Newsletters
AlcheraBio Update: News from Rhodes and Moldave – October 2005
Dr. Linda Rhodes Joins Board of ImmuCell Corporation
We are pleased to report that Dr. Linda Rhodes has been appointed to the Board of Directors of ImmuCell Corporation, an animal health company located in Portland, Maine. ImmuCell, founded in 1982, focuses on developing, manufacturing and marketing products to improve animal health and productivity in the dairy and beef cattle industries. According to Michael F. Brigham, ImmuCell president and CEO, “Linda’s experience in the dairy and beef industries as a veterinarian, in management and as a consultant makes her a valuable addition to our Board of Directors."
AlcheraBio to Take Part in Upcoming Companion Animal Products International Conference
Dr. Linda Rhodes will be participating in the conference “Maximizing Companion Animal Products,” co-organized by Animal Pharm and IBC Life Sciences. The conference location is Paris, France, and the dates are January 24 – 25, 2006. We hear that Paris is beautiful in wintertime too. The conference will cover the business aspects of animal health and new developments in R&D. Dr. Rhodes will speak on sources for new product ideas from biotechnology companies, big pharma, start-up companies, and universities.
Dr. Rhodes will also be giving a half-day workshop on Contraception and Fertility Control in Companion Animals on January 26, during which she will be reviewing the approaches taken in the past and discussing new technologies in R&D for canine and feline contraception. The conference is sure to be interesting.
Other AlcheraBio News
Be sure to check out our website for more AlcheraBio news and website updates. We are continuing to support the Heifer Project, this year as our contribution towards helping the victims of Katrina in the Gulf Coast area.
AlcheraBio Update: News from Rhodes and Moldave – June 2005
AAVPT 11th Biennial Symposium: May 16-18, Rockville, MD
Representatives from the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine, academia, and industry came together for the 11th Symposium of AAVPT (The American Academy of Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics). Sessions of particular interest to industry representatives included:
- Dr. Steven Vaughn’s (CVM Office) presentation on Veterinary Medicine: Future Challenges and Directions acknowledged that today’s environment presents challenges for the industry. Dr. Vaughn shared his beliefs that “the days of having a flagship molecule that, once fully developed, met the financial needs of the industry has gone into history”. He encouraged the industry to look to biotechnology for new products to tackle therapeutic and production challenges.
- Dr. M. Gatz Riddell (professor in the Dept. of Large Animal Surgery and Medicine, Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine and an official of the AABP) spoke about Unmet Needs in Veterinary Medicine and he noted that cancer, seizure disorders, and behavioral disorders represent unmet needs in companion animals. Challenges in dealing with unmet needs include: lack of prevalence data, lack of disease modeling, human drugs that are effective in animals but have been removed from the market (e.g., DES), and the fact that “powerful drugs have powerful effects.”
- Dr. Stefan Soback’s (Kimron Veterinary Institute, Israel) presentation on Antimicrobial Resistance Transfer – Science or Emotions reminded the audience of the potential power of a single study by explaining that one paper in Nature was the catalyst for concern about global warming. According to Dr. Soback there are parallels between this example and the way in which speculation has evolved about the involvement of animal health drugs in the development of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens in humans. He reviewed several studies and highlighted DANMAP, the ongoing monitoring of the use of antimicrobials and humans in Denmark.
CBI Animal Health Marketing Conference: March 31-April 1, Washington DC
CBI covered many aspects of animal health during its inaugural animal health conference. For example, Dr. Martine Hartogensis of the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine provided an overview of how the FDA reviews promotional activities and gave some examples of recent enforcement activities. A panel addressed veterinary compounding and provided perspectives from key stakeholders. And, Dr. Carol Haley of Pfizer Animal Health raised thought-provoking questions regarding the issue of what is and is not off-label promotion and whether FDA CVM’s recommendation that animal health companies follow FDA/CDER’s Division of Drug Marketing and Communication (DDMAC’s) policies is appropriate for animal health.
AlcheraBio Senior Partner Dr. Linda Rhodes led a peer to peer exchange focusing on the marketing ramifications of the gender shift in the veterinary profession and Katherine Moldave, AlcheraBio Partner, moderated a panel that presented a first in-class case study on launching an animal health version of a drug already in use in human health and another case that revealed a strategy by which a novel molecule was developed into a variety of products.
A presentation by Don Carr, president of Pegasus Training, highlighted ways to drive growth by developing good relationships and communication between sales and marketing. There were also preconference workshops on modeling methodologies for return-on-investment and integrating online and offline activities. Gilles Guillemette, executive VP of sales and marketing for VetCentric, discussed how the internet can be used to combine the expertise of a client’s own veterinarian with the convenience of home delivery of animal health drugs.
A very interesting aspect of the conference was the presence of several types of human-health support service providers who have recognized that animal health may represent an opportunity to expand.
AlcheraBio Update: News from Rhodes and Moldave – February 2005
Join AlcheraBio at the CBI Animal Health Marketing Conference in Washington, DC
It’s almost time to join AlcheraBio at CBI’s Premier Conference “Animal Health Marketing” on March 31 – April 1, 2005 at the Wyndham City Center Hotel, Washington, DC. The conference theme is: Effectively Market Veterinary Pharmaceutical Products through Compliant Marketing Campaigns and Leverage Technology. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn what new FDA enforcements have recently been made by attending the main conference “The FDA Perspective on Marketing Regulations for Veterinary Pharmaceutical Products”.
Plan to attend “Discover Unique Strategies for Marketing a First-in-Class Product,” moderated by Katherine Moldave, MBA, AlcheraBio Partner, and join discussion leader, Linda Rhodes, VMD, PhD, Senior Partner, AlcheraBio, during the session “Discuss the Gender Shift in the Veterinary Profession and Its Impact on Animal Health Marketing” to find out what this gender shift means to your organization.
You can also learn how to develop a statistically sound ROI strategy and how to use the right internet channels to reach your goals during the two pre-conference workshops. In addition, you can attend other formal conference sessions by representatives from well known corporations and organizations or discuss marketing issues and strategies with your colleagues during the peer-to-peer exchanges.
CBI has organized this varied and interesting conference on Animal Health Marketing and it certainly looks like it will be a wonderful opportunity to meet colleagues and exchange ideas.
Looking forward to seeing you there.
AlcheraBio Update: News from Rhodes and Moldave – November 2004
We’ve expanded, so we’ve moved: We officially opened our new office to rave reviews from invited guests on June 12, 2004. Clients are finding our Metuchen, NJ location convenient to Newark Airport, Metropark’s Amtrak station, Metuchen’s NJ Transit station and the major central NJ highways – and we love being part of a vibrant downtown area. Give us a call, send us an email at alchera@alcherabio.com, or better yet come see us. Here’s our contact information:
69 Pearl Street
Metuchen NJ 08840
telephone: 732 205-0192
fax: 732 204-0194
email: alchera@alcherabio.com
website: www.alcherabio.com
Additional Associates and an Office Manager Signal Growth for AlcheraBio: We’ve added several new associates, in regulatory affairs, biologics, and financial modeling, to our roster and we’re also happy to welcome Diana Junio, who has joined us to help manage our office and our growing workload. Diana has many years of experience at Merck and Merial. Her experience in animal health is a bonus.
AlcheraBio Helps Organize and Participates in 2nd Symposium on Nonsurgical Contraception for Cats and Dogs: The Symposium was held 24-27 June 2004. Dr. Linda Rhodes served on the organizing committee and was responsible for the session Contraceptives for Cats and Dogs: From the Laboratory to the Market. Katherine Moldave spoke about the complex factors that go into pricing animal health products and Dr. Rhodes discussed the potential for a nonprofit model to develop and commercialize products for certain market segments.
Biotechnology Report Now Available through AlcheraBio: “Biotechnology, Cloning and Genetics: A revolution in the animal health industry?” was written by Dr. Linda Rhodes and published by Animal Pharm in February 2004. The 200-page report describes the opportunities in animal health created by biotechnology and identifies leading companies, commercial potential of the development, and the technical features and commercial constraints in key industry sectors. You can order your copy directly from us. Click http://www.alcherabio.com/publications.html for more information about the report.
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