Novartis cited anew as most admired pharma firm

MANILA, Philippines – For the second consecutive year, readers of the respected industry publication Med Ad News have voted Novartis as the Most Admired Pharmaceutical Company for 2010.

Launched in 1982 and published by the Pennsylvania-based Canon Communications Pharmaceutical Media Group, Med Ad News has been the magazine of choice for insight into successful business and marketing strategies.

It has a total circulation of more than 16,000, reaching more than 10,000 managers (almost 40 percent of whom are senior managers) in health care manufacturing companies.

Med Ad News is read by senior management, marketing and sales professionals, product and account managers, and R&D professionals representing pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device manufacturers, health care and general business companies, and marketing support agencies, among others.

“Buoyed by a year of impressive results and a rejuvenated product portfolio, Novartis has retained its title of Most Admired Pharmaceutical Company…,” states the lead sentence of the Med Ad News article written by senior editor Joshua Slatko.

Med Ad News attributes the excellent Novartis performance in 2009 to the “…momentum from recently launched products (that) drove growth across the company’s broad healthcare portfolio.”

It highlighted the over 30 major regulatory approvals in the United States, Europe, and Japan earned by Novartis in 2009, which included the new medicines everolimus (for advanced kidney cancer), canakinumab (for rare genetic disorders), indacaterol (inhaler for COPD), and aliskiren + valsartan (for high blood pressure).

Other approvals included vaccines against Japanese encephalitis and the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic virus, and the launch of a 24-hour over-the-counter lansoprazole (for stomach and intestinal ulcers).

Med Ad News cited results of an Internet survey with more than 1,500 general practitioners, which showed that primary care physicians in the major five European markets and the US rank Novartis first in the ability to drive customer retention for the third consecutive year.

“We are thankful for the recognition but at the same time, we consider these accolades as both motivation and a challenge to continue pursuing excellence,” said Eric van Oppens, country president and CPO head of Novartis Healthcare Philippines.