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The incomparable Mark Senak, author of the EyeonFDA blog and social media enthusiast, offers a gift this holiday season to those of you track social media use by life sciences companies. Mark has assiduously compiled a list of the life sciences companies that use social media and their platforms of choice.

It is a comprehensive list and must have for all of you pharma social media junkies out there!

Happy Holidays!

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!!!!

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Over the past five years or so there has been a proliferation of blogs that cover the life sciences industry. While I visit some of them frequently, e.g., Pharmalot, EyeonFDA and PharmaLive,.

I am sure that there are others out there that may be useful. To that end, I came across a blog post on the Health and Life website that listed the top 10 essential pharma news blogs. 

#1 Pharmalot

How can we describe the value Pharmalot provides?

Visiting Pharmalot is something we do daily – we can give no blog or resource a higher compliment.  Ed Silverman has the experience to cut through the news and provide readers with the most important tidbits along with pertinent thoughts.

And for those interested in Pharma, the daily email can be quite valuable.

#2 PharmaGossip

Pharmagossip is recognized for horribly accurate, sharp and incisive analysis.  You can feel the author’s passion and concern for upholding ethical standards in almost any post.

Just don’t read before going to sleep or before discussions on whether man is inherently good or bad.

Pharmagossip is a blog that can change how you think about things while keeping up with important pharma news.

#3 In the Pipeline

What’s wrong with dioxygen difluoride and how accurate are HER2 receptor tests?

Derek Lowe does an excellent job of analyzing drugs, especially those that are in the pipeline and being developed.  He’s the kind of guy who points out flaws in a medication a month before clinical trials reveal it’s a dud.

You can wait for the news to be public knowledge.  Or you can read his blog.

#4 The IN VIVO Blog

When the FDA asks ten nephrologists to review a medication and they all decline, the In Vivo Blog catches it.  This blog is well known for accuracy, quality and overall being an extremely useful read for those trying to keep up with the fast-moving pharmaceutical industry.

Best of all, they have a good sense of humor.

#5 Pharma Marketing Blog

Pharma Marketing blog gives you the expert analysis of John Mack, a man who knows a lot about the marketing tactics Pharma companies use – and constantly learns new things and shares his insight with readers.

Is Pfizer running a bait and switch with its Facebook fan page?  Is Allegran running an inappropriate advertising campaign for Botox?

Find out about these and other issues in marketing related to pharmaceuticals by reading what John Mack has to say.

#6 Drug Discovery Opinion

For people who care about pharmaceuticals, the Drug Discovery Opinion is gold waiting to be discovered.

This blog provides analysis of the technical issues that have tremendous implications for drug discovery, efficacy and marketability.  It explains the fundamental science that drives pharmacology.

Its authors have almost unmatchable credentials. Great read and quite useful.

#7 Pharma Strategy Blog

Which Tyrosine Kinase inhibitor shows the most promise?  What’s going on with Avastin and ovarian cancer?

To get the answer to these, and other important questions, Pharma Strategy Blog is excellently informative.  To get a sense of the value of its posts consider this.

Sally Church, the blog’s author, was responsible for helping launch Gleevec. 

Her expertise and talent shows clearly in her posts.  Pharma Strategy blog is top notch and it gives readers insider knowledge.

#8 The MacGuffin

Not a blog for the light of heart, The MacGuffin is infamous for no-holds barred criticism and analysis.

They see things other people don’t.  And they deliver their thoughts in a combination of colloquial and scientific talk. They might deliver a knock-out analysis of a medication and follow up with an inappropriate photo of a celebrity.

Cocky and clever.  Make sure to check out their analysis of schizophrenia.

#9 Pharma Conduct

This blog keeps an eye on the conduct of pharmaceuticals and the healthcare business.  It is mainly written by Eric Milgram, Ph.D. who has more than 10 years of pharmaceutical experience.

It is an investigative blog that is unafraid to expose corruption.  The formal, analytical training Eric underwent to learn chemical analysis shows through in the high caliber of his posts.

#10 The Science Business

Well written, useful and insightful.  Not as willing to take risks and focus on emerging issues as some others on this list, this blog makes the list because it provides extremely high quality writing on health care issues.

Sadly, BioJobBlog did not make the list. I guess I just have to work a little harder.

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!

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Blogs first began appearing on the web about 10 years ago and most experts agree that they ignited the social media revolution. While blogs are the oldest form of social media, many pharma companies are reluctant to contribute to the content of the blogosphere. This is mainly because of perceived regulatory and legal issue and consequences. Nevertheless, a few intrepid big pharma companies have taken the social media plunge and currently maintain blogs with various formats and content.

From time to time, Mark Senak, author of the outstanding EyeonFDA blog, likes to check up on pharma to see how their social media experiments are going. In a post today, entitled “A Profile on Blogging By Pharma and FDA” he provides an update on pharma bloggers who he thinks are making a contribution to the life sciences community. The following is Mark’s assessment:

Johnson & Johnson–With JNJBTW, J&J has been blogging longer than any other pharma company with an archive going back to June 2007.  JNJBTW provides works to forge relationships with a broad spectrum of healthcare consumers by providing insights and resources for a variety of treatment related issues and profiles of company activities.  The blog haws multiple authors and accepts comments, though reviews them before posting according to the comments policy.  The blog has its own domain.

GSK–The More Than Medicine blog goes back to January 2009 and uses multiple authors to cover a wide span of subject matter that includes corporate social responsibility topics, chronic diseases, and current events. According to its comments policy, the blog allows for moderated comments. Entries can vary in terms of timing; with all three entries for October appearing on the same day.

AstraZeneca–Like JNJBTW and More Than Medicine, the AZHealthConnections blog takes a generalist approach by providing information on a broad spectrum of subject matter – some disease or condition specific in the areas of cancer and diabetes – but also including a public policy and general healthcare information. Residing in its own domain, the earliest archive is in October 2009 and the blog permits moderated comments according to its comments policy.

Lilly–The blog LillyPad is a more recent entry to the blogosphere begin in third quarter 2010, though no archive link is available on the landing page. LillyPad was started with a twitter handle as well of the same name, and more recently joined by a LillyPad YouTube channel called the Lilly Health Channel. The posting on the blog have frequent postings related to public policy and advocacy issues, though there is sometimes a posting on social responsibility or what it is like to work at the company. However, the focus on advocacy and policy issues (supporting innovation) seems to drive this effort in a very specific direction – being less generalist than other approaches. The comments policy is at the end of a post and states that comments are filtered – or moderated – by the company before posting.

Sanofi US–Here a company has taken a much more specific approach with a blog called Discuss Diabetes. The archive goes back to January 2011 and is therefore the newest entry and has the distinction on being the only disease/condition-specific target audience.  The blog, with its own domain, accepts and moderates comments. The focus is to provide information and resources regarding diabetes and resources for those who have it or are care partners, including such assets as its own mobile app for diabetics – Go Meals.

Pfizer–The Think Science Now blog on the Pfizer site has multiple authors who write to translate the science of medical research, though it lacks some of the traditional characteristics of a blog, such as an archive or commentary policy that was readily apparent. However, it is exemplary of the effort to aim at a specific audience of people rather than go broadly to the consuming public.

FDA–The FDA Transparency Blog first posted in November 2008 and was originally set to run for six months.  The purpose is to provide insight into how and why the agency comes to some of its decisions.  It does not have its own domain but is contained in the labyrinth of the FDA’s website.  The blog allows for moderated comments according to its comments policy, though I have not found that to necessarily be the case.

As you can see, there are not many pharma companies that maintain corporate blogs. Perhaps this may change after FDA releases it guidance on the use of social media in the life sciences industry. That said, it is anybody’s guess as to when that guidance will be issued; it already has been two years and there is no guidance yet!

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!!!

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Mark Senak, author of the outstanding EyeonFDA blog, tweeted today, that Eli Lilly & Co had launched a YouTube Channel. According to a post on the company’s blog Lilly Pad, its new channel dubbed the “Lilly Health Channel” will “videos on health and wellness, employee and community outreach efforts, health innovation, Lilly programs and other non-product-branded initiatives.”

While the announcement of a launch of another pharma-sponsored YouTube channel is no longer new or novel, Eli Lilly has been trying to transform itself into a modern, social media and crowdsourcing-focused pharmaceutical company. For example, Lilly is one of only a handful of big pharma companies that sponsors its own corporate blog. Moreover, the company is a leader in using so-called crowdsourcing to discover and develop potential new drugs. It has spun off at least two ventures that utilize a crowdsourcing approach to new drug discovery. Finally, unlike most other big pharma CEOs, its chief executive John Lechleiter has been outspoken about the lack of innovation and available workforce talent in the US life sciences industry. 

Is Lilly truly the pharmaceutical company of the future? That remains to be seen! 

Until next time... 

Good Luck and Good Viewing!!!!

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William Hooper author of the HealthTechTopia blog which focuses on biomedicine and healthcare informatics compiled a top 25 list of the best biomedicine blogs on the web. 

While BioJobBlog failed to make the list, BioCrowd was listed at number 14. This is what the HealthTechTopia blog had to say about BioCrowd, the online networking site created by Vincent Racaniello and me.

“So where can you get blog entries from tons of biomedicine enthusiasts? With a stop here. The site was built to help bioscience professionals build relationships, exchange ideas, find jobs, and identify exciting new career opportunities.”

Best Blogs on Biomedicine by an Individual

These experts in biomedicine take it on at all angles.

1. Biotech/ Biomedical
   Join Dr. Theresa Phillips as she uses her experience to provide her readers with tools, tips, strategies, and information about the industry. She has a broad background in a number of different areas of biotechnology and biomedical research, including having worked for two biotech companies in the environmental remediation industry. Must reads include a career in biotech and six approaches to phytoremediation.
2. Terry Etherton Blog on Biotechnology
   Dr. Etherton is a Distinguished Professor of Animal Nutrition and Head of the Department of Dairy and Animal Science at Penn State University. His research specialty is the area of endocrine regulation of animal growth and nutrient metabolism. Genetically modified crops and cloned livestock are the latest blog topics.
3. Eye on DNA
   Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei is a PhD-trained epidemiologist and biotech consultant, as well as a Stanford and JohnHopkinsUniversity graduate. One of her focuses is on how both genome and internet technology are going to change the world. Popular articles include DNA toys and “100 Facts About DNA.”
4. Gary Rabin
   He is the Chairman of Advanced Cell Technology. They are a biotechnology company that specializes in the development of cellular therapies for the treatment of rare and common diseases that impact millions of people worldwide. The blog often lists their accomplishments as well as related items in biotech.
5. Building Confidence
   Blogger Russ Altman is also a professor at StanfordUniversity. His writings are a way to share commentary on issues related to his professional expertise, which is biomedical informatics, genetics, medicine, and bioengineering. He also has a quick tutorial on the subject of bioinformatics.
6. Gene Expression
   Razib Khan’s degrees are in biochemistry and biology. He has blogged about genetics since 2002, previously worked in software development, and is an Unz Foundation Junior Fellow. A standout choice for often integrating pop culture and news items into bio-learning.
7. Biotech Blog
   Yali Friedman lives in Washington, DC and is the author of “Building Biotechnology” and other books. He is also the founder of DrugPatentWatch and chief editor of the “Journal of Commercial Biotechnology.” Check out his blog for thoughts and news on the commercial, legal, political, and scientific aspects of biotech.
8. Expression Patterns
   Proving again that biomedicine isn’t just for men is Eva Amsen. She recently moved from research to editing and from biochemistry to developmental biology. In addition to science, she also blogs about the arts.
9. Public Rambling
   What sounds like a blog for the latest commentary on the latest scandal is actually a scientific one. Pedro Beltrao stops here to write about what he thinks on bioinformatics, science, and technology. Omics was the topic of a recent post.
10. Science Roll
    Bertalan Meskó graduated from the University of Debrecen, Medical School and Health Science Center in 2009 and started PhD studies in the field of personalized genomics. His blog is now a journey through genetics and medicine. Biomedicine in the news and his reaction are often the topic of posts.

Best Blogs on Biomedicine by a Group

Check out these groups and sites for a collective view of biomedicine and related areas.

11. The Daily Scan
    Part of Genome Web, there are several blogs on biomedicine to choose from. They include entries on cancer and informatics. The main site has more for those interested in biomedicine such as news, careers, and a magazine.
12. ISAAA
    Click here for the official blog from the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications. They have a newsfeed that is constantly updated and divided by crop biotech, biofuels supplement, and more. There are also other learning resources offered.
13. Fierce Biotech
    Get just the news with a visit here. Several stories a day are on all the advancements and announcements in the field. You can also choose by biomarkers, events, whitepapers, and much more.
14. BioCrowd
    So where can you get blog entries from tons of biomedicine enthusiasts? With a stop here. The site was built to help bioscience professionals build relationships, exchange ideas, find jobs, and identify exciting new career opportunities.
15. Growers for Biotechnology
    Their mission is to promote and facilitate the research, development and acceptance of biotechnology in agriculture. The news stream has the latest in developments in biology for food. You can also get other biotech info such as why growers use biotech and reports.
16. BMC Biotechnology
    This is an open access journal publishing original peer-reviewed articles on the manipulation of biological macromolecules or organisms. Use in experimental procedures, cellular, and tissue engineering, as well as in the pharmaceutical, agricultural biotechnology, and allied industries are also shared. Current featured articles are on glucosinolate engineering and cytokine inhibition.
17. Biotechnology Journal
    Can’t make it to the library to read the latest issue or shell out a subscription fee? Then click here to get many issues offering free articles as a PDF. There are also other biomedicine items available.
18. Colorado Bioscience Association
    The CBSA is a not-for-profit corporation providing services and support for Colorado’s growing biosciences industry. Their blog contains news releases, links to articles, and other related information of interest. Maggie Chamberlin Holben of their marketing department has more.
19. Biomedicine on Display
    This is the blog of Medical Museion, University of Copenhagen. They focus on the display of visual and material culture in museums, laboratories, and clinics with a goal of promoting contemporary biomedicine. Materialism was the subject of the latest post.
20. BioSpace
    Finally, stop here to get items on life, science, and the community with the biologist in mind. Top breaking news and featured stories are often included. You can also search by biotech, medical, clinical research, and academic entries.

Best Blogs on Specific Biomedicine

Learn more about a specific area of biomedicine below.

21. The Spittoon
    Get the writings from the pro’s at 23 and Me here. They specialize in using saliva to analyze the nearly one million locations in a person’s genome. Readers of the blog are given a deeper understanding of DNA and related areas.
22. Genetic Future
    So how will all this biomedicine and such affect us in the future? That is the very question that genome researcher Daniel MacArthur strives to answer. Part of Wired Blogs, he focuses on the fast moving world of human genetics and why companies will sell you info on your own DNA.
23. OnBioVC
    But can all this biomedicine talk be used to turn a profit? With a visit to this blog, the answer can be “yes.” They specialize in reporting on bioscience venture capital data.
24. Blog,Bioethics.net
    As with any science, ethics is going to come into play. Get a blog especially for the ethics surrounding biology here. The editors of “The American Journal of Bioethics” use it to inform and discuss more on the subject with the public.
25. Bioethics Discussion Blog
    Because one view on anything ethical isn’t enough, click here. Dr. Maurice Bernstein is a physician and medical school teacher who moderates the discussion. With entries dating back to 2004, make time for tons of bioethics.

No matter if you are a student studying for a PhD or just a fan of science, there is loads to learn on the above 25 best blogs on biomedicine.

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Science and medical conference season is in full swing and tens of thousands of persons are attending scientific and medical meeting all over the US. While social media is no longer a new “thing” only a few scientific and medical societies understand its power and ways in which it may be harnessed to improve the experiences of their members who attend their national meetings. 

At most of the scientific conferences that I attend (usually four to fiver per year), people still lug around and are tethered to printed program guides. Further there is no easily accessible electronic repository (aside from the conference website) or guide that conference attendees can use to optimize time management and see “everything” that they want to at the meeting. Unfortunately, most scientific and medical conferences are still being run the same way that they have been for the past 30 years despite improvements to internet access and bandwidth, the advent of social media and the recent explosion of mobile devices and apps.

Finally, and perhaps most egregiously, rather than publicly disseminating what is being reported at these meetings, conference attendees and the lay public must rely on carefully orchestrated press releases (chosen in advance by the organizing committees of the meetings) for information and late-breaking news from the events. This is so web 1.0 that it is almost laughable.

Until last week, I thought that I was the only person who felt this way about social media and medical and scientific congresses. Imagine my surprise when no fewer than three others social media enthusiasts including Mark Senak, author of the EyeonFDA blog, Brian Reid, author of the WCG Common Sense Blog and Sally Church, author of the Pharma Strategy Blog, last week authored posts on the topic! It is always refreshing to find like-minded individuals to confirm that you are not alone!

Unfortunately, many scientific and medical societies like to tightly control information flow, limit access to it and, not surprisingly, are quite suspicious of social media. This is because the use of social media decreases the ability of these societies and their journals to control their messaging and content dissemination. With this in mind, is it any wonder why American scientific and medical literacy is pretty much in the “toilet?”  While the lay public may not be able to understand peer-reviewed scientific and medical publications, they have grown accustomed to gathering information on Facebook, Twitter and most importantly blogs. Why not use these vehicles to better inform the public about scientific or medical breakthroughs that have been validated and generally regarded as authentic?

Like it or not, social media is here to stay. And if leveraged correctly, it can be an extremely effective educational tool. I think that it is time for scientific and medical societies to consider using social media at their annual meetings. A failure to do so may have negative consequences for future membership in these societies and also reduce their effectiveness as purveyors of timely and accurate scientific and medical information!

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!!!!

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Many of you may know that I started BioJobBlog four years ago. To date, I have posted close to 1300 articles and over 1.5 million people have visited the blog. While the fact that between 65,000-70,000 unique users visit the blog monthly is emotionally gratifying and rewarding, I have been self funding the venture since its inception and my operating expenses have sadly gone up!  This, coupled with my oldest son starting college next fall (and my other son two years from now), I have come to the conclusion that I can’t afford to spend as much time on the blog as I would like. Put simply, I need to focus on paying jobs (not BioJobBlog) that help to pay the mortgage and defray the cost of supporting my family.

To that end, today, I want to formally announce that BioJobBlog is now accepting paid advertising on the site! If you look at the side bar there are (3)-125 x 125 pixel ads and (1)-120 x 240 pixel ads that are available. These ads are part of the OpenX ad network and I hope that the modest revenue generated from the ads will allow me to continue to invest the time and energy necessary to create the content for BioJobBlog.

I haven’t established firm pricing yet but it will be competitive and the first person to advertise will get a guaranteed deal. Contact me for additional information and pricing.

To be clear, the advertising will not affect the content or the point of view on any future posts. Despite my socialist leanings, the bottom line is that putting a kid through college these days costs an exorbitant amount of money. That said, abolishing tenure makes a lot more sense now than it ever has in the past!

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Advertising (@BioJobBlog)

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A recent Pew Research report released this December showed that 43 per cent of adults aged 55 to 64 who have Internet access regularly use social networking sites. This is compared with only 9 per cent of persons in this age group, who used social networking sites in December, 2008. 

While the use of social networking sites grew among all age groups to 83 percent (from 67% in 2008), the largest amount of new users can be found in persons ages 45 or older; their numbers doubled over the past few years. Interesting, usage amount adults 74 or older has quadrupled and roughly 16% of folks in this age group use social networking sites to stay connected to others or to research medical conditions.

Not surprisingly, social networking site usage has declined somewhat amongst teenagers as they increasingly go mobile and texting is the way they stay connected. A troubling trend amongst teenagers is a 50 percent reduction in blogging that has taken place from 2006 to 2009. This suggests that teens may be writing and reading less which is quite troubling since most college freshmen need remedial training in reading and writing. Unfortunately, blogging seems to have been replaced with Facebook and Twitter updates: another ominous trend.

There is no doubt that social networking sites are beginning to reach their full maturity. It isn’t clear what will be the next big thing on the web. But, whatever it is, I hope that it will be as exciting as social media!

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting (use social media to find a new job it is de rigueur)

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Mark Senak, a pharmaceutical social media advocate and the author of the EyeonFDA blog, today reported that the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche published on its website a document entitled Social Media Principles. The document outlines Roche’s rules and regulations guiding the company’s use and commitment to social media.

In an accompanying statement, Roche officially affirmed the role of social media as part of its Communication Policy.

Roche actively uses Social Media to communicate with its stakeholders. As committed in our Communication Policy we want to be a transparent company and thus welcome this new form of communication.

Further, while the company recognizes the use and benefits of social media, it acknowledged the regulatory risks associated with the new medium

Roche recognizes the ubiquity and benefits of social media and welcomes its use - however, we also acknowledge that certain risks are associated with these new channels. We have therefore developed this guideline to help our employees use these new platforms in a responsible way.

Finally and perhaps most importantly, Roche appointed Sabine Kostevc as Head of
Corporate Internet and Social Media. 

Contact

Sabine Kostevc

Head of Corporate Internet and Social Media

• http://twitter.com/skoko
• global.social_media @roche.com
• Media Team

She may be the first communication executive to hold an official title that has the phrase ‘social media” associated it. Surprisingly, this may be the biggest development of all; mainly because once one pharmaceutical company does something new, they all similar to follow!

Roche’s willingness to publicly commit to the use of social media is a bold and calculated move by a company that recognizes its power and the major role it will likely play in the future of the pharmaceutical industry. Further, it suggests that Roche, unlike most of its competitors, it willing to take a proactive role in helping to shape the social media regulatory guidelines being developed by the US Food and Drug Administration. Finally, Roche executives realize that increased transparency and open communications with its stakeholder may help to improve the public image of big pharma companies and perhaps rekindle the innovation that has been sorely lacking in the industry.

The bottom line: Rather than remaining part of the problem, Roche has boldly proclaimed that it wants to be part of the solution!

Hat tip to Mark and Roche!

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Tweeting err Facebooking err Blogging!!!!!!!!!!!

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I read a fascinating article today posted on MedEdNews Insider Blog about the formation of a new agency called Rx Entertainment that helps to match celebrities with direct-to-consumer advertising campaigns created by pharmaceutical companies. Admittedly, I hadn’t thought much about the matching process, but in the past I have posted a few rants about direct-to-consumer advertising (DTC), Brooke Shields hawking Latisse for Allergan and the Robert Jarvik Lipitor brouhaha.

So, the post about an entertainment agency that helps to match celebrities with DTC prescription drug advertising campaigns piqued my interest. The blog post was actually an interview that was conducted by the blogger with the founder of Entertainment Rx (I love the name)! The interviewer asked the Rx Entertainment founder for examples of her agency’s matching maker prowess.  The list (see below) is very impressive:

1. Claire Danes and Brooke Shields for Latisse
2. Food Network’s Ellie Krieger for Centecor in the area of arthritis
3. Gretchen Wilson for LapBand
4. Jennifer Lopez for childhood vaccines
5. Vanessa Williams and Virginia Madsen for Botox
6. Sally Field for Boniva
7. Jim Belushi, Bruce Jenner, Danica Patrick, and Patty Loveless for COPD
8. Keri Russell on a campaign for Sanofi-Aventis  on the Sounds of Pertussis vaccine campaign
9. Angelica Huston to help launch the well-known Merck Manual
10. Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Marg Helgenberger for a fundraiser sponsored by P&G  where all the proceeds went to breast cancer research
11. Robert DeNiro to help launch a nicotine patch. He was premiering one of his films in NY and a fundraiser for cancer research was tied to the event.
12. Dara Torres worked with Centecor, and The National Psoriasis Foundation on a public service campaign to raise awareness for psoriasis
13. Hector Elizondo on a campaign for CaringforAlz; campaign focused on the caregivers of Alzheimers patients (Hector’s mother suffered from the condition).  This was a national campaign supported by the Exelon brand team at Novartis.

According to the post, Rx Entertain manages the negotiation process between the celebs and pharmaceutical/biotechnology from beginning to end. There was no mention of the salaries paid to the celebrities for their participation in the DTC ads.  However the Rx Entertainment founder did offer several bits of cautionary advice:

The celebrity spokesperson ought to have a legitimate tie to the disease and that A-list celebrities may not always be the most appropriate spokespeople because of the baggage (scheduling issues, entourage and additional difficulties) they may bring to the campaign. 

That said who knew that B-list celebs had good shots at potential careers in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries? Talk about alternate career paths!

Until next time....

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting (ever consider acting????) !!!!!!!

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Because I was traveling for the past couple of weeks, I missed an article entitled “Unnatural Science” by Virginia Heffernan that originally appeared in the July 31 edition of the New York Times Magazine. After returning home this past Sunday, I had the opportunity to read it and what a read it was!

 It was an apt and brilliantly written piece about the often venomous and offensive blogging that has gone on for several years at ScienceBlogs: a science blogging collective overseen by the Seed Media Group. Interestingly, BioJobBlog was approached about a year ago by the Seed Media Group to consider blogging under the ScienceBlogs umbrella. For those of you who may not know, the bloggers who write for ScienceBlogs get paid based on the amount of site traffic that their blogs generate. While the sums of money that are paid are nominal, graduate students and postdocs, and even Assistant Professors can blog to their hearts content and make a couple of hundred dollars each month while waiting for the results from experiments that may be incubating. However, after reviewing the content and quality of some of the so-called blogs at ScienceBlogs, I respectfully declined Seed Media’s offer to come aboard.

Unbeknownst to me, a couple of months ago a group of 20 or more bloggers “angrily parted ways with ScienceBlogs because is started running Food Frontiers a nutrition blog that PepsiCo paid to have on the site” wrote Ms Heffernan. Also, she noted, “In farewell posts the bloggers charged that the advertorial was deceptive and undermined the purpose of the collective.” According to the article, Seed Media Group quickly removed the “tainted blog.” Unfortunately, the damage had been done and the action wasn’t sufficient to prevent other bloggers from leaving.

Unfortunately, my past experiences and “run ins” with several ScienceBlogs bloggers (“On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess” and GrrlScientist, on Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted) were extremely unpleasant, humiliating and unprofessional. After reading Ms Heffernan’s piece on the often caustic, offensive and inappropriate remarks made by many of the bloggers who write for ScienceBlogs I felt vindicated in my assessment of the quality and veracity of the writing at the collective. To that end, she wrote “And while I found interesting stuff here and there, I also discovered that ScienceBlogs has become preoccupied with trivia, name-calling and saber rattling. Maybe that’s why the ScienceBlogs ship started to sink.”

 While I think ScienceBlogs is a great idea and has merit, the people who run the site have failed to realize that they cannot allow scientists to say and publish whatever they want. Unfortunately, many of these well-educated and supposedly erudite scientists have inadequate social skills, over-sized egos and the notion that the freedom of speech gives them permission to say whatever they like no matter how offensive or odious it may be.

However, what I think is even more egregious than the offensive comments and slurs against people was the holier-than-thou attitude adopted by many of the bloggers who left Science Blogs because the Food Frontier Blog was sponsored by PepsiCo. After all, how could ScienceBlogs management allow a corporate entity to sponsor a blog and possibly denigrate and call into question the science discussed by other bloggers? To that end, I bet many of the defecting bloggers wouldn’t scoff at the opportunity to get research grant monies from a company interested in their research. In fact, it would be interesting to see how many of the bloggers at ScienceBlogs have research contracts and agreements with pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical devices companies.

I actually feel bad for the Seed Media Group because the company is run by a bunch of good guys who are trying to do the right thing. That is, discussing and promoting science in the blogosphere with the hope of improving the public understanding of science and technology. Maybe it was time for the bloggers who left to go. There will be other bloggers to take their places. For the foreseeable future, BioJobBlog will remain independent.  However, if ScienceBlogs wants to make me an offer I can’t refuse; than I am all ears!

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Blogging!!!!!!!!!

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While Pfizer has rapidly elevated its standing in life sciences social media circles, the announcement today that it is creating a “social media channel” on SlideShare suggests that the company may be over thinking its social media strategy. I have nothing against SlideShare (I even have some of my own presentations on the site) but SlideShare isn’t exactly a “household name” in social media circles. And, IMHO it isn’t exactly the most flexible or interactive social media platform available today. 

Ray Kerins Pfizer’s Vice President for External Affairs and Worldwide Communication proclaimed in as statement prepared for the channel’s launch: 

"This channel offers an integrated social media experience, delivering a variety of content -- presentations, video, blog posts -- via the largest online resource for sharing presentations.”We’re pleased to be the first company in a regulated industry to create a custom channel on SlideShare." 

Its launch was announced today at the 6th Annual PR & Communications ExL Pharma Summit being held this week at Pfizer’s New York world headquarters. After learning about the launch I visited the “channel” to have a peek.

Expecting a treasure drove of Pfizer blog posts, videos and other content I was sadly disappointed to find only a handful of PowerPoint presentations about Pfizer’s finances and quarterly results at the site (there were no blog posts, no videos, no followers and no tweets as promised). Also, it appears that the comments and wall section are currently disabled (I logged into my SlideShare account and was still unable to comment on the Pfizer site although @skypen managed to post a comment there). Although Pfizer may think it is leading the pharmaceutical social media vanguard, the launch of its SlideShare channel has already violated one of the basic tenets of social media— no over promising. And, for now, it appears that the Pfizer channel has been set up as a broadcast medium rather than an interactive one—another big no-no in social media circles. 

Maybe I expected too much of Pfizer (after hearing Ray talk at several social media conferences) and I am being too critical. But, launching a social media channel devoid of content and interactive feature is no longer de rigueur on the social web.  If this is what the world’s largest, and possibly one of the most social-media savvy, pharmaceutical companies has to offer, then we may be in for a long and bumpy social media ride in the life sciences industry!!!! 

Until next time... 

Good Luck and Good Viewing!!!!!!!

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Mary Canady who writes the Comprendia Blog and helps to manage the San Diego Biotechnology Network has crafted a number of useful social media lists for scientists and others who work in the life sciences industry. 

Videos are de rigueur and you can find a plethora of science video websites on Mary’s comprehensive list (almost, she forgot BioCrowd). 

Many life sciences and technology companies are experimenting with social media; primarily by writing corporate blogs. Check out Mary’s list of corporate life sciences bloggers to find out what they are thinking and blogging about. 

Finally, wikis are growing in influence and importance in the life sciences. There are a number of well crafted sciences wikis out there that may be useful. Click here to see the list.

Hat tip to Mary!

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!

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Mark Senak, social media enthusiast and author of the EyeonFDA blog, raised the question on his blog today as to whether or not the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ought to have a fan page on Facebook: the ever expanding, ubiquitous social media platform. He aptly points out that FDA has already created a channel on YouTube and has a twitter account. So, why not a fan page on Facebook, he asked.

While Mark and I agree on most things, I am not convinced that having an FDA fan page on Facebook would make a difference in the way in which FDA communicates with the American public. FDA is already behind on the social media curve and, as the FDA public hearings held late last year suggest, the agency is struggling with formulating regulatory guidelines for its use by drug and devices manufacturers. Might not creating a FDA fan page on Facebook be the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s (agency) back? 

Perhaps I am overreacting to the whole Facebook phenomenon and grossly under estimating the agency’s capabilities. But I simply don’t get Facebook!  At best, it is overwhelming, difficult to navigate and seemingly cluttered mindless chatter and people engaging in Mafia wars. There is no question that a fan page would increase FDA’s exposure and its “hipness quotient” but to what end? The agency already has trouble maintaining and managing its existing web assets (have you ever tried finding information at FDA.gov?). Adding a new website would simply mean more work for overworked and underpaid government employee who seemingly play by different rules than the outside world.

Don’t get me wrong. I am an avid social media enthusiast who believes that persons who engage in social media must be “all in” to be effective. Having said that, I believe that the agency would be better served if it works to improve the navigability and accessibility to information on its existing web assets. There is no question that building an agency fan page on Facebook may convince Americans that FDA gets “the whole social media thing.” But if the fan page doesn’t provide Americans with relevant and useful scientific, medical and regulatory information, then adding a FDA fan page to Facebook will do little more than increasing the heft of an already bloated social media platform whose utility and effectiveness is already beginning to wane.

In my experience, building a website or fan page is the easy part; continuing to populate the pages and sites with useful, meaningful and temporally-relevant content is the difficult part!

Hat tip to Mark for starting the conversation!

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!

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It’s no secret that pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are “not in love” with social media. However, whether life sciences company like it or not, social media is beginning to affect human clinical testing with an increasing number of patients demanding access to unapproved experimental drugs to treat life-threatening illnesses. 

In a recent article that appeared in the January 15, 2010 issue of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News entitled “Expanded Access to Investigational New Drugs”, Natalie Douglas, CEO of UK-based Idis Pharma wrote:

"...the trend toward greater transparency of drug development pipelines and the accessibility of powerful social media tools, have led us to a more informed empowered and vocal population of patients. This, in turn, has led to increased demands for access to unapproved drugs that are in various stages of human clinical testing. “Patients can easily access information about investigational drugs via the Internet and are leveraging social media tools such as YouTube, Twitter and blog to influence companies to garner access to them” Douglas added.

This can place enormous pressure on the companies that are testing investigational new drugs because the safety and efficacy of the drug candidates has yet to be determined. Understandably, companies are loath to provide patients who don’t meet clinical trial inclusion requirements access to experimental drugs with unknown safety and efficacy characteristics. Nonetheless, if requests for access to investigational drugs are denied, social media tools can easily be used to quickly and widely publicize the denial. According to Douglas, aggressive use of social media tools by patients seeking access to investigational drugs has helped their stories make national news. This can create gargantuan regulatory and public relations problems for companies with drugs in clinical development and put them at the center of an ethical and moral firestorm—despite their best intentions to develop new drugs that eventually may help millions of patients suffering from various diseases and conditions.

Many patient advocacy groups, consumers and shareholders understand the almost limitless reach of social media and its ability to influence public opinion, discussions and trends. Whether or not drug makers are willing to use social media, many have yet to understand that they are already part of the social media conversation that is taking place daily. And, as all social media enthusiasts have realized, if you are not part of the conversation then you don’t know what is being said about you on the Internet. More importantly perhaps, is that by choosing not to participate in the conversation, companies have lost all ability to influence and manage what is being said. In other words, life sciences companies that steadfastly choose not to use social media may, paradoxically, be setting themselves up for public relations and regulatory headaches that could have easily been avoided.

While the social media frenzy may be beginning to wane, there is no question that it has changed the way people interact and influenced the way business is transacted online and in real life. Companies that insist on clinging to past business practices that are exclusive, non-interactive and designed to promote opacity are likely to lose customers and market share as 21^st century technology continues to unfold.

Hat tip to Natalie!

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Tweeting!

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e-Patients Connections 2009 (#epatcon) was held this past Monday and Tuesday at the Park Hyatt hotel in Philadelphia, PA. BioCrowd was one of several co-sponsors of the event. The theme of the conference, organized by Kevin Kruse a veteran medical communication and training expert, who now runs Kru Research, was to “reach, engage and educate empowered digital health consumers.” And, boy, did it deliver! While this was Kru Research’s first official conference, it was well organized, extremely interactive and the quality of the speakers was second to none! Topics that were featured included social media and the life sciences industry, technological advances in e-based healthcare delivery, the relationship between the news media and healthcare information and the continuing evolution of online and e-based healthcare communities.

Conference attendees included representatives from the life sciences industry, medical communications experts, advertising and marketing professionals and a multitude of social media enthusiasts and consultants who kept the Twitter screen humming throughout the meeting (a big shout out to the “troublemaking table”). And, surprisingly, there was a representative from the Division of Drug Marketing and Advertising and Communications (DDMAC) at the US Food and Drug Administration, who I believe, was one of the most sought after individuals at the meeting. CNN reporter Elizabeth Cohen who writes the Empowered Patient and racecar driver Charles Kimball, a type I diabetic and company spokesperson for Novo Nordisk also gave talks.

My favorite talks were those presented by online patient community organizers including Tricia Geoghegan of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals who created the Facebook ADHD Allies community, Lisa Tate of WomenHeart and Robert Schumm of Bayer Consumer Care who created Facebook Strong@ Heart and Rachel Lewinson of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Organization and Susan Harrow Rago of Novo Nordisk who created Juvenation.org a website dedicated to those with Type I diabetes. These communities are outstanding examples of how partnerships between pharmaceutical companies and advocacy groups can help to better educate the public and heighten awareness about potentially life-altering diseases. Another example of a great online community and healthcare portal is Insomnia 123.com. This website was conceived and constructed by Christine Macadams and her partners’ one of whom is a practicing physician. Unlike the other online communities, which are sponsored and mainly supported by consumer healthcare division of large pharmaceutical companies, Insomnia 123.com was exclusively created by a group of concerned individuals who wanted to better educate and improve the lives of people with insomnia—a largely unreported and self-medicated condition.

On the technical side, the talks presented by Lee Segal of Klick, Kevin Durr of Avantera , Ian Kelly of Red Nucleus and Scott Ballenger of ListenLogic were illuminating and extremely informative. Some of the innovations taking place in digital media are exciting and almost overwhelming at times (even for a social media enthusiast like me). I think the company to watch is ListenLogic which uses semantic search engines to collect real time data and “chatter” on the web. This technology may provide a cost-effective solution to assuage the concerns of many life sciences companies that claim that collecting and analyzing overwhelming amounts of data is one of the main reasons why they are reluctant to entry the social media space.

Marc Monseau of Johnson and Johnson gave an illuminating talk on his experiences as a corporate blogger and Twitter user and described some of the challenges that had to be overcome before his company was able to break the “social media barrier.” Janice McCallum, an economist by training and a healthcare communications and media expert gave an informative talk about the growing role and impact of patient-generated healthcare content on patient awareness and education.

Finally, the novel and innovative Pecha Kucha sessions were outstanding and extremely well done! While all were expertly crafted, Dr. Val’s and Jonathan Richman’s Pecha Kucha were memorable. Dr. Val’s, which was extremely powerful and moving, was performed entirely in verse and Jonathan’s was—well, one of Jonathan’s always entertaining and informative presentations.

In summary, the “e-Patient Connections 2009” was a resounding success and in my opinion reached its goal to “reach engage and educate empowered digital health consumers.” That said, I can’t wait for “e-Patient Connections 2010” meeting!!!

Hat tip to @ellenhoenig and @eileenobrien for inviting me to my first tweetup (great fun) and finally meeting @janice McCallum, @christianeTrue, @stevewoodruff and Silja aka @whydotpharma! 

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!

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BioCrowd co-founder, Vincent Racaniello, and I were chatting the other day with Crowdvine’s Tony Stubblebine (the guy who created the BioCrowd software platform) about the reluctance of scientists to embrace social media. Both Vincent and I, both scientists ourselves, posited that scientists are simply asocial or at the very least not comfortable engaging in social activities whether they be online or IRL. Tony, a self-anointed software geek, wasn’t buying into to our argument and noted that even software geeks are social!

This prompted me to do a little research and I found a blog post written by Nachiket Vartak a blogger and doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology. While the blog post focused mainly on reasons why bioscientists won’t use Twitter, I think that many of his observations can be used to generally describe the chilly relationship between many scientists and social media. Before you read on, I must inform you that I paraphrased and embellished some of Nachiket’s original ideas on the subject. That said, here are some of the reasons why bioscientists may not use social media.

1. The reputation of social networking sites
Many scientists disdain social networks because they believe that social networking sites and microblogging platforms like Twitter are nothing more than places to waste time. Those scientists who use social media usually do it in-between experiments and when planning activities which usually involve copious quantities of alcohol, for after laboratory hours fun. In other words, social media is for fun not for work. Also, many so-called serious scientists contend that “real science discussions” only happen on closed e-mailing lists or forums and not in the “open” on social networking sites.

2. The social activation barrier
According to Nachiket, the stereotype that scientists are asocial is well.....err...true! He asserts that many scientists feel more comfortable focusing on themselves (and their research) rather than interacting with others to learn what they have to say or what they may be thinking. And, many times, unless an individual can demonstrate that they are “smart” they probably aren’t worse listening to anyway. Finally, scientists train for years to become independent investigators. Not surprisingly, there is very little emphasis and importance placed on teamwork or social interactions with others scientists or lay people for that matter. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that many scientists aren’t particularly social or inclined to participate in extracurricular social activities.

3. Privacy aka “secrecy”
Science is a highly competitive endeavor and, in many cases, the discoveries that are made represent many years of sacrifice, blood, sweat and tears. With this in mind, nobody wants to be scooped or beat out by their competitors. Consequently, scientists are generally instructed to be very hush-hush when it comes to sharing any information or data that might give the competition a “leg up” in the competition. Any leak, large or small, could mean the difference between fame and failure and, perhaps more importantly, a successful career as a scientist.

In marked contrast, the success of social media is contingent upon its openness, sharing and transparency. Thus, as Nachiket aptly pointed out social media is antithetical to the very nature of science and scientists.

4. Legitimate channels of communication
The only acceptable and legitimate means of scientific communications are presentations at meetings and publications in peer reviewed journals. These forms of communication are the lifeblood of scientific community and critical to the success of all scientists. If you aren’t published, you have no credibility as a scientist. The scientific publishing and communication industry is big business and “the rules of engagement” in the industry have been well established and institutionalized. Unfortunately, social media threatens to destabilize the science publishing world both financially and philosophically and possibly change the way science information is communicated. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that there is little support for social media in scientific publishing world and the science community in general.

While the number of science blogs and podcasts continue to increase daily, scientific social networking sites continue to struggle. This is because the information flow in blogs and similar forms of social media can be easily monitored and controlled. This is not the case for social networking sites like BioCrowd and microblogging platforms like Twitter.
However, if scientists are truly asocial beings then none of the existing science social networking sites will gain traction and be successful. Call me crazy, but I think social networking is an ideal medium for scientists to exchange information, ideas and develop relationships that can help them jumpstart their careers!

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Networking!!!!!!!!!!

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Today is a sad day in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology blogging world. Pharmalot, a two year old, pioneering blog created by the intrepid Ed Silverman and the Star Ledger News has decided to call it quits. Unfortunately, the Star Ledger is in dire financial straits and it could no longer provide Ed with the support he needed to continue to run the Pharmalot blog. Please read Ed’s last blog post for the full story.

Pharmalot was a well crafted and informative blog. I frequently (more times then I care to admit) used Pharmalot as source material for many of my posts at BioJobBlog. I am not sure how I will fill the void left by Pharmalot’s untimely  demise!

I first met Ed about 8 years ago when he did a story about a biopharmaceutical company that I founded (along with Abe Abuchowski) called Prolong Pharmaceuticals.  His coverage was outstanding and I am pleased to report that Prolong is still in business today. Ed and I reconnected a little over a year ago at a panel discussion about scientific integrity and journalism. Ed shared the podium with the WSJ Health Blog, the New York Times, Advanstar Publications and several well known authors who write about pharma and biotech. I was truly impressed with his understanding of the pharmaceutical industry (he is a journalist not a scientist) and his commitment to telling people the truth regardless of the consequences. I took his message to heart and have attempted to apply the same philosophy to my posts at BioJobBlog.

I want to personally thank Ed for his unwavering commitment to journalistic integrity and his help in ferreting out the truth. I wish him the best for whatever the future may hold for him—he will be sorely missed.

Until next time…

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!!
 

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This is the first installment of Kevin Ahern’s Best of the Web at BioJobBlog. This month’s selection contains several technical sites that many practicing bioscientists will find useful. These include: Real Time PCR Primer Sets and RTPrimerDB. The selection that I found most interesting was Blogging the Biotechnology Revolution—although Kevin didn’t like the navigation features of this blog.

If you know of any websites, blogs, etc that you think are useful or interesting, please let me know.

Until next time…

Good Luck and Good Web Hunting!!!!!!!

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