Archive for the ‘Our News’ Category
I’m pleased to announce that Stephanie Kreml, M.D. has returned to Popper and Company, joining our core team of life science advisors as Principal.
Like all of our team members, Stephanie is committed to delivering perspective, value, and high-quality, hands-on service to clients across the life sciences spectrum. As a practicing physician with an engineering background, Stephanie brings a unique multi-disciplinary perspective to helping life sciences companies address diverse healthcare issues. She is an excellent addition to our existing team of experts whose operational backgrounds span clinical, technology, marketing and finance in a variety of capacities in the diagnostics, medical device, pharmaceuticals and digital health industries.
You can read Stephanie’s full bio here. Please join me in welcoming her, and please do not hesitate to reach us if you have questions that Stephanie can help address, including those focused on business strategy, commercialization, diligence, and product development. We’re excited to have Stephanie back on board, and to put our entire team of experienced industry experts to work addressing your life science company’s complex challenges.
Tags: clinical research, medical technologies, Popper & Company, Popper and Co, Popper and company, Stephanie Kreml
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I’m delighted to announce that Paul Sonnier, formerly a strategic advisor to Popper and Company, has joined our core team as Head of Digital Health Strategy.
Our core team provides diversity and expertise to resolve problems and create strategies in the health arena for our life science clients. Paul, who has recently been described as a catalyst in the wireless and mobile health field, brings his familiarity, insights and experience to our existing team of experts whose operational backgrounds span clinical, technology, marketing and finance in a variety of capacities in the diagnostics, medical device and pharmaceutical industries.
You can read Paul’s full bio here. Please join me in welcoming him, and I hope you’ll reach out to one of us directly or comment below if you have questions or issues pertaining to digital health that Paul can help to address. We’re excited to offer you solutions at the cross-section of life sciences and digital technology.
Tags: digital health expert, Head of Digital Health Strategy, life sciences consulting, Paul Sonnier, Popper and Co, Popper and Co team, Popper and company
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Strategic advisors play an important role at Popper and Co. While our core team provides diversity and expertise to resolve problems and create strategies for companies in the life sciences arena, the unique advice and perspectives that come from our advisors is invaluable and often not available anywhere else.
Paul Sonnier, our third strategic advisor, already has given us—and you, our clients–invaluable advice on the brave new world of digital health. His perspective is vital to understanding the innovations that are opening doors to new paradigms in consumer health and influencing healthcare across the board.
Paul most recently served as vice president of partner development at the Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance (WLSA), a global trade organization that is dedicated to creating value and improving health globally, through the convergence of communications technologies, consumers, caregivers and all sectors of life sciences and technology.
If you are on LinkedIn, and particularly if you are a user of the Groups feature, you may recognize him as the founder of the 8,000+-member Wireless Health group. This group serves as an ethical, curated forum for advancing professional knowledge and relationships among individuals interested in the super-convergence taking place between the digital world and the “medical cocoon,” as dubbed by Dr. Eric Topol. This includes the four domains of what comprises digital medicine (genomics, wireless sensors and devices, imaging and health information systems) along with technological forces ranging from the Internet to mobile connectivity. Since its inception in 2009, the group has increased in scope to include the full digital transformation of consumer health, healthcare delivery, and medicine.
Jumping in with both feet, Paul is attending the Digital Health Summit in Las Vegas this week and will have takeaways to share in future blog posts. Notes Paul, “For some analysts, the feeling is that ‘mHealth’ is stuck in neutral. But digital technology is everywhere and mobile connectivity—enabled by wireless—is one of the driving trends in health, healthcare, as well as the broader consumer markets…” We hope you’ll stay tuned for more insights from Paul.
Via this blog, our Twitter stream at @Popperandco, and through “real-life” interactions, we look forward to continuing to provide you with front-row seats to life science innovations – now with extra depth in digital. And, we’re glad Paul will be helping us by adding his unique expertise and perspective.
Questions for Paul? Thoughts on the potential affects of digital in healthcare? Please share your comments with us.
Tags: digital health advisor, digital health expert, Paul Sonnier, Popper and Co strategic advisors, Strategic Advisor Popper and Co
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With news of life sciences research coming from around the world, it’s necessary to have our net spread far and wide to capture what’s most important and to convey these learnings. But we also know it’s important to stay on track of developments happening in our own waters whether they be near our offices in Maryland, Florida, New Mexico or Ontario.
Fortunately, we sometimes have opportunities to gather information about the life sciences industry both from afar and from our neighbors in one fell swoop. For example, from June 27 to 30, we’re attending the 2011 BIO International Conference in Washington, DC where thousands of life science leaders and professionals will gather from throughout the world.
While there, we’ll be networking with the global bioscience community, but we have a select eye on a panel on the 28th hosted by our Florida neighbors. We’re excited to note that this session—which is part of the personalized medicine and diagnostics track—includes colleagues of ours from M2Gen (represented with a key speaker) as well as Banyan Biomarkers, a company we helped to form. Both of these companies mark their successful rise in part to our shared belief in the importance of good clinical material for discovery and validation.
This session is also exciting for us in that it highlights how diagnostics and personalized medicine are moving beyond the realm of cancer. Dr. Streeter of Banyan and Dr. Dalton of M2Gen are set to discuss: “Addressing the Major Medical Challenges of Today with Personalized Medicine: Cancer, Diabetes and Brain Injury.” These discussions, involving both acute and chronic diseases, are certain to pack the room merely by the importance and sheer momentum of this trend.
There’s no doubt in my mind that this ray of biomedical science sunlight is poised to illuminate healthcare in many corners of the world. Please keep following these posts and have your notepads ready…along with perhaps a pair of sunglasses and a splash of sun block!
What sessions of #BIO2011 are on your radar? Interested in meeting up with us there? Please share your thoughts below.
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Having a pulse on global trends in the biopharmaceutical industry requires a wide range of insights from experience in pharmacological research and technology development through to the core operations of large-scale and startup life science businesses. With this in mind, I’m pleased to welcome Dr. Andreas Muehler as our second strategic advisor. Dr. Muehler’s experience with preclinical and clinical development, major product launches, licensing, business development, and marketing provide him with a unique combination of technical and business perspectives.
In the United States, Dr. Muehler developed and managed multiple startup medical device and medical technology companies. Among them were 3TP LLC d/b/a CAD Sciences (White Plains, NY), a medical software company that was sold to iCAD Medical in 2008. Dr. Muehler was also President & CEO of MicroMRI Inc (Langhorne, PA), a medical device company that received FDA clearance for both hardware and software components during his tenure. Dr. Muehler has also been managing director of a German healthcare private equity fund, Palladius Healthcare GmbH in Munich, which acquired distressed medical device companies. Read the rest of Dr. Muehler’s impressive bio here.
Dr. Muehler’s role as a strategic advisor to Popper and Company, along with Dr. Mills who we wrote about earlier this month, provides a wonderful opportunity for us to convey a truly global view of the industry on behalf of our clients. We’re especially excited about Dr. Muehler’s in-depth knowledge of the medical device marketplace, and look forward to featuring his insights via our blog. I was able to spend a few moments with Dr. Muehler recently and following are some of the highlights of our discussion about his background and experience:
CP: You were trained as a physician. How did you first enter the industry side of things? Was it a deliberate move from medicine to industry? Would you have done anything differently?
AM: When I went to medical school, what interested me and was exciting to me was the technology involved in health care. When I started in radiology – CAT scans were new, MRI was brand new – and the technology was of interest to me. After doing clinical work during the day, the most exciting time for me was after 5 p.m. when I could do new things with technology. So, I went to UCSF for a post doctorate fellowship to see what it was like to focus on technology all day. From there, I stayed with what I really like to do.
CP: You’ve engaged in many roles within the industry. Which was your favorite and why?
AM: I very much enjoyed serving as CEO of a medical device company dealing with diagnosis of and therapy control for osteoporosis. When I came in, the company was building large, expensive-to-develop devices. It was a difficult time. I was able to work with the people holding the technical expertise while at the same time I tried to understand the market, leveraging good people and positioning the company as a provider of software and algorithms, which was less expensive. Implementing change was at first a tough decision for the founder, but then he was supportive and we were successful. A year later, results of the new strategy were evident with an FDA approval of the software package. The employees were on board and the company was going in the right direction.
CP: Are there examples of business leaders others should emulate?
AM: There are lots of excellent leaders out there. Learn from them and take the best from each. As a leader, you have to have versatility and flexibility. You have to be able to listen and convince others—win their hearts and minds. You have to make tough decisions quickly and you have to adapt to situations with your own leadership style in a thoughtful way. And you must be careful to avoid generalizing. Examples from other business leaders work well in some situations but not others. You have to learn, but adapt as you go. And be aware of your own myopia sometimes as one often duplicates where you had success in the past. Don’t rely on assumptions of how it should be done.
CP: What’s your key business philosophy?
AM: I’ve mainly been involved in startups and early growth settings. I’ve met a lot of people who want to be involved in startups or form their own companies. I always tell them, it can be very rewarding. They usually say “I know” because they’ve seen examples of amassed wealth. But, I always warn people not to get involved in startups only because they believe it will lead to wealth. You’ll see that only one in five turn out to be successful and even then, it’s a rare example when one gets lost in wealth. Basically, you should get involved early so you can experience the excitement of a startup. Look back every two months or so and you’ll be amazed and how much you’ve contributed versus working in a larger company. It has to be more than the money. Enjoy what you do and where you are doing it. The financial rewards will come eventually.
We’re fortunate to have Dr. Muehler working along with us, lending his wealth of knowledge and international experience. We’ll provide more on his take on the differences in the device markets between the U.S. and EU soon. Until then, please feel free to let us know what you think about the European and U.S. markets for new medical technologies. Processes and legislation are constantly changing so it’s an ever-changing course. What agencies, trends, topics are you watching? Share your thoughts here.
Tags: business, Dr. Andreas Muehler, leadership, life sciences, Popper and Co, startups, Strategic Advisors
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Today’s post is an exciting one for me as I introduce our new strategic advisor, Dr. F. John Mills. With an extensive background that includes more than 25 years at the board and executive levels of major international corporations, Dr. Mills adds profound insights to our expanding operations and provides a new resource of vital information for our clients.
It’s difficult to encapsulate his entire career in a few short paragraphs and I encourage you to review his bio in the About section of our website. In brief, Dr. Mills served for three years as corporate senior vice president and president of clinical support services for Covance, Inc., where he was responsible for a $300 million per year clinical services division that employed more than 2,000 staff members globally. Prior to that, he was based in the United Kingdom as corporate vice president for Covance’s European clinical division. Earlier in his career, Dr. Mills held senior positions in Asia and Europe with Janssen Pharmaceutica, a division of Johnson & Johnson, Inc. His expertise includes extensive knowledge of clinical research outsourcing, pharmaceutical development, and global business management.
Dr. Mills received his medical degree from Cambridge University and his doctorate in endocrinology from Surrey University in the United Kingdom. He holds diplomas in pharmaceutical medicine, aviation medicine and marketing, and has authored more than 40 scientific papers, as well as a textbook on aviation medicine. He is currently Chairman of the Board of BioStorage Technologies, a company he co-founded, where he works with the board to determine the strategic direction, quality standards and client service values that position BioStorage Technologies as the benchmark in biological sample management.
Having Dr. Mills assisting us as strategic advisor is a wonderful opportunity for Popper and Company and for our clients. Here, I’m pleased to share with you some takeaways from a recent conversation I had with him, including some words of wisdom about the globalization of our industry. Stay tuned for more from Dr. Mills as we are pleased he has agreed to serve as a guest blogger.
CP: First, Dr. Mills…what led you to a career in biopharmaceuticals?
FJM: I originally was in the Royal Air Force and pursued aviation medicine and endocrinology. When it became apparent that the UK wasn’t going to be investing significantly in aviation, I began looking for another career. Paul Janssen, founder of Janssen Pharmaceutica, who was a great drug pioneer, interviewed me to establish a UK sleep/pharmacokinetics lab. We set that up and it eventually led to the birth of risperidone, which became a major antipsychotic drug. I held several roles within Janssen Pharmaceutica, moving through leadership positions in medical and medical marketing, and eventually to be Regional Director for Southeast Asia, based in Singapore.
CP: You have incredible international experience. What perspectives can you share from participating in the international biopharmaceutical marketplace for the last 20 plus years?
FJM: From 1988-1991, there wasn’t much pharma work going on in the Far East. Today, everyone is expanding in China. There’s a general globalization of the pharma industry (from U.S. to E.U. to Eastern Europe to Asia) in search of patients to participate in clinical trials and in the study of Eastern diseases such as hepatitis and nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
There are also significant economies to launching a product globally, although it’s not easy due to the complexities of dealing with different regulatory authorities in each country. When I was in Asia, GlaxoSmithKline was the one company that “got it” from a market perspective. They did a great job with the worldwide launch of Zantac®, for example.
I now believe that the companies and CROs who truly operate globally will be the winners.
CP: What insights can you share from your Covance experience?
FJM: I ran the clinical business in Europe and grew the company significantly with staff booming from 100 to 800 in a short period of time. I learned a lot about getting the right people for the right jobs; people who could grow with the company.
In terms of lessons: 1) Hire ahead of the curve – i.e., more senior people than you need at that moment, more experience than seems necessary for the job at hand. 2) Think about infrastructure needs: IT growth, for example. Think ahead while you pedal like crazy. 3) Customer service is critical. The CRO industry exists to enhance client capabilities so there needs to be a great symbiotic relationship with excellent service and project management.
CP: What’s it like to run an international company from the United States?
FJM: We faced communications challenges across the globe. When ideas come into the U.S. from another part of the world, for example, they are often condemned, and here I was a Brit running headquarters in Indianapolis and sharing ideas from the rest of the world. One of the first things I did was to work to build a global leadership team. The team needed to be diverse both ethnically and in terms of geography.
By the way, I hate “R.O.W.” as designation for “rest of world.” The rest of the world comes up with ideas that have to be heard when you are part of an international company.
CP: What led you to start a specimen storage company?
FJM: At Central Labs (Covance), we stored millions of samples as a complicated diversion, it wasn’t our core business. Soon, more and more companies were talking about biomarkers in the blood – and I realized that the biopharmaceutical industry would need a very high quality place to store more and more samples for longer periods of time. At BioStorage, we offer impeccable quality, impeccable recordkeeping and impeccable transportation of specimens, a standard above that currently available in industry and academia. Today we have 130 customers, many millions of samples and competitors popping up on the landscape.
CP: What philosophies or words of wisdom would you offer to other entrepreneurs in the biopharmaceutical landscape?
FJM: First, it’s a dangerous mistake to start a business without a large client as your foundation. And as an add-on to that point, it’s amazingly easy to wind up not having enough cash. Cash REALLY is king. Also, if you’re coming from a big company, you may not realize how unimportant you are as a small business owner. Accept that you are small and that you may need to start with small clients. Never forget that customers must always come first. And finally, executives often forget to plan, especially early on in business. Fortunately, we had a business continuity plan from day one. So, when an electrician blew up our electrical system, we had a contingency and didn’t lose a sample! I can’t emphasize enough how critical it is to have a back-up plan early on.
Again, we’re extremely pleased to have Dr. Mills working along with us and I’m sure his influence will be evident in future posts. Let us know your thoughts on some of the interesting global trends happening in your area of biopharmaceuticals. Or, feel free to share below your own questions for Dr. Mills.
Tags: biopharmaceuticals experts, biostorage technologies, business leadership advice, covance, F. John Mills, janssen pharmaceutica, Popper and Co
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Now that the Molecular Med Tri-Con 2011 has ended and attendees are back at their offices, labs, practices, and/or hospitals – or perhaps have landed at their next business meeting or conference destination – it’s a good time to reflect on some of my general observations from the event.
The conference covered so much information that it would be impossible to review every topic. Following are a few areas that captured my attention and remain in my thoughts:
- STEM CELLS – There was a lot of focus on induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), in particular how to better characterize and understand those cells. Pluripotent stem cells can differentiate, or change, to become any one of the many types of cells that make up an organism. These cells are already being used for applications such as drug testing and drug screening. Once they are induced to re-differentiate, iPSC can provide good models for disease: what some conference speakers referred to as a “disease in a dish.” Some discussion among presenters focused on the idea of isolating cells from patients, producing iPSC, and then reintroducing the produced cells into the patient to replace cells that have been damaged or lost as a result of disease – an elegant form of cell-based therapy. Although widespread use of this approach is likely a ways off, I’m both optimistic of the therapeutic potential and somewhat cautious because of regulatory hurdles and potential safety issues (including some data showing tumor production in animals).
- CIRCULATING TUMOR CELLS (CTC) – This field of study is moving very, very rapidly. There’s immense scientific and medical interest in the clinical utility of these cells – as diagnostic biomarkers or as prognostic markers of disease recurrence. Also, as we’ve written before, there’s an emerging trend not just to count, but also to characterize CTC (which could increase their diagnostic utility, according to many conference presenters). Further characterization will provide information that will enable physicians to guide the treatment of patients in an increasingly personalized way, which is a very attractive idea. Also on CTCs: Discussion occurred on the need to isolate and characterize more types of cells (beyond those from epithelial tumors; “epithelial” = outside layer of cells that covers open surfaces, including skin) and to broaden the definition of CTC to include other types of rare, circulating cells.
- DNA SEQUENCING – One of my favorite topics, DNA sequencing, was a focus area at the conference. Jonathan M. Rothberg, Ph.D., Founder, Chairman & CEO of Ion Torrent (recently acquired by Life Technologies) described the most recent version of his company’s sequencing instrument. He shared an anecdote of how their instrument was used to sequence the genome of Gordon E. Moore, founder of Intel, who developed Moore’s Law (which states that the number of transistors on a chip will double about every two years). Rothberg explained that he and his company have been inspired by Moore’s Law and by Moore himself, noting that the Ion Torrent sequencer is based on semiconductor technology that uses electrons rather than light as the readout – so the sequencing of Moore’s genome takes science in a full circle. As for the next step in DNA sequencing, the big issue appears not to lie in generating the sequence data itself, but rather in the analysis and interpretation of the data. We have now realized the $10,000 genome (and the $1,000 genome is very close), but there was a lot of talk about the need to interpret all of that data, and much tongue-in-cheek reference to the “$1M analysis,” which reflects widespread concern about the magnitude of the challenge associated with making full use of the data.
- INFORMATICS: As a result of sequencing and other data-delivering trends, there’s now a great deal of effort underway to manage extremely large volumes of data and information. One trend discussed at the conference is the application of cloud-based computing to provide horsepower to analyze these complex data sets, to query large databases, and more. Virtual computing clusters may allow for widespread analysis by researchers who might not otherwise have sufficient computing infrastructure at their fingertips.
I could go on and on here, but I think you get the idea. Technology is advancing so rapidly that the landscape looks a lot different than it did even six or eight months ago. As a result, people are thinking of applications in health care differently, which is a great thing.
We would love to hear your thoughts on both the potential for and challenges of new technologies to affect the delivery of health care. Please use the comments link below.
Tags: circulating tumor cells (CTC), DNA sequencing, gordon e. moore, informatics, intel, ion torrent, life technologies, molecular med tri-con 2011, moore's law, personal genomics, stem cells
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Sometimes, between the hotel room, the lectures, the networking, the power lunches and the data consumption at a conference, you’re on the plane home before you have time to reflect upon why you attended in the first place. I’m excited to be heading to the 18th International Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference in San Francisco this week—and I’m setting out my reasons for going this year beforehand.
I always look forward to this conference because of its balanced range of life science topics, including those with technical, scientific, business, strategy, regulatory and reimbursement slants. Within this balanced range of topics, the Tri-Con uses a channel structure to help attendees “tune in” where they can get the biggest bang for their buck. I’m excited to learn more about the following specifics within each channel:
- Diagnostics—Rapid changes are taking place on the diagnostics stage this year. Personally, I’m interested in molecular diagnostics, personalized diagnostics, cancer markers and circulating tumor cells (CTCs). I’ll be tuning in to discussions on the adoption and integration of the next generation of sequencing, companion diagnostics and the use of/characterization of CTCs.
- Drug discovery & development–Here, sessions promise updates on translational science, including the use of biomarker technology to support drug development.
- Biologics–This is a vast topic, but I’m especially interested in discussions on the study and use of stem cells. I’ll be looking to learn more about the applications of stem cells to support drug testing and for use as therapeutics.
- Cancer–For this channel, I’ll be focusing on sessions related to companion diagnostics, stratification of patient populations (including predictive and prognostic markers), and recent developments in pathway-driven or targeted drugs (a.k.a., personalized medicine).
- Informatics–Within this area of focus, I’ll watch for updates on methods to analyze integrated data types, workflow management and more.
The integration of each of these channels (which include more than 250 presentations), the focus throughout on industry-changing and trendsetting technologies, and the quality of keynote presenters is what distinguishes Tri-Con from other industry events. It also doesn’t hurt that more than 70 scientific posters will be displayed and that the exhibit hall is packed with vendors that present their latest products and technology (often in a manner that enables you to dig in and understand the role of the product/technology in the R&D process).
In addition to all of the educational aspects of the conference, I’m also looking forward to meeting thought leaders in many of the disciplines, and to connecting with Popper and Company clients and colleagues who will be attending.
If you’ll be there, please comment below or drop me a note, and let’s plan to connect. If you’re not attending, but are interested in any of the channels above, I hope you’ll tune back into our blog for my follow up piece post conference. As for now, I’m leaving on a jet plane…
Tags: 18th international molecular tri-conference, biologics, cancer markers, ctcs, diagnostics, drug discovery, Health Care, informatics, life sciences, medical devices, personalized diagnostics, tri-con
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CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta went on air yesterday to explain why he, as a physician, is attending the World Economic Forum 2011 Annual Meeting taking place right now in Davos, Switzerland.
To paraphrase Dr. Gupta, health – and its impact on world economic development – is a big topic at the Davos meeting. He noted, “In terms of health care delivery, there is growing recognition by the forum that existing models simply aren’t sustainable in developed countries, and there simply isn’t enough access in the developing world. Some of that is old news, but the topics at Davos were chosen to address solutions in these areas. For example, I will be moderating panel discussions on topics ranging from personalized medicine to combating chronic disease.”
Because of the overarching health-related themes being discussed at Davos, the life science industry – particularly companies seeking to develop diagnostics and devices to address human illness – should focus on what’s taking place at Davos, as well. Following are a few of the critical themes being discussed that draw my attention:
The cost of health care is a global challenge…for both developed countries and the developing world. Simply put by Dr. Gupta, healthcare costs place a “staggering strain on world economies.”
Personalized medicine: Today, Dr. Gupta explains, we take a shotgun approach to many medical problems. I see a resurgence in the role that diagnostics will play in segmenting the market and in leading to the use of more targeted therapies.
Focus on delivering cost effective care: At least since the days when I was earning my Master’s degree in Public Health from Johns Hopkins, I’ve been driven by a passion to identify ways to deliver the highest quality of health care but with the greatest cost efficiencies. My hope is that discussions at Davos will place this topic under the lens of a global microscope.
The rising burden of chronic disease on world health: Diabetes and cardiovascular disease place an enormous burden on developed and developing countries. Even the Prime Minister of Pakistan talked, at Davos, about the burden of chronic disease in his country. Start-up device, service, and biotechs are taking advantage of the opportunity to develop novel diagnostics and disease management tools to address this worldwide problem.
Emphasis on prevention: At Davos, world business leaders will also not only consider disease predisposition factors but also lifestyle, nutrition, and other environmental factors. Stakeholders across many industries – such as food producers, news media, educators, and employers of all types – are part of this conversation.
In short, many of the themes that we at Popper and Company and many others of you in the life sciences industry have long focused on are absolutely a part of the mainstream discussions taking place on the world stage at Davos. We are fortunate that global leaders are coming together to informally share insights, tools, and technologies across industries and across country boundaries. I hope that like me, you are listening.
What are your hopes for how the Davos meeting may help address global health care challenges? Are there additional global health themes you’d add to my list? We’d love to hear from you here.
Tags: chronic disease, cost of health care, davos, dr. gupta, global health, personalized medicine, Popper and company, prevention, sanjay gupta, world economic forum
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A year or so ago we at Popper and Company lumped Facebook and Twitter together when we thought about social media, just as many of you might have. What we knew is that these were two radically popular social media outlets. What we know now is that these are two very different types of social media channels.
As I see it, Facebook was and is an interesting way to reconnect with old friends and to stay in touch with family. I tend to have history or bloodlines in common with my Facebook friends. And, while I may indicate some of my interests by “liking” the Facebook page of a favorite sports team or musical artist, I prefer to tune in to Facebook to learn more about what the people I know are up to rather than to hear about broadsweeping policies, business interests, or global trends.
I see Twitter, on the other hand, as a way to connect not with people I know (necessarily), but with people whose interests I share. Facebook is like going to a family or class reunion; Twitter like attending an industry conference. I change the channel between these two social media tools depending on whether I’m in personal mode or in business mode.
The Power of Twitter
I first became aware of the power of Twitter’s viral nature while attending the Burrill Digital Consumer Health conference when the meeting organizer instructed attendees to use a certain hashtag in our tweets. The significance of this hit me when I downloaded a Twitter application for my mobile phone and realized that I could – in real time – see what others were saying about the conference, the exhibitors, the venue – and even capture reactions to a speaker as I was listening to his talk.
Later I realized that Twitter hashtags could be used to find other users with a particular interest, expertise, or industry background. Soon enough I was following many interesting folks in the life sciences industry, many who offer their own take on news and events, others who post links to articles or blog posts on various topics of interest.
Twitter has become my personal industry news channel. I scan Tweets every day just as I do the news headlines on CNN or The Wall Street Journal.
Now, in addition to sharing interesting Tweets with my followers on Twitter, I’m participating in this blog to expand on what’s of interest to me and add to the dialogue in a way that will benefit the clients of Popper and Company and others in the life sciences industry who care about the changing landscape and emerging trends.
For example, just as Twitter’s relevance jumped out at me when I started using the mobile app, I realize that developments in the world of mHealth are setting the stage for enormous shifts in the practice of medicine and in how healthcare services are delivered. If this trend is of interest to you, too, I hope you’ll join me here on the Popper and Company blog page, and offer your own comments when I cover related topics.
Scanning the Life Sciences Universe
This is new to us – but the concept of scanning the life sciences universe by reading, attending conferences, engaging with thought leaders, and talking with colleagues – is not. We’re excited to open this new channel and appreciate that you are here, tuning in.
If you have a topic you’d like us to cover or thoughts about what this blog may mean for our communications with you, please share it here.
Tags: life sciences, social media channels in life sciences, Twitter for life sciences companies
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