One Million Moms Vs Pfizer

What took them so long?

Dear Joe, The newest Viagra commercial is inappropriate for obvious reasons, especially when aired as early as it has been recently when children are still awake and likely watching television. It features a sexy blond with a sultry voice in a sheer gown lying on a bed, which many families find offensive and embarrassing. To make matters worse, the ad clearly states erectile dysfunction instead of the abbreviation ED to explain the reason for advertising this product. Our organization has received numerous complaints from concerned parents. 1MM could not ignore this issue.  When this type of commercial airs too early in the evening; family viewing time is ruined. Can you imagine what goes through the mind of a child, tween or teen when they see this ad? A parent never expects to have a discussion about erectile dysfunction while sitting at home enjoying family time. TAKE ACTION: Send an email letter to Viagra (Pfizer) and insist they pull their current "ED" commercial off the air immediately, or at least move any future airings to later in the evening.

Corporations To SCOTUS: Uneven Marriage Laws Are Burdening Our Business

Thirty major corporations have filed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to hear AFER's challenge of Virginia's same-sex marriage ban. On the list: Amazon, CBS, Deutsche Bank, eBay, Intel, General Electric, Levi Strauss, Nike, Oracle, Pfizer, Staples, Target, and Viacom. In general, the brief argues that the nation's uneven patchwork of marriage laws places an undue burden on corporations. An excerpt:

Amici include technology, materials, financial services, pharmaceutical, apparel, and entertainment companies; hoteliers and restaurateurs, service providers, consultants, and designers. Amici all share a desire to attract and retain a talented workforce. We are located or operate in states across the country, some of which recognize marriages of those of our employees whose spouses are of the same sex, and others that prohibit marriages between same-sex couples and refuse to recognize existing same-sex marriages. This dual and continuously shifting regime uniquely burdens amici. This legal uncertainty exposes us, as employers, to unnecessary cost, risk, and administrative complexity. In addition, this irresolution hampers our efforts to recruit and retain the most talented workforce possible, placing us at a competitive disadvantage. Our success depends upon the welfare and morale of all employees, without distinction. The burden imposed by inconsistent state laws of having to administer complicated schemes to account for differential treatment of similarly situated employees creates unnecessary confusion, tension, and ultimately, diminished employee morale.

Hit the link for the full list of corporations.

Free Viagra For The Unemployed

If being jobless has you down, Pfizer wants to perk you up.

Pfizer Inc. says it will provide 70 of its most widely prescribed prescription drugs — including Lipitor and Viagra — for free to people who have lost their jobs and health insurance. The world's biggest drugmaker said Thursday it will give away the medicines for up to a year to Americans who lost jobs since Jan. 1 and have been on the Pfizer drug for three months or more. The announcement comes amid massive job losses caused by the recession and a campaign in Washington to rein in health care costs and extend coverage. The move could earn Pfizer some goodwill in that debate after long being a target of critics of drug industry prices and sales practices. The program also likely will help keep those patients loyal to Pfizer brands.

Applicants for the free meds must submit their pink slips. Pfizer says it has no idea how much the program will cost them.

Pfizer Licenses HIV Med To Non-Profit

Interesting news from Pfizer today:

A new Pfizer Inc. HIV drug will soon be reformulated in an effort to prevent the transmission of the virus, offering a faint ray of hope in an arena littered with disappointments.

The New York drug maker is expected to announce today that it will license its new medicine, Selzentry, to a nonprofit that investigates ways to turn HIV medicines for infected patients into vaginal substances to prevent transmission to women during sex. The partnership offers a low-risk way for Pfizer to find out if the medicine could become a frequently taken drug, while potentially offering an empowering concept to women in the developing world.

HIV preventives have proven elusive, with researchers and advocates still recovering from last year's collapse of Merck & Co.'s once-promising vaccine trial. And Pfizer's new venture with the International Partnership for Microbicides is a long shot that relies on an unproven theory. But with some 33 million people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, the enormous health and financial stakes continue to drive the hunt for treatments.

In August the FDA approved Selzentry for patients that have failed other HIV regimens. I know we've got lots of people reading JMG who are working on various PrEP models. Weigh in on this news, please.

FDA Approves New HIV Med

Pfizer announced today that the FDA has approved its new HIV drug Selzentry (maraviroc). The drug is the first of a new class of HIV drugs to be approved in ten years. Selzentry is intended for patients who have the HIV-1 strain of the virus and are already resistant to multiple HIV drugs.

Selzentry is the first in a class of drugs known as CCR5 antagonists, which block the CCR5 co-receptor, the virus' predominant entry route into T-cells. Selzentry stops the R5 virus on the outside surface of the cells before it enters, rather than fighting the virus inside as do all other classes of oral HIV medicines.

Selzentry will become available next month. Pfizer plans on marketing the drug as Celsentri in other parts of the world. "Cell sentry", get it? As I mentioned in February, Selzentry must be taken twice a day, unlike many current HIV meds.

AHF Ramps Up Attack On Pfizer

AIDS Healthcare Foundation sued Pfizer yesterday, saying that ads for Viagra are misleading and encourage the recreational use of the drug. This move by AHF follows up last month's anti-Pfizer ad campaign. The lawsuit seeks to force Pfizer to suspend its advertising for Viagra and to start a public information campaign on the dangers of using the drug. I continue to contend that while there is a definite connection between the explosion of crystal meth usage and the advent of Viagra, I can't see anything in the Pfizer advertising that encourages such a thing. That's not to say that Pfizer may not have a responsibility to address the situation.
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