The majority of UK MPs do not believe the pharmaceutical industry provides value for money for the NHS, new research has shown.

The study, conducted jointly by ComRes and Westminster Advisers, says the sector must do more to demonstrate its value to the nation’s health.

It also suggests that a high number of MPs do not trust the communications they receive from the industry.

The Pharmaceutical Industry and Parliament: a joint report on parliamentary opinion towards the pharmaceutical industry reveals that while MPs from all three main parties have a high regard for the economic importance of the pharmaceutical sector, a worrying 62% believe that the prices the industry charges the NHS for medicines do not deliver value for money. Almost two thirds of MPs (64%) support the introduction of a value-based pricing system.

The research highlights that only 40% of MPs trust the communications they receive from the industry. The highest levels of scepticism appear to be among Labour MPs, with 74% of those surveyed believing the industry does not provide value for money and only 23% trusting industry communications. More than half (53%) of Conservative MPs trust the communications they receive.

Tony Black, Head of Healthcare Research at ComRes, said: “Value for money is the be all and end all for all public policy debates at the present time. Improving levels of trust among MPs towards the communications they receive from the pharmaceutical industry is crucial if pharma is to put itself on the right side of the value debate.”

Proposals to introduce value-based pricing were unveiled last month, with the new pricing method set to be introduced towards the end of 2013 when the current Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) expires. The present PPRS caps the profit pharma companies can make from NHS sales at 29.4%. However, under the Government’s proposed model, companies can set initial prices which are then reviewed to establish cost effectiveness – with either the NHS or pharma reimbursed against the original cost, dependent upon the outcome of the review.

However, the ABPI has warned that the new model may not deliver the NHS savings the Government anticipates. Its Director General, Richard Barker, recently told a conference audience: “There is an unrealistic belief in the Government’s mind that the result is that prices will fall. But I don’t think we know. Value-based pricing is thoroughly logical, but not a magic bullet.”

The ComRes/Westminster Advisers survey showed that only 34% of MPs agreed Britain has poor uptake for new, innovative medicines relative to other European countries, and that 41% ‘don’t know’. The report indicates that there is scope for the industry to take a greater initiative in educating parliamentarians about this critical issue.

Andreas Eggert has joined Lundbeck as Vice President of Global Product Strategy.

He will be responsible for the launch of the company’s portfolio of new drugs in the newly created role.

Stig Løkke Pedersen, Lundbeck’s Executive Vice President of Commercial Operations, says that Andreas’ appointment is a “perfect match” for the company.

Mr Eggert has more than ten years of experience in global marketing having previously worked for Pfizer and Wyeth.

“In addition to his extensive global marketing and launch, just as those which we are currently planning, he also has great professional and personal knowledge of some of our key markets, as he has both worked and lived in the U.S., Japan and Germany,” said Stig Løkke Pedersen. “We are very pleased to attract someone of Andreas's calibre, and we are happy that he will play an important role in the company going forward.”

His first task will be to prepare and market Lundbeck’s new alcohol dependence drug nalmefene and a new antidepressant, LUAA21004.

In the medical technologies industry, a truly effective sales and marketing team is hard to find - or to replace. Sam Meakin, Director at the Recruitment Management Group, offers a guide to cultivating and harnessing talent.

More than ever, the medical technologies sector needs its highest performers to be fully engaged and actively participating in organisational development - but not enough time is spent on retaining and developing existing talent. Cultivating talent in the workforce is necessary to ensure high levels of sales and marketing achievement while implementing efficient business delivery; but it is also important that individual professional developments are built upon, personalised and recognised.

The new healthcare market

Healthcare is an increasingly complex market, and both NHS and private sector health providers are becoming a great deal more commercially minded. As such, they need to be managed with a much greater degree of sophistication. Most are now looking for solutions-based partnerships rather than just a product - and this has a real impact on how the medical devices sector needs to position itself.

As a consequence, medtech businesses need to take a close look at what skills and behaviours they are looking for when they are employing their sales and marketing teams. Individuals need to be able to sell not only to clinicians, as in the past, but also to procurement and finance professionals. This makes good business acumen invaluable.

To address the changing needs of their customers, many medical device businesses are now implementing account management or business development structures rather than the traditional team of reps. Lessons can be learned from the changes in the pharmaceutical industry over the past ten years - employing healthcare development managers, for example, has been hugely effective for businesses in communicating with customers at a strategic level.

Up-and-coming sales talent

For some time now, there has been a shortage of high-calibre jobseekers in the medical devices sector. Businesses know who their best people are and look after them, giving them little reason to look around for alternative career options.

This creates huge competition for the talent that is actively 'on the market', resulting in Dutch auctions that inflate individuals' salaries far above their level of competence. At RMG we are frequently disappointed by the calibre of candidates we interview and assess who work for well-respected names in the industry but fall some way short of demonstrating the basic skills needed for success in today's healthcare arena. This raises the question of whether these companies are settling for what they can get, rather than focusing on talent acquisition and development.

Savvy businesses can stay clear of this scrum by enhancing their recruitment strategy and looking outside the traditional candidate talent pool. Recruiting trainees, for example, is an excellent way for a company to enhance its succession plans and nurture new talent. However, most companies are not set up to do this well, and cannot afford the period of unproductiveness before such individuals gain an appropriate level of competence.

That leaves the option of headhunting: seeking out people who are content in their current employment, but may be willing to listen if a more beneficial opportunity is correctly positioned to them. The major advantage here is the opportunity to capture an individual from a direct competitor who can both deliver a short-term gain and add to your succession planning pool. The fact that our model has moved from 80% advertising to 80% search and selection reflects the way the job market is moving.

Methods of engagement

Companies need to develop a cohesive attraction strategy that will make them the sort of employer that people aspire to work for: an employer of choice. This is where your trusted recruitment partners can be worth their weight in gold: they can give you a clear idea of the state of the current market, how your business is perceived and what today's medtech professionals are looking for.

Frustratingly for many recruitment professionals, many clients still consider recruitment to be a very transactional process. All too often, a vacancy means a desperate scramble to find a person to fill a role, with the result that the business employs someone who may fit right now, but who will not be right in the long term. Rather, employers should see a recruitment drive as an opportunity to bring in genuine talent that will impact on the business in the long term and help to differentiate them from the competition.

Some clients, however, do not fully appreciate the 'consultant' element of 'recruitment consultant', and frequently make decisions based purely on the black and white details of a CV rather than engaging in meaningful discussion concerning the rationale behind the submission of a candidate.

When engaging with potential employees, businesses should not underestimate the value of personal contact. The technological revolution has arguably transformed the recruitment process - but at a high cost. Web portals and e-mail have made it easy to gather hundreds of CVs and make contact with multiple candidates, but picking up the phone to speak to a real person - and not their digital persona - can save hours in wasted interviews and recruitment blind alleys.

Recognition and reward

A strong and well-developed HR function is essential to getting the recruitment process right. Making good decisions at the earliest stage is crucial, and a good HR team (or consultant) will look beyond technical competencies and towards cultural fit.

The initial recruitment process can also be considered as part of the new employee's personal development: it is never too early to identify strengths, weaknesses and motivations that should be addressed.

Hiring managers also need to be aware of their existing team members' motivating factors and nurture their talent. It is vital that they are not threatened by people whose skills and aspirations exceed their own - this is all part of succession planning. Employers need to ensure that their own employees are not putting barriers in place that stifle the development of others. Forward-thinking companies need to put in place a talent management programme that gives all employees the opportunities they need to make a difference to the business.

Conversely, managers have a key role in recognising when an employee is not up to the right standard and must have the difficult conversations as early as possible. Lavishing investment on an employee who does not have a future with your business, whether due to a lack of skills or a poor cultural fit, can only result in a breakdown of relationships and a bitter termination of employment - with their impressions of your business taken out into the job market and creating potentially damaging perceptions.

Nurturing talent can help to make a good company great. People are at the heart of any business, and keeping them motivated and happy reaps dividends for companies. The rapidly changing healthcare market presents a real opportunity for medtech businesses to pull away from their competition, armed with an effective talent management strategy and an ongoing commitment to people development.

Sam Meakin is Director of the Healthcare team at RMG, an executive search consultancy based in Cheshire. With over 20 years' experience of recruiting talent in the healthcare sector, RMG provides both a national and international service covering all functional disciplines and levels of seniority.

Web portals and e-mail have made it easy to gather hundreds of CVs and make contact with multiple candidates, but picking up the phone to speak to a real person can save hours in wasted interviews and recruitment blind alleys.

A leading UK provider of bariatric (weight loss) surgery has lowered the threshold at which it offers gastric band procedures.

Gravitas, an independent network of weight loss surgeons, said that patients with a body mass index (BMI) over 35, or over 30 with weight-related health problems, would now be eligible for bariatric surgery at its UK clinics.

Until now, gastric bands have only been approved for use in people with a BMI over 40, or over 35 with a serious weight-related health problem, who have failed to lose weight by other methods.

The change in threshold follows a recommendation by the FDA in the US that gastric bands should now be made available to people with a BMI as low as 30 who have obesity-related health problems.

David Kerrigan, MD of Gravitas and advisor to the UK Government on the current NICE obesity guidelines, said: "Our own audited research and clinical data is very much in line with the American recommendation that the gastric band is very safe and effective, so we are not surprised that the FDA Advisory Board has endorsed gastric band surgery for patients with lower BMIs.

"Any risks are likely to be outweighed by the potential health benefits, particularly for those who have already tried and failed to maintain weight loss using non-surgical means."

The change will apply only to private patients, as NHS provision of bariatric surgery will still be determined by PCTs.

Gravitas runs eight bariatric surgery units in the UK and Ireland. Its surgeons operate on both NHS and private patients.

A three-day event has celebrated the history of ultrasound scanning and its role in the diagnostics of the future.

'A Celebration of Ultrasound', organised by the British Institute of Radiology (BIR) and the British Medical Ultrasound Society (BMUS), was held at the BIR headquarters in Portland Place, London on 13-15 December 2010.

The event marked the centenary of the birth of Professor Ian Donald, who pioneered the diagnostic use of ultrasound in medicine. In 1958 he, John MacVicar and Tom Brown published in The Lancet a paper titled 'Investigation of Abdominal Masses by Pulsed Ultrasound' that marked the beginning of ultrasound scanning in maternity care.

Tom Brown launched the celebration and described the research that led to that initial paper. The opening day also included talks on the use of ultrasound in Antarctica and on the battlefield. Derek Adrian-Harris (University of Portsmouth) explained the role of FAST technology (Focused Abdominal Sonography in Trauma). Bob Jarman (Queen Elizabeth Hospital) described new ultrasound technologies, commenting "Ultrasound at the patient's bedside will be the new electronic stethoscope."

Day two was a full scientific meeting. On day three, 70 children from St Mary's Bryanston Square Primary joined Philip Rose (Scitech) and Dr Kevin Martin (BMUS Past President) to explore the history of ultrasound, and scanned objects such as grapes and chocolate bars using equipment loaned by Philips.

Delegates had the opportunity to visit an interactive exhibition of medical ultrasound systems, with stands from CAE, ISUOG, Philips Healthcare, Zonare, About Health Professionals and GE Healthcare. The exhibition included the original Bed Table Scanner made by Tom Brown and Ian Donald in 1957.

St Mary's Bryanston Square Primary School

Aesica Pharmaceuticals has acquired three European manufacturing sites from UCB.

The sites in Germany and Italy are Aesica’s first outside the UK .

Dr Robert Hardy, Chief Executive of Aesica, says the acquisitions are “strategically crucial” to establish a presence in Europe.

The expansion follows Aesica’s acquisition of R5 Pharmaceuticals in June 2010 and will complement its existing formulations capability.

“Since Aesica was founded in 2004, we have worked continually to expand and strengthen our offering, supplying our international clients from our manufacturing sites in the UK, while striving to establish a presence in key global markets,” said Dr Hardy.

“To have now secured manufacturing sites in Europe and on such a large scale, is testament to our commitment to ensuring Aesica is recognised as a leading player on the world stage.”

Aesica supplies contract development and contract manufacturing services for Formulated Products and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients to a host of leading pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology organisations.

Public satisfaction with the NHS is at an all time high, a report has revealed.

The British Social Attitudes study showed that two-thirds (64%) of respondents are happy with the health service.

Penny Young, Chief Executive of the National Centre for Social Research, said the coalition will have to be aware ‘to avoid a backlash’ during a period of reform.

The report, published annually for nearly 30 years, delivers the public’s views after 13 years of Labour rule.

When Tony Blair’s New Labour gained power in 1997, only a third of people (34%) said they were satisfied with the NHS – the lowest levels since the early 1980s. However, that figure has nearly doubled after new policies were introduced and millions of pounds spent on improvements.

“Record levels of investment under Labour appear to have paid off in terms of public satisfaction – particularly on health, where satisfaction levels are now at all time high,” said Penny Young. “The coalition will need to tread carefully to avoid a backlash against the potential impact of reform or failure to invest.” 

Novartis is to merge with Alcon in a $12.9bn deal which, it says, will create the global leader in eye care.

The merger, which will be completed in 2011, will see Alcon become Novartis’ new eye care division.

Dr. Daniel Vasella, Chairman of Novartis, said the agreement was a “logical conclusion” of the company’s interest in eye care.

Swiss based Alcon is the world’s largest and most profitable eye care company and posted annual sales in 2009 of $6.5bn.

Kevin Buehler, current President and CEO of Alcon, will head the new division. “This merger will create a stronger eye care business with broader commercial reach and enhanced capabilities to develop innovative eye care products that fulfil unmet clinical needs in eye care,” he said.

“The combination of Alcon’s deep understanding of the eye care specialty and the broad expertise and scale of Novartis will address virtually all key areas of eye care and position the Alcon business unit for faster growth.”

Both Novartis and Alcon have complementary pharmaceutical portfolios for diseases in the front and back areas of the eye, as well as strong global brands in lens care. Alcon is a global leader in ophthalmic surgical products, while Novartis has a broad contact lens portfolio and advanced eye care technologies.

Part eight: Mistakes

Steve Gray answers your questions about compliance with the ABHI Code of Business Practice and other industry codes that govern commercial activity.

Thank you for the suggestions we have received regarding future articles. Do please keep sending in your questions and comments.

Dear Steve:

What can you do if you have crossed the Code line through oversight, haste or just not knowing and want to make amends? What steps do you take to get back on track?

Steve says:

This is a great question. Quite often when we present at meetings, our consultants are 'taken to one side' by a representative and asked about such situations.

It is absolutely natural to worry if you think you have done something wrong. However, this is an area where honesty is absolutely the best policy.

Imagine a scenario where our representative for Lakeshore Diagnostics has told a hospital doctor it will be "no problem" to secure funding for a departmental meeting. As the day draws closer the representative learns that the event is not an in-house educational session requiring food, but an external event at a local restaurant. The organiser has not booked a private room, but is offering the representative the chance to say "a few words" about the product before the celebrations for the unit's tenth anniversary get under way.

In effect, sponsorship of education has turned into sponsorship of entertainment in a public environment. The representative has two options: either cancel the support or go ahead and hope everything is OK.

Suppose the representative proceeds with the event. He creates the appropriate documentation to meet Lakeshore's compliance policies, including an agenda and a brief letter from the meeting organiser requesting sponsorship. The representative arranges for a cheque to be paid to the organiser, rather than settling the restaurant bill on his company credit card.

During a routine check, the finance team identify that the payment request is for an individual. They ask the representative to explain this before they release the payment. Unhappy with the explanation, the finance team escalate the issue to the compliance officer. Eventually, the truth of the matter is revealed. Everyone understands the situation the representative was in, but it looks like the representative has tried to cover up something that was inappropriate. This blemishes his professional reputation. The company has been placed at risk because there could have been a complaint raised about the meeting in the restaurant. The ABHI's principles of transparency and documentation have been breached, which means that any complaint could result in sanctions being imposed by the industry association.

However, if the representative had spoken to his manager when the issue first became apparent, the manager and the compliance officer could have supported the representative in managing the situation very differently.

Clearly it is inappropriate for the company to support the event, as it is about entertainment rather than education. A suitably worded letter or conversation with the organiser could have resulted in a withdrawal of the sponsorship in a manner that maintained the relationship or even led to a change in the meeting's structure so that it became a genuine educational event that Lakeshore could support - which would actually have enhanced the reputation of the company because of the manner in which the issue was handled.

It is important to remember that mistakes do happen - we are all human. There may be ways to resolve the issue - or there may be consequences that arise from the mistake having been made. It all depends on the circumstances. What is absolutely clear, however, is that transparent and open management of the issue is far better than being the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand.

Raise the issue as soon as possible with your manager or the company's compliance officer. They really are there to help!

Steve Gray is Managing Director of Compliance Hub, specialists in Healthcare Codes of Practice and accredited trainers for the ABHI. The company regularly runs engaging and enjoyable(!) workshops and training courses for field-based and office-based teams.

Do you have a compliance query for Steve Gray? If so, e-mail your question to us at joel.lane@medtechbunesiness.co.uk. Your anonymity is guaranteed.

Luke Fryer is Managing Director of Medline Europe, a major privately-owned US healthcare company that entered the UK market in 2008 and has already gained 15 national NHS tenders. Medline offers a wide portfolio of medical consumables right across the healthcare market.

What are your main priorities as Managing Director of Medline Europe?

There is a fundamental shift occurring in the healthcare market, which changes our focus from reactive treatment to proactive prevention and managing incidence of disease infection to ensure quality outcomes. Medline is dedicating the account management and clinical teams and manufacturing units to help succeed in this area. In addition the teams have to stay focused on why we are in business, and why we have been successful, which is because we provide high-quality products and because we never compromise on service.

As an American owned company, it's challenging to have to orientate ourselves, and remind our parent company, towards the different needs which are specific to Europe.

What particular challenges and opportunities does the UK healthcare market hold for a company like Medline?

There is a great opportunity for Medline in Europe in the years to come. We are unique in Europe at the moment in that we are a $4 billion global company without a historical infrastructure in the UK and Europe, and that allows us to be extremely nimble and creative for our customers' needs. We do not have the historical infrastructure which many of our competitors in the market have. This really is an advantage for our customers in that, in these challenging times, we are able to look at things in a different way. If they're asking us to provide various solutions and services, it's highly likely that we'll be able to adapt and deliver them.

The challenge facing Medline is the fact that we are new and we have to build our reputation, and we can only do so by creating loyalty through serving our customers and getting it right first time - because it is a demanding market, and not one that gives you a second chance. That is extremely important to us: if we promise something, we will deliver on it.

The new Government strategy for healthcare in the UK involves the decentralisation of NHS commissioning. How will this affect your market?

To take it down to a basic level, we must be extremely strong locally, which means our team of account managers have to be the best. We have made a conscious decision to recruit professional, commercial personnel from outside the healthcare industry. They are able to bring fresh ideas and experiences. When this is coupled with the excellent clinical support team, who have worked in and alongside the NHS, we have a very powerful two pronged approach, which we feel puts us at an advantage in meeting all the requirements of good service and good products to our customers.

Medline is known for its involvement in campaigns to raise awareness of breast cancer. Why are public health campaigns of this kind important for the medical technologies industry?

We wanted to give something back into the industry in which we work, and a breast cancer awareness campaign seemed a natural fit as the demography of our customers is predominantly female. We do not brand heavily with regards to these campaigns; rather our involvement is from the outside.

Just recently we have worked on something known as the Pink Glove Dance, which you can find on www.pinkglovedance.com or on YouTube, and which hopefully adds a different dimension to an extremely challenging disease. It is great because it involves the healthcare workers and patients who suffer from breast cancer, and in times of difficulty adds a bit of fun. It has been an absolute global success and something, with which we are very proud to have been associated - but it is really down to the healthcare workers and the patients who have made it that success. Medline is proud to be associated with it on the periphery.

The Pink Glove Dance was created in a particular US hospital, and a lot of other healthcare institutions have got involved; it has been on the national cable channels and has spread right across the globe now, and it's great to see the healthcare workers and the patients coming together and sharing in a bit of fun, and raising some awareness and funds along with that.