It was only a matter of time before physicians jumped on the social networking bandwagon—not that there is anything wrong with that.
Sermo, founded in September 2006 in Cambridge, Mass., provides a forum for doctors to seek diagnostic advice from peers. The site earns money by letting clients such as hedge funds monitor doctors' anonymous conversations and thus gain insight into, say, the popularity of certain medications and treatments. Sermo rewards physicians whose input is highly ranked by other members and soon will offer to pay doctors for participating in its clients' surveys.
Late last week,
Pfizer inked an advertising and promotional partnership deal with Sermo. Facing financial pressures as some of its best-selling products lose patent protection, Pfizer is looking for more-efficient ways to reach the doctors who prescribe its medicines. Under the arrangement, Pfizer-affiliated doctors will be able to talk candidly with the site's 31,000 members, potentially giving the company insights into prescribing patterns and a way to show doctors data on its drugs.
Pfizer said it plans to discuss the partnership with the FDA since it is the first drug company to do a deal with Sermo. Call me crazy, but I see an enormous conflict of interest here. Maybe officials at FDA will also see it—yeah right!
Until next time….
Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!
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There has recently been an inordinate amount of press coverage about methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or “MERSA” as it is called on my local nightly news. As a card-carrying microbiologist, I think that it is great that the American public is finally learning about multidrug resistant bacteria and the serious public health threat that these bacteria pose. For those of you who don’t know, the incidence of MRSA (and other multidrug resistant bacteria) has been steadily rising since the early 1990s –mostly in healthcare and hospital settings (not in the general population). Not surprisingly, the recent media focus on MRSA has resulted in a lot of misinformation about MRSA strains. For example, every MRSA news clip that I have seen in past week has a school janitor in a mask, gloves and laboratory coat feverishly washing walls, desks (and even toilets) at the schools where MRSA-infected students and staff have identified. I can’t help but chuckle (after I get righteously indignant) when I see these clips because S. aureus (whether it is methicillin resistant or not) is an opportunistic pathogen that is transiently carried in the nasal passages of over 50% of all Americans! Contrary to popular belief, S. aureus does not survive for long periods outside of the human body. That said, school janitors can scrub as much as they want but they will not eliminate the natural reservoir of the organism which is the students and staff who work at the schools! Further, the organism, although infectious, is not easily transmitted from person to person–it requires direct and intimate personal contact in order for that to occur. Also, just because the organism is resistant to methicillin it doesn’t mean that there are no other antibiotics that can be used to treat MRSA infections. In fact, if diagnosed early and correctly, MRSA infections are easily treated. So, why is the news media making such a big deal about MRSA?
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A sharp drop in sales of its blockbuster diabetes medication 
For those of you who don't know, 
There was a piece posted at 
Not to be outdone by big pharma, Boston Scientific, the medical device manufacturer that specializes in metal and drug-coated stents (which have recently garnered their fair of negative publicity in cardiovascular circles) .jpg)
Silverman who runs the 
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Biogen IDEC 
Biogen IDEC, one of the world's largest and most profitable biotech companies, may be for sale. The company was approached last week by several pharmaceutical suitors and Carl Icahn the billionaire former corporate raider. Mr Icahn has been interested in getting into the biotechnology business in a big way ever since he donated a large sum of money to Princeton University (his alma mater) for a new molecular biology building. He currently owns substantial shares in a number of companies including Imclone, Biogen IDEC and others.
Biotech giant Genentech is moving towards restricting the use of its cancer drug .jpg)
The news from Wyeth gets more and more interesting every day. It was 
Pfizer announced earlier this week
I recently participated in a career development recruiting event where I had the opportunity to chat with folks involved with career development for PhDs and postdoctoral fellows at a major NYC university. Not surprisingly, they confirmed my observation that the job market for PhD-level scientists is not a good one. After several spirited discussions, we all agreed that systemic changes must occur at the graduate school and federal granting agency levels to reduce the number of PhDs that are minted each year to insure that extant PhDs may actually find employment after they complete their training. That said, somewhat to my surprise, I learned that there is a growing demand for Masters level students in the private sector. Apparently, hiring managers at biotech and pharma companies are finally realizing that undergraduates with basic science training and a smattering of postgraduate work either in business or biotechnology (or both) can bring real value to their companies.
Not unexpectedly, Amgen Inc said on Wednesday it had shelved plans for a production plant in southern Ireland which would have generated 1,100 jobs. Amgen said the decision to postpone indefinitely the building of the factory in County Cork was "based purely on developments relating to Amgen's global business" and was no reflection on Ireland. As many of you may know, Ireland in recent years has become a hotbed of biomanufacturing largely because of its skilled workforce and lower cost structures.