ClinLab Staffing offers highlights from the most viewed articles on their website from 2014. The articles represent significant developments and trends that will affect the growing pharmaceutical industry in 2015. The industry experienced substantial legislative and innovation change in recent years.
Changes include new drug treatments, social media use by pharmas, and the top IPOs.
What were the Top Experimental Cancer Drugs in 2013?
New cancer treatments by leading pharmas include Ibrutibin by Pharmacyclics and Johnson & Johnson; Nivolumab by Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Pfizer’s palbociclib for the treatment of breast cancer. Additionally, Roche Glycart introduced a new drug in the treatment of leukemia called Obinutuzumab, and Merck plans to treat melanoma with its new drug Lambrolizumab. Novartis is developing LDK378 to fight lung cancer.
Top Pharma Companies on Social Media – And What You Can Learn From Them!
The year 2014 saw conservative social media activity by pharmas as they tested the potential advantages and disadvantages of engaging health care professionals and consumers on social platforms. Negative interactions significantly damage brands and reputations. The IMS Institute for Healthcare Informaticsfinds that less than 50 percent of leading drug makers engage in social media, and only ten use established marketing tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Without defined regulation concerning social media use, the risks of possible intervention by the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and delay in products to market are too high.
Top Five IPOs of 2014
The top IPOs for 2014 were summarized in a July post. The year was one of significant investment activity as the FDA increased the pace of approvals for new drugs and the Jumpstart for Businesses Act encouraged smaller companies to go public. The top five IPOs for 2014 according to Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News were Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, which netted over $126 million; Versartis at over $132 million; Kite Pharma at $147 million; Phibro at $229 million, and Circassia at $342 million. The IPO environment is expected to continue to be favorable for companies intending to go public and with the necessary funding, especially those in the life sciences field.
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