartis.com. Pfizer Inc., New York, discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets leading prescription medicines for humans and animals. For more information, visit pfizer.com. Thomson PDR, Montvale, N.J, is the publisher of The Physicians’ Desk Reference and a division of The Thomson Corp., a leader in providing information solutions to business and professional customers in healthcare and scientific research, financial services, reference information, and corporate training. For more information, visit pdr.net.