Pharma tweets, but lacks social media values

As a general statement its probably fair to say that people value health care. And that they trust that access to medications is an important part of ensuring health and defeating diseases in many cases. Yet paradoxically the manufacturers of sometimes life-saving medicines, the pharmaceutical industry, are generally reviled. Surveys have found that people hold big pharma in about as high esteem as they hold big oil and big tobacco.

What gives? Several things, but central to this is the tension between social good and business practice. And social media and business practices provide a great, if somewhat oversimplified, case study into how this tension plays itself out.

Pharma widely touts the amount they purportedly invest in research and development because people respect that: It sounds like innovation needed to cure disease and maintain good health. (We'll set aside for a moment the fact that most new drugs are in fact "me-too" products rather than new molecular entities, and that manufacturers increasingly buy innovative discoveries from smaller, more lithe and innovative up-starts.) They do not, however, divulge how much is spent on marketing. That sounds too much like profit maximization. The claim is that publicizing the amount spent on marketing would put them at a competitive disadvantage, since competitors would then have their marketing secrets to exploit. But that explanation likely leaves a bad taste in most peoples mouth.

So what does this have to do with social media? Every pharmaceutical manufacturer has a robust social media presence. But as presenters at the recent Justmeans conference on Social Media, Technology and Change so clearly pointed out, social media is about a lot more than linking a Twitter feed loaded with #pharma hashtags and Facebook page to your website. Those are just some of the tools. Social media in its truest sense is about creating values-based relationships. Its about embracing ideals of authenticity, transparency, and honesty. Its not enough to simply tell me you are doing good, I need to be convinced. I need to be able to interact with you and have it feel genuine.



The New York Times is reporting today about a "mistake" in the recent health reform bill that is costing children's hospitals potential millions of dollars. Strange wording means that pharmaceutical companies no longer need to provide 30%-50% discounts on orphan drugs used to treat complex but rare health conditions in the sickest children. Big pharma's response? A sigh of relief. Because, phew, those "discounts are huge and can have a very significant, very negative impact on the ability of manufacturers to develop new, better products that meet patients' needs." That according to a lawyer who represents the drug industry.

Pfizer, the world's largest pharmaceutical company, had fourth quarter profits in 2009 in excess of $700 million. Imagine if they cut their drug prices in half, and only had profits in the $300 million range? Ouch. Would a shareholder lawsuit ensue since that would indicate they are no longer paying sufficient attention to increasing shareholder value? Or perhaps capitalism is a little bit more sophisticated than that?

Last year Pfizer paid a record setting $1.3 billion criminal fine for illegally promoting its painkiller Bextra off-label (part of a larger $2.3 billion settlement).

Today's news talks about an additional $400 million settlement by 3 pharmaceutical manufacturers for bilking Medicare and Medicaid (or in more inflammatory terms: The old, the ill, and the kids) by inflating drug prices.

Wouldn't pharma benefit from actually applying social media principles? Following the law certainly, but also being more authentic and transparent about why drugs cost so much? Show us the process. Be good citizens by taking smaller profits so you can maximize the social good to health. Tell us how much you spend on marketing.  Tell us how much a new drug REALLY costs, and why the cost differs around the world.

Would that type of socially responsible business practice leave less of an after taste in your mouth?

Photo credit: roche.com, pfizer.com