Envisioning 2.0

I was checking out Pharmaceutical Executive’s Web site today and saw an article focusing on Bristol-Myers Squibb’s failed cardiovascular medication Vanlev. For those of you unfamilar with this story, Vanlev was supposed to be hypertension’s wonder drug — a “Super ACE” that lowered blood pressure significantly.

In an effort to build a market for Vanlev, BMS conducted extensive public relations activities to support the drug, recruited doctors to speak publicly about it and generally made a lot of noise about it. Anticipation for Vanlev’s relase boosted BMS’ stock price to stupendous heights.

Then . . . reality hit. BMS was due to release the results of a major study outlining Vanlev’s blood pressure-lowering benefits at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology. The room was filled to capacity (I was there) and everyone listened to the results with bated breath. Unfortunately, Vanlev posted disapointing results and BMS’ stock took a major hit.

Now we learn that BMS has reserved $185 million to settle a class-action lawsuit by investors claiming that the company “misled them about Vanlev.” The lead plaintif claimed that BMS’s public statements “hyped Vanlev’s blockbuster potential, driving up BMS’s stock, even though the the drug was having problems in clinical trials.”

BMS and healthcare communicators learned a hard, but familar lesson with Vanlev: “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.” Be sure that the data backs up your claims before you make them.

This entry was posted on January 31, 2006 at 12:51 pm and is filed under Marketing Communications, The Pharmaceutical Industry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.