29 July 1999
Drug firms go all out to dazzle doctors
Pamela Fayerman, Sun Health Issues Reporter Vancouver Sun
Pharmaceutical companies trying to sell doctors drugs to prescribe now
employ almost as much technology in their pitch as they do in
researching their remedies.
The 2,400 brain surgeons and neurologists who gathered in Vancouver this
week to exchange information at the 13th International Congress on
Parkinson's Disease were offered the usual trinkets -- pens and scissors
emblazoned with drug firms' names, key chain currency-exchange
calculators, hand-held brain teaser games, T-shirts, sweaters and
briefcases.
They swarmed the booths handing out the freebies -- after all, you don't
have to be a brain surgeon to recognize free stuff when you see it.
But in an era in which there are now dozens of drugs for Parkinson's,
resulting in nearly two million prescriptions worth $70 million for
sufferers in Canada alone each year, drug companies have to be creative
in persuading doctors to consider their drugs.
The task is made more difficult by the fact that there is just one
meeting of this magnitude every other year for the World Federation of
Neurology.
One company, SmithKline Beecham, offered a variety of free items.
The company markets a new drug called ReQuip and went so far as to call
it "revolutionary" because it reduces the side effects associated with
levdopa, the standard therapy for Parkinson's.
But in addition to the freebies, SmithKline Beecham was using the latest
in high technology to give doctors a chance to experience the jerky,
involuntary movements Parkinson's patients must deal with.
A digital media company created a virtual reality simulation model in
which the user had to try to pour water from a tea kettle into a cup
while holding a handle that mimicked the dyskinesia Parkinson's
sufferers get when taking levdopa.
Andrew Boston, product manager for ReQuip in Canada, said the splashy
booth set up by SmithKline at the meeting that ended Wednesday was meant
to grab the attention of doctors.
"For the majority of products, it takes about 10 years to get a good
foothold, so it's a challenge because our drug has only been available
for two years and doctors' prescribing habits are pretty entrenched," he
said.
The credit for the most unique and extravagant booth had to go to DuPont
Pharma, which markets a drug called Sinemat CR and pulled out all the
stops in attracting delegates' attention by constructing a three-room
house, the cost of which it would not disclose.
Doctors could experience some of the same problems of their patients in
the house. They could stand on a wobbly kitchen floor to get the feeling
of gait instability. They could sit in a vibrating living room armchair
to understand what it feels like to experience resting tremors.
Then, with magnets placed under their feet while standing on a special
floor, they could relate to how it feels when Parkinson's patients
freeze even when they're trying to move.
http://www.vancouversun.com/
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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