A word from the new editor
pharmafile | July 8, 2013 | Feature | Manufacturing and Production, Medical Communications, Research and Development, Sales and Marketing |Â Â Ben Adams, Pharmafocus, pharmafileÂ
My name is Ben Adams, and I have the honour and the responsibility of becoming the new editor at Pharmafocus.
I have spent nearly four years working as a journalist in the sector and I am sure I have met and spoken to many of you reading this, but for those who do not know me, I wanted to share some of my ideas for Pharmafocus and Pharmafile.
My goal as editor is to add value to our news and features. It is very easy to say that we shall be focussing on exclusives and agenda-setting, but then not deliver on these promises. But I see both the website and the newspaper as not just a mirror for pharma, but a core element within it, willing to prod and probe and offer new ways of doing things.
We are not about being pro pharma or anti pharma, sympathetic to the NHS or opposed for the need for change, or about taking sides. Rather, our news pieces and features will offer a critical analysis of current events for pharma and the healthcare sector, and seek only the underlying reality of what is going on, and what needs to change.
The industry is something of a paradox – in terms of science, it is highly innovative and at the forefront of what chemistry and biology can achieve, but in terms of PR and corporate awareness, pharma is very conservative, dislikes change and requires absolute stability in order to fully achieve its goals.
If you stopped 100 people on the street and asked them to name three pharmaceutical companies, I am willing to bet the majority could not even name one. It is an industry that has changed the shape of human development in the past century, allowing people to live into their hundreds and remove the fear of diseases like TB and polio, which has haunted communities for generations.
But it seems to like working in the shadows – some of this is inevitably down to tough regulation and codes of conduct, but pharma should rightly be proud of its achievements.
There are murky areas which follow companies and the industry as a whole – the problems stemming from drugs such as Thalidomide and Vioxx are still felt today, with the ethics of pay-for-delay deals and other market abuses still very much a problem in 2013.
These issues cannot be ignored or glossed over. As a trade newspaper it is assumed that we shall be sympathetic to pharma, but much like with the Financial Times, the Economist and Bloomberg, I want to create a neutral publication that is informative, in-depth and critical when criticism is required.
This is why I am lining up new columnists and bloggers from across charities, healthcare, CCGs and others to give their views on the industry in regular pieces for Pharmafocus.
Finally, my greatest wish is for better engagement with readers: we have just under 12,000 followers on our Twitter account – the highest throughout the industry – and we will be making better use of our followers in the future.
Both the website and print offering will be adapted to accept more comments from all of you to make our brand more inclusive and insightful. As with any news source, it is the people at the coalface who create the information that we cover, and we wouldn’t have a publication without you.
On that note – please do email me at: ben@pharmafile.com with any comments on stories, heads-up on big issues, and what you would like to see from us.
Next edition
In a new online segment, I shall from this month also be giving a brief look at our next edition of Pharmafocus, with a taster of what you can expect as a subscriber.
In the July/August edition of Pharmafocus, our former editor Andrew McConaghie will be giving the benefit of his 13 years’ experience in his Last Words piece, and it is something that must not be missed.
We will also have a round-up of the bigger stories coming from this summer’s ASCO cancer conference, as well as an in-depth look at what the recent gene patent case means for biotech and for patients.
Our regular clinical trials expert Les Rose will be discussing logistics in CTs, with Andy Lee also writing about NHS England’s ‘marriage of inconvenience’ in his latest feature.
Not a subscriber? Then visit here to have access to Pharmafocus
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