Dana Conti

Medical PR Report: ESC 2009

As part of our role in healthcare PR, we frequently attend scientific conferences to help clients launch products and highlight new clinical research. Last week, I was fortunate to witness the largest cardiovascular meeting in the world, the European Society of Cardiology’s (ESC) annual congress in Barcelona, Spain. The Congress attracts more than 400 reporters to cover news and research from the conference.

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A few headlines from the show:

A Focus on Prevention: ESC featured more than 25 scientific sessions on prevention, including the impact of smoking and obesity on cardiovascular health. The theme aligns with the increasing support—from policy makers and health providers—for identifying and treating disease earlier to help improve outcomes and reduce the cost of healthcare. Ed Susman, a prominent medical reporter covering nearly every major scientific conference, features a review of the opening ceremonies and its focus on prevention here.

The hot line research: The hot line research sessions typically attract the most attention from clinicians and the media. This year, results from RE-LY, PLATO and MADIT-CRT were the highlights. Check out this MedPage Today video for a wrap-up about on the clinical implications of the studies.

Revisiting Drug-Eluting Stent Safety: Three years ago at ESC, two hot line sessions focused on first generation drug-eluting stents. New research there sparked a debate about the safety of the devices, raising questions about their ability to increase the risk of death. This year’s conference provided an update on emerging clinical evidence about DES safety, including a review of a large Swedish registry that analyzed nearly 50,000 patients who received stents. The take-away: safety data released since 2006 has reassured the majority of clinicians that DES are safe and effective.

The promise of genetics: The pursuit of personalized medicine continues. The Congress held several sessions featuring the topics of genetic screening and emerging research on cardiovascular-related genetics.

With ESC 2009 complete, we are looking forward to the next major cardiovascular show—the 2009 AHA Scientific Sessions.

Tags: ESC, healthcare PR, medical conference, scientific conference

Posted by Dana Conti on September 10, 2009 at 9:17 AM
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Do Not Lift: Media Embargo

The American Heart Association's Annual Scientific Sessions wrapped up in New Orleans last week and for the first time in two years, there was no embargo-gate debate.

Maybe the AHA took a page from the "No Drama Obama" campaign.

What's the fuss all about? For publically-traded healthcare companies, presenting data at a prestigious medical conference like the AHA is mostly a blessing----major stakeholders including clinicians, investors and the media are all focused on news from the conference.

Yet navigating conflicting embargo policies can be a real challenge. For example, consider a Company that has highly-anticipated trial results in hand weeks before it's scheduled to present at a "Late Breaking" session.

One on hand, SEC Reg FD rule encourages companies to announce material news almost immediately. Yet conference organizers have strict policies about releasing data prior to the conference. If the data is being simultaneously published in a medical journal like JAMA or NEJM (as the JUPITER study was this year), add another layer of complexity.

Often times, companies are forced to announce top-line data prior to the conference, without being able to paint the full picture. After weeks of market speculation, the embargo is lifted.

During last year's AHA meeting, this predicament prompted Eli Lilly's CEO to write a WSJ Op-Ed entitled, "The Media on Drugs." He explained "NEJM and AHA asked for promises from Lilly and its partners, and we agreed, not to disclose any of the results prior to Nov. 4. Such guarantees of exclusivity are not only common, but also appropriate, in focusing expert attention on important research." In 2006, the AHA pulled Pfizer from the Scientific Session agenda for pre-releasing data. CNBC Reporter Mike Huckman blogged about an embargo-gate episode at the 2007 ACC conference.

What's a company to do? There is no clear cut answer. The data results, size of company and the anticipated impact of the stock all play factors in deciding the best course of action.

In the next post, we'll outline a few recommendations for a company in this situation.

Posted by Dana Conti on November 20, 2008 at 9:23 AM
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