Big Pharma & Hollywood

Last month we looked at how the big drug companies were beginning to resemble Hollywood studios in that most of the good work is being done by the independents,, but the studios still offer valuable funding, expertise, and distribution capabilities.  Here's another way they're resembling Hollywood--sequels that don't leave you feeling too good (New York Times):

Without new drugs to promote as patents expire, and with the bar set so high by the blockbusters of the last decade, the old-line companies have depended on stopgap measures to protect sales, like reformulating existing drugs so they can be taken once a week instead of once daily. At the same time, they have used consumer advertising to drive patient demand. But those strategies appear to be losing their effectiveness, as consumers become more skeptical and insurers rebel against high prices for drugs that are not therapeutic breakthroughs.

For example, in June Pfizer began selling Zmax, an antibiotic that contains the same active medicine as Zithromax, which was introduced in 1992 and lost its patent protection last week. Pfizer calls Zmax a major advance because it is designed to be taken in a single dose, while Zithromax must be taken for up to five days. Both drugs cost about $52 for a course of treatment, according to Pfizer.

However, clinical trials show that the convenience of Zmax comes with a side effect: it causes diarrhea in 12 percent of patients, compared with 5 percent for Zithromax.

Probably how a lot of people felt after the latest Zorro offering.

Really, there's a lot of similarities between big pharma and Hollywood:

• Studio Structure
• Sequels
• Dependence on Blockbusters
• Fear of foreign imports
• Political punching bags
• Move towards Direct to DVD/Quicker generics
• Product deemed to be too expensive

Can you think of any others?  Maybe something about the Long Tail?

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