Creative Marketing Promotion - Free Hair Color For Job Hunting Women

This is a little off-topic from what I usually post about....but I thought this promotion by tng worldwide and Kemon was a really great example of some creative marketing coupled with companies offering a good old-fashioned 'helping hand' to the community. Kemon and tng worldwide are teaming up to offer free hair color for job hunting women in the Detroit area. You can read the details here.
The program is called Hair for Success.
According to the article:

Larry Gaynor, CEO and president of tng worldwide....convinced local salons to donate their time, talent and services for the Hair For Success event, while tng worldwide is supplying the Kemon coloring product that stylists will be using on the women. It is one of the most sought after color products in the industry. Gaynor expects to help 2,000 women during Monday’s event by giving away about $100,000 in professional color treatments.

This program is a great example of 'giving before you get'. And it seems like this event will be a winner for all who are involved.....

Be Professional when Job Hunting

Marvin Walberg has a good article with some basic common-sense tips about how to conduct yourself on your job search. You can read the article here.

One of his tips is as follows:

Get a permanent and appropriate e-mail address. If you want, use one for friends and fun and another for business, using your name or initials — no cutesy names like hotmamma1795@hotmail.com, or — well, you know what we mean.

Now you would think that most people would know that they should use an appropriate email for their business related conversations....but that is not always the case. Years ago, I had a candidate that had an email address that was, shall we say, somewhat pornographic in nature. It was listed at the top of her resume. When I mentioned to her that she may want to consider using another email address for her job search, she balked at the suggestion.

Needless to say, I did not spend any more time working with her.

Palm's Pre Proves The Value of Recruiting Talent

Greg Kumparak over at MobileCrunch writes here about the resurgence of Palm.
How did Palm do it? They went out and recruited the people that they needed. And did they simply post a couple of ads and hope the right people responded to them?
No - Palm went out and aggressively recruited the talent that they wanted and needed from their competitors.

Kumparak writes:

"In early June 2007, Palm was teetering on the edge of obscurity. Their flagship Treo product line had gone stale, numbers were down across the board, and rumors of a sale were abound. On June 4th, 2007 it was announced that Elevation Partners had purchased a 25% equity stake of Palm for $325 million. Flash forward to today; just two years later (almost to the day), Palm has launched the Pre, a phone which managed to nab the attention of just about every blog and blog reader out there.

So what changed? What had that new-found $325 million bought them? Talent. Lots and lots of talent - from their competitors, no less. With a good amount of lucky timing and some decent salary proposals, Palm managed to snatch up at least 8 people who were just oh-so-damn good at what they do, ending up with the Palm Pre and webOS as a result."

The moral of the story....if you want to build a quality organization....if you want to make products that people want to buy....you can't just passively sit back and wait for talented people to beat a path to your doorstep. You have to go out and find them!!!

Worker Burnout

Joel Cheesman writes here that workers who have survived layoffs are increasingly experiencing burnout. Joel writes:

"...according to CareerBuilder’s latest survey of more than 4,400 workers nationwide.

Forty-seven percent of workers reported they have taken on more responsibility because of a layoff within their organization. Thirty-seven percent said they are handling the work of two people. Thirty percent feel burned out.

To accommodate growing to-do lists, 34 percent of workers who kept their jobs after a layoff reported they are spending more time at the office. Seventeen percent are putting in at least 10 hours per day. Twenty-two percent are working more weekends."

Should be interesting to see if these 'burned-out' employees stick around...or if they end up moving on to other companies once the economic recovery begins.

Why should a company hire you?

Just a quick post...
I just got off the phone with a candidate.
I asked him - "Why should my client hire you?"

The candidate's response was to simply list their current job responsibilities.
Basically they rehashed the list of responsibilities that appears on their resume.

That type of answer will not get you hired!

Bottom line - on your interview - don't simply discuss your responsibilities.
Instead focus on talking about your accomplishments.

More on this topic later.....

J&J and the Merck/Schering Reverse Merger

J&J filed for arbitration to end its revenue-sharing deal with Schering-Plough, due to Schering's merger with rival drugmaker Merck.
The problem for J&J is that Merck and Schering designed their deal as a reverse merger.

Here is J&J's problem....This is traditionally how a Reverse Merger works (you can read the complete BioJobBlogger post here):

Generally speaking, a failing or failed publicly traded company that is listed on one stock exchange or another merges with a privately held company. The privately held company takes over the public stock listing and manages the day-to-day operations of the new business. Private companies that engage in reverse mergers are usually looking for cash infusions for product development or a stock listing (without going through an initial public offering) which offers it shareholders immediate cash value. Investors who previously held stock in the public company are either compensated for their shares in cash or given shares (at a negotiated price) in the new entity. Any cash (or assets) left in the public company can be used to develop the formerly private company’s product(s) and if successful, shareholders in the old public company can eventually benefit.

But last I checked, neither Merck or Schering is a private company. So why in the world would they do a reverse merger?

Here's why - Again, according to the BioJobBlogger:

Schering-Plough markets Remicade outside of the US under an agreement with Johnson and Johnson which sells the drug in America. A termination clause in the original marketing agreement stipulates that the ex-US rights to Remicade (and another drug being developed) would revert to Johnson and Johnson if control or ownership of Schering Plough changes. Remicade, a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, developed by Johnson and Johnson’s subsidiary Centocor, represented $2.1 billion in sales for Schering in 2008. Further, about 70% of Schering Plough’s revenue comes from outside the US. That said, the success or failure of the deal really hinges on whether or not Johnson and Johnson will challenge the change-in-control clause for Remicade. To obviate that possibility, Merck devised an unusual reverse merger strategy in which ownership of Schering Plough will not change hands—at least on paper anyway. Instead, even though Merck is putting up the money to purchase Schering, and Richard Clark, Merck’s Chairman and CEO, will run the newly combined company, Merck would technically become a subsidiary of Schering Plough and consequently there would be no change in Schering Plough management!

It will definitely be interesting to see how the arbitration process plays out.

Where do you find the time?

I sometimes get kidded by my family and friends about the amount of time I spend on the various forms of Social Media. People who think nothing of sitting on the couch and watching a 3+ hour Yankees game...or hunkering down for a night of American Idol are always questioning me as to where do I find the time for my Blog, Twitter, Facebook etc.
Well, this afternoon I was reading Connie Crosby's blog and came across this post. Connie had embedded a video where Clay Shirky talks about this very issue.
Next time I am asked the question regarding where do I find the time...I will point them to this video.

Biotechs To Dangle Data for Cash at Cancer Drug Meeting

An article in today's Bloomberg paints a pretty bleak picture with regards to the prospects for a number of cash poor small biotechs. For some of these companies, this year's American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting will be their last attempt to obtain a much needed infusion of cash.
According to Steven King, Chief Executive Officer of Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc.

"Failing to secure a development partnership, or to be sold outright, may force research delays and project shutdowns that can add years to the time it takes to bring a drug to market, or end the effort entirely...The current economy has made this the most important year, of all the years I can remember, for small biotechnology companies to get the attention of potential partners and investors at ASCO."

Steve Elek, head of Health-care Transaction Service for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC elaborates further that,

“Without access to capital, early-stage biotechnology companies are looking to sell when a year or two ago they would never think of it....Ideally they would be able to move along a little further in the process to maximize value, but the cash burn makes that not feasible for them. I expect to see a lot more biotech M&A activity over the next six to twelve months.”

Not an easy time to be a baby biotech.....

Jeff Kindler and Dunbar's Number

Interesting thought....the size of the group that Jeff Kindler proposes for a successful R&D group is 150 people....which is what Robin Dunbar postulates is the "theoretical cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships."
Coincidence or not....

Pfizer CEO’s Three Tips for Research Success

Jeff Kindler in today's Wall Street Journal's Health Blog gives this summary of what he feels will lead to success in today's Pharma industry:

1. Each group should have between 100 and 150 scientists — few enough that they can all get together in the cafeteria to talk about what they’re doing.

2. Each should be run by a chief scientific officer prominent in the field.

3. They should be left alone “to create their own culture,” and should be judged, for the most part, on a single metric: Discovering drugs that demonstrate proof of concept.

Bottom line - Kindler's blueprint for R&D success looks striking similar to what GSK is currently doing.

Indian drug sales to US plunge 40%

The Financial Times reports here that Drug Sales that:

"Indian exports of pharmaceutical products to the US fell almost 40 per cent in the five months between October last year and the end of February....The trend is likely to disappoint analysts. India's pharmaceuticals industry was touted as a sector that could weather the global financial crisis."

Interestingly, sales of Pharmaceuticals from companies in China, Israel and South Korea gained dramatically.

Networking: The Most Effective Way to Find a Job

Matt Berndt has an interesting post on his blog entitled - Networking: The Most Effective Way to Find a Job. In his post he cites the following statistic:

According to a survey of 2002-2004 graduates of the UT College of Communication done five years after graduation:

• More than 70% found their first job out of college via their networking activities
• More than 78% found their current job (five years after college) via their networking activities

He goes on to write:

Again, this doesn’t mean they ignored online job boards, they just didn’t depend upon them as their primary means of finding employment.

I agree 110%!!
I always tell candidates that networking....whether by using their own network contacts or by using a Recruiter's network of contacts is by far the most effective way to get a new job. And if you have exhausted your networking options....and are still unable to gain access to a specific company....then by all means use the job boards. But Job Boards should only be a last resort....not your first option.

Swine flu could jump start new drugs

What is bad news from a societal standpoint could benefit companies in the Biotech/Pharma sector.
Fortune Magazine details in an article here what companies stand to gain from the potential Swine Flu pandemic.

The pharmaceutical industry faces unprecedented barriers to evolution

Great article here that details the challenges that the Pharmaceutical industry faces as well as the potential solutions to these challenges. Not a long article - but very well written and informative.

Statins guard against Prostate Cancer

There is a fascinating article that was just posted on Forbes.com. You can read it here.
According to the article:

Several new studies suggest statins help prevent prostate cancer and reduce the risk of erectile dysfunction.

"At this point in time, there seems to be mounting evidence that there may be a future role for statins in prostate cancer treatment or prostate cancer prevention," said Dr. Lionel L. Banez, from the Division of Urologic Surgery and Duke Prostate Center at Duke University Medical Center and lead author of one study.

From a Men's health standpoint, this is great news.

great career advice

Someone just posted this quote on Twitter and I thought it is very sound advice:

"Someone with a job is never secure, someone with a calling is never unemployed."

Medical Devices Face New Scrutiny From FDA

This article appeared in the Wall Street Journal on April 8th.
According to the article:

The Food and Drug Administration asked several medical-device makers to justify their products' safety and effectiveness, as part of a move to require tougher evidence standards before products can be sold.

But here is the kicker:

The agency's request comes in response to a 1990 order from Congress that directed the FDA to gather rigorous evidence before a manufacturer can sell medical devices considered to be in the most risky category, known as Class 3.

But despite several attempts during the 1990s, the FDA hasn't finished implementing the law. In the past five years, it allowed hundreds of new Class 3 devices to be sold based on a less rigorous showing -- called a 510(k), after a section of federal law -- that they are "substantially equivalent" to combinations of other products marketed before 1976. Such evidence often is collected in a laboratory, not with a clinical trial in patients.

I know the proverbial wheels of Justice and Government grind slowly...but this is ridiculous.
This law has been on the books since 1990 and the FDA still has not fully implemented it.
And now the FDA is going back to the Manufacturers demanding more data on products that are already approved and on the market.....And these companies may actually have to go back and run Clinical Trials on already approved products.....Incredible!

Inspirational 97 yr. old doctor

This post is a little different from my standard subject matter. But I figure anyone who is 97 years old and is still working and productive is definitely worth listening to. Hopefully you find Shigeaki's message as uplifting and inspiring as I did. And you can read the whole article here.

An excerpt from the article is pasted below:
At the age of 97 years and 4 months, Shigeaki Hinohara is one of the world's longest-serving physicians and educators. Hinohara's magic touch is legendary: Since 1941 he has been healing patients at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo and teaching at St. Luke's College of Nursing. After World War II, he envisioned a world-class hospital and college springing from the ruins of Tokyo; thanks to his pioneering spirit and business savvy, the doctor turned these institutions into the nation's top medical facility and nursing school. Today he serves as chairman of the board of trustees at both organizations. Always willing to try new things, he has published around 150 books since his 75th birthday, including one "Living Long, Living Good" that has sold more than 1.2 million copies. As the founder of the New Elderly Movement, Hinohara encourages others to live a long and happy life, a quest in which no role model is better than the doctor himself.

Pharma Innovation in Legal Jeapordy

Lawrence McQuillan writes a fascinating and frightening article regarding recent court rulings that will have a potentially tremendous negative impact on drug innovation. You can read the article here.
The recent Supreme Court ruling in Wyeth v. Levine (which held that even when a drug has been approved by the FDA, the drug manufacturer can still be held liable under state law) has garnered a lot of press.
But an even more frightening decision was rendered in CA in the case of Conte v. Wyeth.
McQuillan writes:

In Conte, a California appellate court ruled that those harmed by a drug don’t have to settle for suing just the manufacturer: now they can sue the inventor as well....The case involved plaintiff Elizabeth Conte, who claims to have suffered severe neurological problems after taking a generic version of the antacid drug Reglan. Conte first sued the generic drug’s manufacturer, alleging that the company was liable for the injuries caused by its product. But then she filed suit in California state court against Wyeth, the inventor of Reglan, though she had never taken Wyeth’s product. Incredibly, the appellate court ruled that Wyeth was legally liable for any adverse effects caused by the generic version of its drug. The makers of the generic product got off scot-free....In January 2009, the California Supreme Court decided not to review the decision, so it’s now Golden State law. Wyeth’s warning labels, and those of other drug inventors, will now apply not just to their own products, but also to those of other companies, which they do not control....The Conte ruling carries extremely harmful implications for drug innovation. The typical pharmaceutical company spends more than $1 billion developing a new drug and bringing it to market through a complicated approval process. Given current patent law, the company has just a few years to recoup its investment before generic drugmakers can enter the marketplace and churn out copies sold at a fraction of the original’s price. Making drug inventors responsible for problems with generics makes drug development that much more expensive—so much so that many companies will likely no longer be able to afford it. They’ll pull out of the market, and pharmaceutical innovation will decline. Conte also guarantees that pharmaceutical-company resources that would have been used for R&D will now be spent on legal defense.

In the long-run, the societal costs of these decisions will be staggering. Innovation will be stifled.
Drugs that could be developed that will save and/or improve people's lives will never leave the lab. It truly amazes me that the courts can arrive at these type of conclusions and that these types of decisions can actually be rendered.

Pharma Business Model Blues

Rick Edmonds has an interesting post here entitled -Newspapers, GM and Big Pharma: Sharing the Business Model Blues.
Edmonds writes:

Pharma seems to be where newspapers were a decade ago, even five years ago -- loaded with cash, still highly profitable, but experiencing marked reduction in revenue growth. Cracks have appeared in the pipeline of developing new medicines and selling them for years as high-priced, proprietary brands.

He does not dispense any specific detailed solutions to the problems that beset Big Pharma....but the post is still an interesting read.