Social networking…the second generation of the Web…social media…Web 2.0…online networking - call it what you will, the next Internet wave is here. But will the pharmaceutical industry ride the wave or be knocked off its feet?

In a dynamic new world where the Internet itself has become the application and user generated content rules the day, what is a heavily regulated industry to do? Pharma industry leaders say that despite the regulatory and legal challenges of Web 2.0 approaches, companies must monitor, test, measure and - above all else - participate and find value in social networking opportunities.

With declining ROI from most traditional pharma marketing channels, new ways of reaching physicians and patients cannot be ignored. The big question for pharma is how Web 2.0 approaches can most effectively be used to meet its marketing and communication challenges.

Despite being a self-proclaimed devil's advocate on Web 2.0, Len Starnes, Head of European eBusiness at Bayer Schering, believes social media offers many opportunities for pharma.

"It's really about getting individuals to participate," he says. "Thirty seconds of video can be worth 20 pages of one-dimensional text and in the healthcare arena it can have tremendous impact. Connecting in more interactive ways can be incredibly powerful. Enabling individuals is what it's all about and that's something we haven't had before."

Although he says adverse drug reactions reporting is holding some in pharma back, Starnes believes that hurdle can be overcome by sponsoring social media projects run by a third party, alleviating pharma of the responsibility for adverse event reporting.

As with the early days of the Internet, Starnes advises that companies should experiment more to see what works and brings value to users, individuals and the industry.

"The bottom line is we can't ignore Web 2.0. We must participate and it cannot be a re-run of the introduction of the Internet. We must explore the opportunities and look outside our own industry, because that will give us clear pointers."

To gain valuable insight on the implementation of Web 2.0 technologies in the pharmaceutical industry, download eyeforpharma's report, Web 2.0 - a new frontier for pharma? , at:
eyeforpharma/edetail2007/report.shtml