US Biopharma Retains Thought Leader Select for GI Initiatives with KOLs, Centers of Excellence

June 13, 2013 · Leave a comment

June 13, 2013 (CHAPEL HILL, NC) Thought Leader Select, a Chapel Hill, NC-based consulting firm serving the biopharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics industries, announces the commencement of a medical strategy engagement in gastroenterology with a leading U.S. biopharmaceutical company.

The company, a global leader in drug development for products aiding patients in recovery from a variety of gastrointestinal surgeries, approached Thought Leader Select for support with planned initiatives with key opinion leaders and centers of excellence in the field.

Thought Leader Select is identifying and profiling thought leaders in colorectal and general surgery across the United States.  The in-house research group at Thought Leader Select is applying its objective, validated methodology to assess the skills and experiences, as well as the clinical and research interests, of KOLs specializing in surgery of the colon, rectum, and bowels.

Known for the versatility of applications for its in-house research, Thought Leader Select’s advisory team will also plan engagement strategies to optimize the talents and contributions that the key opinion leaders will bring to several initiatives for the client company, including late-stage clinical trial work, as well as publication and speaking opportunities. The KOLs will also work on issues within appropriate regulatory bodies, as well as patient advocacy and awareness, and treatment guidelines involvement.

In addition to its work with key opinion leaders, Thought Leader Select’s research group ... read more »

TAGS:                                                     

Canadian Pharma Chooses Thought Leader Select for COPD Key Opinion Leader Engagement Strategy

December 20, 2012 · Leave a comment

December 20, 2012 (CHAPEL HILL, NC) Thought Leader Select, a Chapel Hill, NC-based consulting firm serving the biopharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics industries, announces the commencement of a medical strategy engagement in pulmonology with a top Canadian biopharmaceutical company.

The company, part of a select group of global leaders in drug development for products treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), approached Thought Leader Select for support with scientific advisory boards and continuing health education (CHE) initiatives across multiple Canadian provinces.  Having already worked with Thought Leader Select to form rosters of key opinion leaders in Canadian rheumatology and oncology circles, the company will formulate its panel of key experts in pulmonology by deploying Thought Leader Select’s team to assess the skills and experiences of physician specialists across the country.

Known for the versatility of applications for its in-house research, Thought Leader Select’s research group will analyze the skills and experience of these leading experts in multiple areas where they collaborate to advance the science of medicine and patient care, including basic and clinical research, scientific journal publishing, treatment guidelines, and more.

Throughout the remainder of the engagement, Thought Leader Select’s consulting team will provide strategic guidance, tactical recommendations for strengthening key opinion leader relationships in the nursing and pharmacy communities, and a suite of tools to promote collaborative work with KOLs.  Among these ... read more »

TAGS:                                                           

The Medical Science Liaison Society’s Samuel Dyer—The Thought Leader Select Interview, Part Two

October 30, 2012 · Leave a comment

Thought Leader Select is a company focused on driving industry collaborations among biopharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics companies with leading medical experts and centers of excellence, with the ultimate goals of these collaborations being two-fold in purpose:  better treatment options for patients and better outcomes for global public health.  As part of our company’s mission, we work with multiple organizations to promote best practices that deliver ethical, transparent interactions among these various healthcare constituencies.

One of these groups is the recently-launched Medical Science Liaison Society, a global Non-Profit organization being led by the Chairman of the Board, Dr. Samuel Dyer.  The MSL Society is filling a vital need for the expanding role of Medical Science Liaisons around the world, as they collaborate with KOLs, physicians, and other health care professionals to advance medical science together to improve the quality of life for patients everywhere.

Thought Leader Select’s Allison Murphy, a veteran MSL herself from her days working in the Endocrinology Medical Affairs unit at Eli Lilly and Company, recently sat down with Dr. Dyer to learn more about this emerging organization and the impact the MSL Society is having in promoting the role of Medical Science Liaisons in the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics industries.

In ... read more »

TAGS:                                                                     

Global Pharmaceutical Company Tabs Thought Leader Select for Gastroenterology Key Opinion Leader Partnership

June 21, 2012 · Leave a comment

June 21, 2012 (CHAPEL HILL, NC) Thought Leader Select, a Chapel Hill, NC-based consulting firm serving the biopharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics industries, announces the commencement of a national engagement in gastroenterology with a top 10 global biopharmaceutical company.

The company, part of a select group of global leaders in drug development for products treating exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI), approached Thought Leader Select for support with scientific advisory boards in support of a new product initiative.  To meet the strategic needs of the company’s advisory board activities in support of the new treatment, Thought Leader Select will deploy its in-house research group for an assessment of community-based key opinion leaders in gastroenterology throughout the United States.

Known for the versatility of applications for its in-house research, Thought Leader Select’s research group will analyze the skills and experience of leading specialists in multiple areas where they advance the science of medicine and patient care, including basic and clinical research, scientific journal publishing, treatment guidelines, and more.

For the national assessment, the Thought Leader Select research group will collaborate with a team of national key opinion leaders in gastroenterology to identify community-based physicians for grassroots-level scientific advisory work. Thought Leader Select will combine the key opinion leader recommendations with the experience data to optimize a pool of leading physicians with broad representation across multiple geographic ... read more »

TAGS:                                             

Top 30 Global Biopharmaceutical Company Chooses Thought Leader Select for Blood Disorder KOL Partnership

June 14, 2012 · Leave a comment

June 14, 2012 (CHAPEL HILL, NC) Thought Leader Select, a Chapel Hill, NC-based consulting firm serving the biopharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics industries, announces the commencement of a global engagement in blood disorders with a top 30 global biopharmaceutical company.

The biopharmaceutical company, part of a select group of global leaders in drug development for a product in development to treat iron overload in the body, approached Thought Leader Select for support with its launch activities across multiple global markets.  To meet the strategic needs of the company’s pre-launch for a new blood disorders treatment, Thought Leader Select will deploy its in-house research group for an assessment of key opinion leaders in the area of chelation therapy.

Known for the versatility of applications for its in-house research, Thought Leader Select’s research group will analyze the skills and experience of leading specialists in the following geographic areas:

  • United States
  • Europe
  • Japan
  • Pacific Rim
  • Middle East

For the global assessment, the Thought Leader Select research group will identify 100 physicians appropriate for compliant engagement in support of drug development for blood disorders.

In the second phase of the assessment, Thought Leader Select’s in-house research group will engage in its exclusive, validated methodology of deep profiling, delivering objective assessments of the skills and experience of key opinion leaders across 14 areas where health care professionals define themselves as thought ... read more »

TAGS:                                                     

Understanding the Sunshine Act—Part One

March 27, 2012 · Leave a comment

Industry Insights from Kristen Smithwick

Albeit a bit late, the U. S.  Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule on the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act’s Physician Payments Sunshine Provision (also known as the “Sunshine Act”) to implement it as law.

CMS invited comments on the proposed rule through mid-February 2012, and a recent webcast, sponsored by PharmaLive’s Pharmalot, featured key facts and summaries of comments on the proposed rule. Working for a provider of research and consulting to the biopharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics industries on relationships with physicians and other health care providers, I enjoyed the opportunity to join the webcast, led by experts from Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, P.C., and am eager to share some of my key takeaways.

As mentioned in previous Thought Leader Select Blog posts, the Sunshine Act, as with many laws and regulations, is full of unintended consequences – some positive and some negative. Lance K. Stell, medical ethics teacher at Davidson College and Carolinas Medical Center, reports in his USA Today op-ed piece that the “Sunshine Act will cost far more than the $224 million estimated for just the first year of compliance” and that “the biggest cost will be the valuable, socially useful physician-industry collaborations that simply won’t occur.” Of course, the idea of ... read more »

TAGS:                                                       

KOL Case Study: Global, National, and Regional Experts in Diabetes

July 19, 2011 · Leave a comment

Often, prospective clients ask us, “What do other clients do with your KOL research?” or “Will you please send examples of your research and its uses?

We relish opportunities to share the applications for Thought Leader Select’s objective, validated expert identification, subject matter expert-driven deep profiling, and engagement services informed by industry leaders with decades of experience. Recently, the team developed a formal case study to showcase how one client, a top 20 pharmaceutical company, relies on Thought Leader Select to fuel and support its KOL relationship strategies and efforts in the treatment of diabetes.

Relationships with thought leaders in medicine help biopharmaceutical companies continue understanding and addressing the illnesses and diseases impacting all of us. To advance medicine and improve public health, medical professionals and biopharmaceutical companies must partner together, and they should base those partnerships on high levels of therapeutic expertise, an understanding of patient needs, and superior research insights and capabilities. Thought Leader Select is proud to support these important relationships with objective information that connects the right medical professionals with biopharmaceutical teams, for the right reasons, and at the right times.

Read our first case study, regarding our breadth of services in support of a biopharmaceutical company’s scientific development in the treatment of diabetes here:  http://www.thoughtleaderselect.com/kol-services/kol-case-studies/.

TAGS:                                             

Clinical Trials—The New Way Forward

July 14, 2011 · Leave a comment

Industry Insights from Paul Meade, M. Sc, MPH

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal announced that Pfizer is conducting a clinical trial in which patients are able to use their computers and smartphones to enter information about the study, rather then spend time visiting a clinic. It was only a matter of time before clinical trials entered the social media era!

Actually, this approach makes a lot of sense, not just for the investigator, but especially for the patient. The patient is recruited over the Internet, enrolls electronically, receives laboratory tests in the mail along with test drugs, and tracks responses through an application on his or her computer or smartphone. Having participated in a clinical study before where I had to repeatedly return to the clinic, keep a paper log of reactions, bring in my responses to the study site, and answer weekly phone calls from the study nurse, I can say wholeheartedly that it was a big inconvenience. And all of that grief for the incredible reimbursement of $60!

We live in an age of instant and ubiquitous communication. I am never very far or long away from a business-related e-mail, even when I am on vacation. In fact, this instant communication has really changed the face of vacations for most people, but that is another subject ... read more »

TAGS:                                           

Clinical Trial Ethics

July 7, 2011 · 2 comments

Industry Insights from Paul Meade, M. Sc, MPH

According to an article published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, Dr Joseph Ross claimed a study conducted by Parke-Davis, before it was acquired by Pfizer, using gabapentin (Neurontin), as the drug under investigation, appeared to be a “seeding” trial. And while the author states that seeding trials are not illegal, he states that they are unethical. There are really two separate issues at stake here:  first, what is really an unethical trial, and second, what is really a “seeding” trial?

About 25 years ago, when a pharmaceutical company launched a new drug and wanted to get as many physicians as possible to have some experience in using this drug for appropriate patients, they would provide samples packaged in a box to resemble supplies you might receive if you were a clinical investigator. There would be cards to report on one’s experience with the new drug, such as efficacy and side effects. But these sample cards were rarely collected and reported back to the head office. The goal was really to have physicians become familiar with this new drug, and for their own information record some information. These were not formal clinical trials, not required by the regulatory authorities, and did not need the scrutiny of an Institutional Review Board. These ersatz trials became ... read more »

TAGS:                                                                   

A Legacy of Innovation: The Max Noureddine Exit Interview, Part One

December 30, 2010 · Leave a comment

Prateek Peres-da-Silva, an intern at Thought Leader Select and student at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, recently sat down with Dr. Maher “Max” Noureddine, Thought Leader Select’s departing chief scientific officer, to discuss his achievements at the company, as well as his vision for the non-profit he is launching to improve the professional lives of health care providers. Peres-da-Silva is a junior at UNC, double-majoring in business and biochemistry.

Prateek Peres-da-Silva: Good morning, Max. I’d like to hear some of your thoughts on your time at Thought Leader Select. Can you share a little about yourself and your role with the company?

Max Noureddine:  Yes, Prateek. In terms of my training, I am a molecular geneticist with experience in biomedical research. I did my doctoral training in the genetics of cell cycle regulation, and then focused on the molecular genetics of neurodegenerative disorders as well as cancer. I joined Thought Leader Select in the fall of 2007 as the chief scientific officer and director of product development. In collaboration with an outstanding team at the company, I became responsible for the development and execution of the company’s line of competitive services and solutions in the area of key opinion leader assessments and profiling in particular, and in pharmaceutical consulting in general.  As CSO, I am responsible for validating the ... read more »

TAGS:                                               

Older posts »