All posts by richard

‘Show me the money’

Big Pharma is an industry famous for ongoing excellent financial results and thereby loved by investors and analysts.

The Dutch business paper ‘Financiële Dagblad’ produced an article, by Thieu Vaessen on 8 February, which made quite clear how good the industry is doing:

Big Pharma: operational profit margin: 29,4%

Average on 300 international firms: operational profit margin 11,8%

GIMS wants to state: we all find it very logical that car manufacturers have invested for decennia heavely in the (direct) safety of their products, isn’t it then equilly logical if Big Pharma does the same for the (indirect) safety of their products??

Money can’t be the problem.

GIMS MSc research project

In cooperation with a pharmacy student from Utrecht University, Ms Aradhana Kohli, as part of her MSc-thesis, the following will be addressed in a more abstract way:

1) Create a blueprint for a (international applicable) screening and rating model of all structures, processes, actors, factors and the corresponding critical dynamics (Attitude, Knowledge, Tools) between them, concerning Medication Safety in a country.

2) Use the designed screening and rating model on the Dutch situation and evaluate the screening model.

3) Use the results from the Dutch screening for advice on the desired follow up in The Netherlands.

The research project starts in April 2016 and will take six months.

GIMS get’s the picture

When it comes down to getting a better insight in all the actors and factors within a nation, having an influence on the theme of Medication Safety for an individual patient/consumer, a picture is helpfull.

GIMS created this one:

GIMS cirkel diagram V3-01

Alfa actors: health care practioners (doctors, pharmacists, nurses) and retail.

Beta actors: professional organisations of HCP’s, national health care institues (like NICE for the UK), health care software providers, pharmaceutical retail formulas, pharmaceutical wholesale, pharmacovigilance organisations.

Gamma actors: national medicines regulatory bodies, national inspectorate, ministeries of health, academia, patient & consumer organisations, pharmaceutical industry, insurance bodies and/or companies, international bodies like WHO, EMA, EFPIA, PGEU, Cochrane.

Delta factors: national medicines and healthcare legislation, culture, religion, economics, politics, stability and prosperity of a society.

WHO Winter Meeting in Utrecht

On the 7th of January GIMS was happy to perform a presentation in the section ‘Work in Progress’ at the WHO Winter Meeting of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Pharmaceutical  Policy and Regulation in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Interest from the audience was generated and new contacts were made.

Sexe differences do matter, also with medicines

Women and men are equal, but logically they are not the same.

Or to put it a rather bluntly, as neuro scientist Danielle Posthuma from Vrije Universiteit Medical Center did: ‘Human females are genetically more related to female Chimpansees than to human men….’

The physiological differences between women and men also have an impact on the way how their bodies react onto fysiological active substances like medicines. More specifically; sexe differences can have a serious effect on the farmaco kinetic and farmaco dynamic aspects of a medicine. At this present day the largest differences are found on medicines which are active in the Central Nervous Systeem.

High national media attention

Due to the release of the Dutch translation of his book ‘Deadly Medicines and Organised Crime’ a lot of media attention was generated for Peter C. Gøtzsche in these last two weeks.

All major Dutch national newspapers reported about it extensively and a television item on the subject was broadcasted.

It has to be seen wether this media attention peak will materialize in deep further discussion and possible (health care policy and regulatory) consequences.

Peter C. Gøtzsche at Leiden University Medical Center

On the 11th of November Peter C. Gøtzsche held a presentation at the Leiden University Medical Center in The Netherlands because of the recent Dutch translation of his famous book ‘Deadly Medicines and Organised Crime’.

Again he was able to reach out to an interested audience. Off course GIMS was present aswell.

In diverse national Dutch newspapers also broad attention was given to the theme and Peter’s vision.