Pfizer Partners With Social Network Site To Reach Doctors
The Wall Street Journal
Looking for more-efficient ways to reach the doctors who prescribe its medicines, Pfizer is announcing a partnership today with Sermo, a social-networking site for licensed physicians. 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 is under financial pressures as some of its best-selling products lose patent protection. But the drug industry’s interactions with doctors are highly scrutinized by regulators and lawmakers for signs that they are offering financial incentives to drive sales or promoting their drugs for unapproved uses. Pfizer plans to discuss the partnership with the Food and Drug Administration.
Sermo, founded in September 2006, 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 treatments. Sermo rewards physicians whose input is highly ranked by other members. – Read the whole story…
By Thom Forbes, October 15, 2007
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