Healthy Skepticism Library item: 19822

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Publication type: Media Release

Organon and Pfizer First Founding Sponsors of MedEvents 'obgynworld.com' site
CNW Telbec 2004 Apr 1

Full text:

Organon Inc and Pfizer Inc, two of the world’s leading pharmaceutical manufacturers, have become founding sponsors of MedEvents Inc’s specialized portal, “obgynworld.com”, a website officially endorsed by the International Federation of Gynecologists and Obstetricians (FIGO) and which focuses exclusively on women’s health issues. MedEvents is a wholly owned subsidiary of Events International Holding Corporation (TSX Venture: “EIH”).
Albert Barbusci, Chairman of EIH, stated that, “since its launch only five months ago, the obgynworld portal has attracted a very high level of attention among physicians, many of whom are among FIGO’s nearly 200,000 members in over 100 countries. Both Pfizer and Organon have been quick to recognize the value of this very targeted marketing and communications channel, which has 69,000 registered members on the site and more than 150,000 cumulative visitors since its inception.”
The worldwide market for obgyn drugs is approximately $14 billion and the pharmaceutical companies producing these drugs are currently spending approximately $4.2 billion annually for product drug promotion and education. Historically, nearly medical journal advertising or support for pharmaceutical company representatives.
“Sponsorship of this site by these two pharmaceutical giants attests to the start of a major shift away from these increasingly less effective methods and into an online channel designed for product e-detailing, virtual conference participation, market research and continuing medical education”, says Barbusci. “We believe that all producers of obgyn drugs and women’s healthcare solution will be keen to have an Internet-based facility for interacting directly with physicians, and this will likely result in additional sponsors for our obgynworld portrayl.”
Edward Polak, President of EIH, states, “our business plan for MedEvents calls for the creation and launch of three more specialized medical discipline-edorsed portals over the next three years. E-detailing and e-marketing by pharmaceutical companies is in its early stage but the exponential growth in direct-to-consumer advertising by pharma companies, from barely $50 million in 1990 to $2.5 billion in 2003, speaks to the enormous revenue potential from a specialized online platform such as obgynworld.com”. The revenue model for MedEvents is based on pharma industry sponsorship and, according to Polak, “the potential for revenue growth for MedEvents could be very substantial.”
One of the factors contributing to the adoption of a new method of prescription drug detailing is the increased use of the Internet by physicians. Based on research carried out by the American Medical Association, usage of the Internet by doctors rose from 37% in 1999 to 76% in 2001. More current figures are not available but it is widely accepted that the percentage of users will have shown a further increase. For the pharmaceutical companies, this serves as confirmation that this channel provides an effective way of reaching virtually all physicians as well as a large proportion of public consumers.

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed this material and does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this news release.