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【技术产业】辉瑞立普妥保卫战之二：名人代言
为了应对辛伐他汀（默克Zocor的仿制药）的激烈竞争，辉瑞请出人工心脏之父Robert Jarvik代言立普妥，但是现在这个由Jarvik代言的广告合法性遭到了公开质疑。美国国会能源与商业委员会致信辉瑞公司，认为Jarvik成功发明人工心脏的经历不能代表他有推荐药品的资格，因为他并没有行医的许可也没有药物处方权。此外，NBC的科学顾问Robert Bazell也曾在去年爆料说，尽管Jarvik具有医学博士学位，但实际上他没有过一天实习医生或者住院医师培训的经历。尽管辉瑞公司还有两个星期的时间来应对，但是这条依靠名人效应来维持立普妥销量的道路可能将不再平坦。
January 7, 2008, 6:06 pm
Congress to Pfizer: Why is Robert Jarvik the Lipitor Man?
Posted by Shirley S. Wang
Who can turn around these days without seeing an ad for Lipitor that features medical pitchman Robert Jarvik, inventor of an artificial heart?
We can’t. We compared Jarvik to the ubiquitous Verizon Test Man in a previous post. Now Congress has seen enough of Jarvik to ask Pfizer some questions about his qualifications to be recommending the cholesterol buster.
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce said today that it is investigating the use of celebrity endorsements in marketing prescription drugs directly to consumers. And Jarvik is Celebrity No. 1 on the list.
Jarvik’s pioneering work in artificial hearts led to the implantation of the first device intended to be a long-term substitute for a human heart. In 1982, the first recipient, retired dentist Barney Clark, was kept alive for more than 100 days with a Jarvik heart. But does that accomplishment and Jarvik’s subsequent work on developing better replacements for the vital organ qualify him to recommend a drug? Research in the lab is one thing; treating everyday patients with high cholesterol is quite another.
“In the ads, Dr. Jarvik appears to be giving medical advice, but apparently, he has never obtained a license to practice or prescribe medicine,” John Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the committee, said in a press release.
Dingell’s not the first to ask questions. NBC’s science guru Robert Bazell wrote last year that while Jarvik is an M.D., he doesn’t have “the strongest credentials.” His grades as an undergrad at Syracuse University weren’t good enough for U.S. med school, so he attended the University of Bologna in Italy, leaving after two years. In 1976, Jarvik graduated from the University of Utah’s med school, but he never did an internship or practiced medicine, Bazell wrote.
Nonetheless, Jarvik’s presence appears to have helped shore up Lipitor sales, which were $13 billion in 2006. Generic simvastatin, Merck’s old Zocor, have put pressure on Lipitor.
Read the letter here that went to Pfizer CEO Jeff Kindler today. Dingell and company want Pfizer to submit all records of the advertising campaign for Lipitor involving Jarvik, any financial records or other associations between the doctor and the company, as well as records regarding Jarvik’s qualifications and why he was selected as a spokesman for Liptor. Pfizer has two weeks to respond.
Early this evening, a Pfizer spokesman wrote us by email:
Dr. Jarvik is a respected health care professional and heart expert. Dr. Jarvik, inventor of the Jarvik artificial heart, knows how imperative it is for patients to do everything they can to keep their heart working well. Furthermore, the advertising advises consumers to speak to their physicians about their heart health. The communication in the advertising helps educate consumers that it is important to keep the heart healthy including, if necessary, using medications that have been proven to maintain heart health.
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【技术产业】立普妥保卫战之一：辉瑞申请再颁布专利初告失败
http://www.dxy.cn/bbs/post/view?bid=116&id=9793305&tpg=1&ppg=1&sty=1&age=0#9793305 背景阅读：
保卫立普妥 （医药经济报）
仿制药领域即将迎来销售规模最大的药物，它有可能使美国医疗保健系统的处方药开支每年节省约20亿美元，它就是辉瑞的立普妥，目前美国使用最广泛的药物。
虽然立普妥目前还没有仿制药，但在2006年，由默沙东生产的类似药物舒降之已经失去专利保护，其仿制药辛伐他汀目前的价格远比立普妥便宜，因此保险公司正敦促医生和病人使用这种低价替代品，专家表示，该药的疗效和立普妥一样好。
面对严峻的市场形势，辉瑞自然不愿束手就擒，让旗舰药物就此沉没。辉瑞已经发起了一场立普妥保卫战，其中包括广告宣传、游说努力以及有偿聘用美国卫生和人类服务部的一名前部长作巡回演讲。辉瑞还开展了一项研究，得出的结论是，与立普妥相比，使用辛伐他汀的英国病人出现更多的心脏病发作和死亡病例，但这一结论为许多专家所质疑。
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2011-08-31 17:16
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