A conversation about pharma and social media

regulation A topic sure to generate commentary and opinion, often passionate, is social media and the pharmaceutical industry.

This is especially so in the US with calls over the years by healthcare communicators and others for clarity in the role of social media as a legitimate communication tool in a highly-regulated industry. That culminated in the public hearing by industry regulator the FDA last November into “Promotion of FDA-Regulated Medical Products Using the Internet and Social Media Tools,” with high expectations for draft guidelines to be published this summer.

And what about Europe? Should there be something similar happening here? How would that work in a continent that comprises over 50 different countries, different languages, different cultural and regulatory environments and legal systems? What can pharma companies do in the meantime?

These are discussion themes in the latest edition of WCG ThoughtLeaders, a podcast I host for my firm, WCG. I’ve just published the latest one on the WCG blog – a 16-minute conversation with Len Starnes, head of digital marketing and sales for the General Medicine business unit of Bayer Schering Pharma, based in Berlin.

Our wide-ranging discussion also touched on trends in Europe for pharma companies and using social media, as well as an outline of two conferences taking place in Berlin on March 29 which Bayer Schering Pharma is hosting (follow discussions with the Twitter hashtag #digpharm).

Listen to or download the podcast from the WCG blog.

Neville Hobson

Social Strategist, Communicator, Writer, and Podcaster with a curiosity for tech and how people use it. Believer in an Internet for everyone. Early adopter (and leaver) and experimenter with social media. Occasional test pilot of shiny new objects. Avid tea drinker.

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