Sigh.
I don't know what to say, but no point crying over spoilt milk.
Better get motivated and start thinking of solutions.
Don't give up Joeanne!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Positioning~
When I was talking to a breast surgeon today, he shared with me his experience of my drug, and also my competitor's drug.
He said he has a patient recently who came in as stage 4 breast cancer patient Very severe, he said he once thought it was a "no hope" patient. He referred the patient to an oncologist and together they started treating her with chemotherapy as well as my drug - Hxx.
He said after sometimes patient progressed from the disease. Hxx at that point of time did not seem to help her in controlling the disease in spreading further. Then the oncologist proceed on next line of treatment, to use Txx, which is indicated for 2nd line treatment after progression of Hxx.
Luckily for the patient, Txx seems to work on her. She seems to tolerate well with the drug and now she is doing okay, at least not as ill as before. The breast surgeon said he is convinced. I mean, totally convinced.
As a sales person who is selling Hxx, by right I should defend for my drug, probably list down 101 reasons why Hxx may not work. But I didn't, I look at the surgeon and nodded. I am glad that the patient has found a drug that can help her, and I believe regardless of how competitive the market is, every drug has its role, and has its positioning in the market, especially in the oncology market.
Txx is indicated to use after Hxx in HER2+ advanced breast cancer who spread to other sites and organs. I think the oncologist has made the right decision, and I guess this will be the future direction of pharmaceutical sales. We market and promote our products based on positioning. Every drug has it roles at different stages of the disease, and we are here to save patients lives, not to take them away for the sake of our sales.
P/S: This is just my opinion. If you do not agree, just have a good laugh and forget about it. Cheers!
He said he has a patient recently who came in as stage 4 breast cancer patient Very severe, he said he once thought it was a "no hope" patient. He referred the patient to an oncologist and together they started treating her with chemotherapy as well as my drug - Hxx.
He said after sometimes patient progressed from the disease. Hxx at that point of time did not seem to help her in controlling the disease in spreading further. Then the oncologist proceed on next line of treatment, to use Txx, which is indicated for 2nd line treatment after progression of Hxx.
Luckily for the patient, Txx seems to work on her. She seems to tolerate well with the drug and now she is doing okay, at least not as ill as before. The breast surgeon said he is convinced. I mean, totally convinced.
As a sales person who is selling Hxx, by right I should defend for my drug, probably list down 101 reasons why Hxx may not work. But I didn't, I look at the surgeon and nodded. I am glad that the patient has found a drug that can help her, and I believe regardless of how competitive the market is, every drug has its role, and has its positioning in the market, especially in the oncology market.
Txx is indicated to use after Hxx in HER2+ advanced breast cancer who spread to other sites and organs. I think the oncologist has made the right decision, and I guess this will be the future direction of pharmaceutical sales. We market and promote our products based on positioning. Every drug has it roles at different stages of the disease, and we are here to save patients lives, not to take them away for the sake of our sales.
P/S: This is just my opinion. If you do not agree, just have a good laugh and forget about it. Cheers!
Sunday, September 18, 2011
End Points~
Sometimes I wonder, in the world of medicinal research when treating cancer is concern, which endpoint is more important?
Progression Free Survival (PFS) means how long can a patient survive without the cancer getting worst. Overall survival (OS) means how long can a patient survive before the patient dies of the cancer, or dies of disease complications.
I've come about this issues quite many times, when the professionals often asked, "Do you think your drug works, when it only shows a fairly good enough PFS but not OS?". Ultimately we are talking about prolonging the lives of the patient.
Yes I agree. Ultimately we are talking about prolonging the lives of cancer patients. To me I guess both endpoints are appropriate, and whether PFS is better or OS, I guess it is also depending on the prognosis of the disease type itself.
For example, a patient is diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, which comparatively have a better life span as compared to a patient who is diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. For cases where patients can potentially live longer with the disease, PFS is more important to testify the efficacy of the drug, because chances are, patients would have many lines of treatment in the future.
How long a patient can survive is no longer just confined to one type of treatment, or one type of drugs. With the advancement in oncology, patients are now able to live longer with better drugs, and live longer to undergo many lines of treatment, and thus overall survival may not be relevant to see how effective is a particular drug.
But for disease which progresses very rapidly, OS is a good endpoint because chances of patients living long enough for many lines of treatment are low, and thus OS is a good indicator of how effective is the drug given.
I am not a professional to say whether what I said is absolutely correct or wrong. But to certain extent, when a patient comes to a see a doctor with advanced diseases, we know that prolonging survival is ideal, but providing a better quality of life to the patient is also of ultimate importance. And I believe, my drug can certainly achieve this.
Pray for all the surviving patients out there, and hope one day more patients can get access to good drugs. =)
Progression Free Survival (PFS) means how long can a patient survive without the cancer getting worst. Overall survival (OS) means how long can a patient survive before the patient dies of the cancer, or dies of disease complications.
I've come about this issues quite many times, when the professionals often asked, "Do you think your drug works, when it only shows a fairly good enough PFS but not OS?". Ultimately we are talking about prolonging the lives of the patient.
Yes I agree. Ultimately we are talking about prolonging the lives of cancer patients. To me I guess both endpoints are appropriate, and whether PFS is better or OS, I guess it is also depending on the prognosis of the disease type itself.
For example, a patient is diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, which comparatively have a better life span as compared to a patient who is diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. For cases where patients can potentially live longer with the disease, PFS is more important to testify the efficacy of the drug, because chances are, patients would have many lines of treatment in the future.
How long a patient can survive is no longer just confined to one type of treatment, or one type of drugs. With the advancement in oncology, patients are now able to live longer with better drugs, and live longer to undergo many lines of treatment, and thus overall survival may not be relevant to see how effective is a particular drug.
But for disease which progresses very rapidly, OS is a good endpoint because chances of patients living long enough for many lines of treatment are low, and thus OS is a good indicator of how effective is the drug given.
I am not a professional to say whether what I said is absolutely correct or wrong. But to certain extent, when a patient comes to a see a doctor with advanced diseases, we know that prolonging survival is ideal, but providing a better quality of life to the patient is also of ultimate importance. And I believe, my drug can certainly achieve this.
Pray for all the surviving patients out there, and hope one day more patients can get access to good drugs. =)
Thursday, September 8, 2011
I Eat the Shit I threw~
Opportunities knocked on my door,
Just that I happily let them go.
Thought that others will come soon.
In the end I know this is not true,
If Karma is ever true,
Then I deserve to eat the shit I threw.
Just that I happily let them go.
Thought that others will come soon.
In the end I know this is not true,
If Karma is ever true,
Then I deserve to eat the shit I threw.
P/S: 活该!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Past, Present, Future~
曾经
At different stages of life, I meet different people. Some people were very important to me at some point of times, some people might be just another common person pass by my life. But as the time ticks and I move along, things change again.
People who I thought will be my ultimate partner is now a stranger to me, but to another person, he/ she is now the most important person. People I thought who is not going to cross my life at any point, has now become the most important person in my life.
This is life. Constantly changing and changing is the only constant. So does this mean that people who were once very important to me, is not worth mentioning anymore? So does this mean that people who have come, and now gone is being erased from my life?
To me, for all the people who have come and now left my life, they are still very important to me. Our world is very unique, we value history, we are surrounded by evolutions. Our world has come this far, so do us human. If without our ancestors, then there will be no us. If without evolution, then there will be no us.
So, if without those people who came to my life before, then there will be no me. For those people who were once very important to me, and now moved on to another stage of life, I wish them all the best of luck because I truly believe that to them, I am part of their histories as well.
P/S: Don't deny our past, as they created who we are today.
People who I thought will be my ultimate partner is now a stranger to me, but to another person, he/ she is now the most important person. People I thought who is not going to cross my life at any point, has now become the most important person in my life.
This is life. Constantly changing and changing is the only constant. So does this mean that people who were once very important to me, is not worth mentioning anymore? So does this mean that people who have come, and now gone is being erased from my life?
To me, for all the people who have come and now left my life, they are still very important to me. Our world is very unique, we value history, we are surrounded by evolutions. Our world has come this far, so do us human. If without our ancestors, then there will be no us. If without evolution, then there will be no us.
So, if without those people who came to my life before, then there will be no me. For those people who were once very important to me, and now moved on to another stage of life, I wish them all the best of luck because I truly believe that to them, I am part of their histories as well.
P/S: Don't deny our past, as they created who we are today.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Mirror and Reflection~
It is such a long holiday, I find myself unable to adjust. Maybe because I am not traveling this time, that's why I find too much of time, but too little things to fill up my time.
Have been rereading some of my motivational books since I have nothing much to do. One of the books talked about the law of expectancy. You are what you think you are. The author encouraged us to look at ourselves at the mirror, and see what we see from the mirror.
Mirror mirror on the wall, show me who am I after all.
For that I stand in front of the mirror and started examining myself. The overall figure, the face expression. What I saw is a tired and plain looking me. Not that I didn't have enough sleep, the tiredness is because I am slowly aging with time. I am slowly out growing my current stage, and moving towards another. I see a face which is lack of inner confidence. There is no radiance in the face I saw. It is like a standing ghost. Quite horrible I would say. Mirror and reflection, maybe that's who I am.
Have been arguing over many things with my loved one. Different perceptions different opinions, but same level of stubbornness and selfishness. Nobody wants to give way, nobody wants to change. Nobody wants to give without a guarantee of return. In the end it is a suffer from both sides. Sometimes I wonder why things can change so drastically. Sometimes I just wonder...
Have been rereading some of my motivational books since I have nothing much to do. One of the books talked about the law of expectancy. You are what you think you are. The author encouraged us to look at ourselves at the mirror, and see what we see from the mirror.
Mirror mirror on the wall, show me who am I after all.
For that I stand in front of the mirror and started examining myself. The overall figure, the face expression. What I saw is a tired and plain looking me. Not that I didn't have enough sleep, the tiredness is because I am slowly aging with time. I am slowly out growing my current stage, and moving towards another. I see a face which is lack of inner confidence. There is no radiance in the face I saw. It is like a standing ghost. Quite horrible I would say. Mirror and reflection, maybe that's who I am.
Have been arguing over many things with my loved one. Different perceptions different opinions, but same level of stubbornness and selfishness. Nobody wants to give way, nobody wants to change. Nobody wants to give without a guarantee of return. In the end it is a suffer from both sides. Sometimes I wonder why things can change so drastically. Sometimes I just wonder...
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