51.5 F
Laguna Hills
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
-Advertisement-

Medical Device Trade Group Offers Advertising Guidelines

AdvaMed, a medical trade group led by Irvine-based Edwards Lifesciences Corp. Chief Executive Michael Mussallem, is calling for its device maker members to adopt voluntary advertising guidelines.

The Washington, D.C.-based group released its guidelines about two weeks ago amid Congressional criticism that advertising regulation isn’t strict enough for devices.

The guidelines call on device makers to ensure that their ads for pacemakers, artificial joints and other products are easy for consumers to understand and don’t distract from possible risks.

They also ask that celebrity endorsements be truthful and that device makers disclose if celebrities are being used in advertising spots, among other things.

“We see a lot of value in direct-to-consumer advertising, but you have to make sure that the information is useful and accurate,” Steve Ubl, AdvaMed’s chief executive, told Reuters.

Device makers don’t typically use direct-to-consumer advertising. But more of them are beginning to, Ubl told Reuters.

Consumer groups also are calling for the FDA to take a tougher stance on device advertising.

Prescription Project, a Boston-based nonprofit that advocates against misleading drug and device advertising, petitioned the FDA in December over six video news releases on YouTube.com. The videos did not include sufficient warnings about risk associated with the devices, the nonprofit said.

These videos include those from Abbott Laboratories, parent company of Santa Ana-based Abbott Medical Optics Inc., and Medtronic Inc., which is buying Irvine device maker CoreValve Inc.

The companies eventually pulled the videos from YouTube.

AdvaMed’s voluntary guidelines suggest that device makers submit TV commercials to the FDA prior to airing but don’t require that the FDA sign off on them. They guidelines don’t apply to videos posted to company Web sites or third-party sites such as YouTube.

Mussallem, AdvaMed’s chairman, said the group feels direct-to-consumer advertising “can be a powerful tool to educate patients about new technologies and treatment options when conducted appropriately.”


Valeant Talks Skin Drugs, Deals

Aliso Viejo drug maker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International is talking up its skin drug business to investors.

During Roth Capital Partners LLC’s growth stock conference in Laguna Niguel last month, Valeant executives Bhashkar Chaudhuri and Steve Clark discussed what Valeant’s done to boost its dermatology business.

They ran through some of Valeant’s new products, including acne gel Acanya, which is due to launch later this year.

The pair also mentioned some of Valeant’s standby skin drugs, including Efudex, a skin lesion drug that accounted for $61.2 million, or 9.3%, of Valeant’s $657 million in sales last year. While the drug is losing its patent protection, it still is important for the drug maker, Chaudhuri said.

The drug maker, which is in the middle of a restructuring that includes selling off global units, cutting jobs and acquiring companies, has made several deals recently to boost the company’s skin business.

In December, Valeant paid $285 million for Dow Pharmaceutical Industries Inc., a Northern California-based maker of drugs to treat acne and skin conditions led by Chaudhuri.

A few months earlier, Valeant bought Australia’s DermaTech Pty Ltd. for $12.2 million. It also bought Fort Worth, Texas-based Coria Laboratories Ltd., which Clark heads, for $95 million.

Separately, the Wall Street Journal recently noted how Valeant is moving away from research and development and toward buying products.

“Rather than plunge loads of research dollars into risky bets, the company’s strategy is to acquire promising products through licensing deals or acquisitions of biotech companies,” the paper said in a recent Web site article.

The newspaper also called Valeant’s actions an “amped-up version” of what larger drug makers already are doing.

But some analysts are questioning whether Valeant’s going too far, as research and development still is the life blood of drug companies.

“As you cut down R & D;, your near-term cash flow and your near-term earnings go up, but what about the long term?” said Michael Tong, an analyst at Wachovia Capital Markets, in the article.

Want more from the best local business newspaper in the country?

Sign-up for our FREE Daily eNews update to get the latest Orange County news delivered right to your inbox!

-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-