Medical Economics: New Highs for a Historic Brand

Posted under Advanstar, Advertising, Blog, Companies, Diagnostics, E-Media, Funding, healthcare, life sciences, Marketing, Medical Devices, Medical Economics, Medical Education, Medical Supply, MM&M, Pharmaceuticals, primary care physicians, Startups, Strategy, Universities, Videos by William Looney

Following the premise that good news needs to be shared, Pharm Exec is proud to announce that one of our sister Advanstar publications, Medical Economics, has been selected as Media Brand of the Year by Medical Marketing and Media (MM&M) magazine. The fact that MM&M is one of Pharm Exec’s lead competitors in the life sciences editorial space should not impair its non-partisan good judgment—after all, it could be said that the stressed ranks of the B-to-B segment is trending toward one big publication anyway.

Medical Economics is a venerable play, with a publication record that dates back to 1923. Like many titles with a long track record, the magazine hit some bumps several years ago, but new leadership and a commitment to making one with the customer—175,000 reading primary care physicians—has put the grease back on the wheels. Ad revenues rose nearly 40 percent from 2010 to 2011, while the readership average per issue posted a 3.9 percent increase over roughly the same period, much higher than the average 1 percent score in this market segment. It’s a performance that lends credence to the principle that money follows quality.

How did this happen? The turnaround built heavily on a deep-dive effort to engage with the readership and understand what the magazine could do for it. Says Advanstar’s executive vice president Georgiann Decenzo, “We refocused on specific ways to deliver value to our audience of primary care physicians, a community challenged left and right by external forces that threaten its very existence. Information, analytics, and advice on coping with these challenges was defined as our editorial mission—every feature is bench-marked around a precise mission: to help these physicians stay in practice.”

With the magazine performing nicely in terms of ad revenue, the next step is a redesign and overhaul of Medical Economics’ online offerings, including a new website due for unveiling later in the spring.

U.S. funding drop threatens San Diego life sciences industry

Posted under BIOCOM, Blog, Companies, Diagnostics, Funding, life sciences, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, National Institutes of Health, NIH, Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, Startups, Universities, venture funding, venture money, Videos by Mark Hollmer

The life sciences job juggernaut in metro San Diego expanded through the ongoing economic downturn and will produce another 6,000 jobs through 2014, according to a new report. But a big drop in government science funding and a continued decline in venture funding could threaten future growth.

Ominously, grants from the National Institutes of Health to greater-San Diego companies and research operations dropped by half in just the last two years, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune article highlighting the report, from $1.6 billion in 2009 to about $835 million in fiscal 2011. The big reason: Stimulus spending peaked in 2009.

Initially, the extra federal spending helped offset a continued drop in venture spending and private investment, according to the report compiled by Hendershot Economics and commissioned by regional trade group Biocom, as cited by the article. And the venture funding decline for regional biotech and medical device companies points to an uncertain future. Those companies in San Diego County alone nailed down $343 million in venture dollars during the first three quarters of 2011, according to the story, but that's the lowest so far since the recession landed more than four years ago. (The region attracted $530 million in venture money during the same period in 2008.)

All of this begs the question: Will San Diego be able to keep growing life sciences jobs as investment funding dries up? Jobs typically ramp up a few years after initial investment, so the more telling data will be over the coming months and years, to see if the funding decline will undo job growth fueled by higher levels of private, and government funding just a few years ago.

So how does the Biocom-commissioned report quantify the jobs growth? It sees San Diego, Orange, Riverside and Imperial counties forming a hub of about 3,500 biotech or life sciences companies that employ almost 100,000 people, or nearly 150,000 if you count peripheral job growth. The report concludes that the region's biopharmaceutical, research and lab services, biofuels, medical devices and life sciences trade sectors will all add jobs, or generate related positions in accounting, insurance and other peripheral industries, in the next 24 months. (But biotech will lose about 150 workers.)

- here's the story

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