The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association of America (PhRMA) is proposing a solution to the industry's online ad woes on the eve of a two-day Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hearing about the pharmaceutical industry's use of social media and online communications.
Specifically, the association is suggesting the creation of a logo for online communications that meet FDA standards and requirements.
"Leveraging the FDA's logo - or a universal FDA-approved graphic symbol - in search results and throughout the web would inform patients, at a glance, that they are visiting a legitimate site that contains comprehensive FDA-regulated benefit and risk information," said PhRMA SVP Ken Johnson.
Twitter Bound
Johnson stated that such a logo would solve a number of difficulties pharmaceutical companies face marketing online, starting with the fact that there is often not enough room in online messaging to inform consumers of all the risks associated with a drug - a key FDA requirement.
Such a logo also would work well for marketing messages pharma would like to send via Twitter, Johnson said. The Agency could, for instance, help manufacturers combine brief 'introductions' to a health topic with prominent and clearly marked links that would provide access to the prescription medicine's full indication and comprehensive risk information. "Such information could also be provided using roll-over or pop-up technology" he added.
New Online Rules of the Road
The hearing, slated for Nov. 12-13 in Washington, DC, will explore how the FDA's regulation of ads and promotional labeling should be applied or adapted to the internet and social media - and whether additional regulations will be necessary.
Other topics on the agenda include what online messages drug makers are responsible for and when internet linking is appropriate or misleading.
Dread….and Hope?
The pharma industry has been waiting for this discussion with equal parts dread and hope in the wake of several of thier marketing practices attracting unfavorable attention from the FDA. For example, last month the FDA targeted websites marketing phony H1N1 flu cures - including well-established site of doctor Andrew Weil - and notified them that they were in violation of agency regulations.
More worrisome to the industry, however, were the warnings issued earlier this year by the FDA's Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising and Communications to at least 14 major pharmaceutical manufacturers. The notices informed them that their ponsored link ads were misleading because they did not adequately inform consumers about the drugs' associated risks. The result was a significant decrease in the use of sponsored ads by pharma companies.
