Pharmaceutical Industry

Medical Directors Choose Best Pharma Company

Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline were each named the number one pharmaceutical company in a recent poll of managed care medical directors nationwide.

The poll, conducted by healthcare informatics company Verispan as part of the companies Managed Care Medical Director Promotional Audit, asked the respondents to rate each pharmaceutical company in five assessment areas: clinical objectivity, value-added services, disease management, account personnel and corporate approach.

Pfizer owes much of its first place ranking due to respondents rating it higher than competing companies for value added services. The pharmaceutical company earned high marks for its programs of physician education as well as managed care support, according to Verispan.

Pfizer also had the most contact with medical directors during the eight-week period in which the survey was conducted, due in part to the launch of its inhaled insulin medication Exubera. Exubera and another Pfizer product, Lipitor were the two most talked about drugs during the survey period.

GlaxoSmithKline holds the distinction of ranking in the top three for each of the five assessment categories in addition to being tied for first overall. Respondents commended GlaxoSmithKline for disease management, value added services and a good variety of programs.

Novartis came in third in the survey according to Verispan.