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Phocus Newsletter

Third edition

We are delighted to share with you the third edition of In PHOCUS with carefully selected key news that you can use at a glance. Also in this issue, insights from company Vice-President Tea Freund MD, PhD, on how PHOCUS delivers Better, Faster, and Closer service on every project.

 
Knowledge: for better regulatory writing
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 Update of EudraCT released: What’s new in version 8.0?
In recent years, scrutiny of clinical trials has intensified and more information is gradually being made available to the public. In Europe, trial protocol details have just been made publicly available on the internet for the first time, through the EU Clinical Trials Register.
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Performance: obtain faster exposure
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 Take advantage of open access journals
The merits of Open Access (OA) journals have been the subject of debate since its emergence in the 1990s. Recent studies, such as the European Union’s Study of Open Access Publishing (SOAP), show that OA is gaining ground amongst researchers and publishers alike.
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Success: get closer to your customers
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 Picture a lasting message
Your key message should stay with the reader. Unfortunately, the message is often forgotten within minutes no matter how clear or important it is. One way to get around low retention is with impactful visuals.
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PHOCUS: Better, Faster, Closer
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 Insights from PHOCUS Vice-President of Client Services, Tea Freund
As an award-winning medical communications agency, PHOCUS is known for its better service, faster deliverables, and closer client contact. Building on the company’s competitive advantage, PHOCUS has strengthened its strategy and goals.
READ MORE...

If you have a question, comment or topic suggestion, please email us at: InPHOCUS@phocus.com

PHOCUS Services Ltd
+41 61 365 5000
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4053 Basel, Switzerland 		PHOCUS Inc.
+1 609 397 7676
201 S. Main Street
Lambertville, NJ 08530, USA
Knowledge
Knowledge: for better regulatory writing
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 Update of EudraCT released: What’s new in version 8.0?
All clinical trials in Europe are required to be registered with EudraCT, a database administered by the European Medicines Agency. On 10 March 2011, the long-awaited version 8.0 of EudraCT was finally released and the EU Clinical Trial Register, which extracts information from EudraCT, went live on 22 March 2011.
 
Greater clinical trial detail
So that protocol information can be released to the public, the Clinical Trial Application Form has been updated to include detailed trial protocol information. Version 8.0 also includes the requirement to notify EudraCT of third-country clinical trials (outside Europe), when they are part of an agreed Pediatric Investigation Plan. In the future, version 9.0 (release date currently unavailable) will enable results of clinical trials to be made publicly available.
 
Registration and reporting support
As part of our clinical and regulatory writing services, PHOCUS can take the burden out of online registration and reporting of clinical trials. Please contact us to see how we can support your needs.
 
By Jude Fry, PhD, PHOCUS Senior Medical Writer
Further information is available at: https://eudract.ema.europa.eu/ and https://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu

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Performance
Performance: obtain faster exposure
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 Take advantage of open access journals
Open Access (OA) journals make all of their papers freely available on the internet, usually by charging authors a fee to cover editorial workflow costs. Critics argue that OA journals do not have the same quality-prestige reputation as established non-OA journals. However, as their impact and citation rates climb, sponsors should consider a few OA advantages when targeting journals.
 
Maximise your investment
By removing price barriers, OA articles are accessible to a much bigger audience, and greater exposure garners greater use. For example, a recent OA study demonstrated that articles whose authors have supplemented subscription-based access with open web access were cited more often than non-OA articles [1].
 
Optimise searching
Each OA article also exposes information about the author, the paper title, and subject on the internet. This helps to improve the article’s findability and visibility.
 
Get ahead of the game
According to the SOAP survey, the majority of researchers support OA journals, with 89% finding them beneficial to their field [2]. Publishers are catching on too, with several large scientific publishers announcing new OA journals in the past 6 months.
 
Don’t (necessarily) fall for the prestige trap
Although critics question OA's quality-prestige reputation, another study shows that OA journals’ Impact Factors rank in the first 50 percentiles of journals today [3]. Proponents argue that this is a strong performance for newly born journals and that OA rankings will continue to grow.
 
Explore your options
As part of our publication positioning and writing services, PHOCUS can assist you in choosing the right journals for your research articles. Contact mail@phocus.com for more details.
 
By Rachel Hermann, Journalist, PHOCUS Medical Writer
 
Special thanks to Dr. Salvatore Mele, co-ordinator of the SOAP project and Head of Open Access at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
 
References:
1. Gargouri Y. Self-selected or mandated, open access increases citation impact for higher quality research, PLoS ONE 2011
2. The Study of Open Access Publishing (SOAP) http://project-soap.eu/
3. Giglia E. The impact factor of open access journals: data and trends, ELPUB 2010

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Success
Success: get closer to your customers
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 Picture a lasting message
To be effective, your message needs to remain with the audience for days after exposure. A study published in the Lancet, however, found that doctors’ recall of academic papers read two months previously was only chance [1]. Despite an extensive campaign on responsible drinking, only 36% of British women knew their daily alcohol limit was 2–3 units [2].
 
Memorable messages
It has little relevance to our lives, yet almost everyone knows the link between Superman and kryptonite. Why? One reason is the link between pictures and memory. Medical instructions are retained for longer and understood better if they are presented alongside relevant imagery [3–4]. “Graphic Medicine" as it was termed by Ian Williams, is now being used in graduate medical education and has its second international conference in June 2011.
 
An educational tool
MK Czerwiec started designing comics in an effort to explore and process her experiences as an AIDS nurse. Before deciding on a mix of words and pictures, MK Czerwiec tried both prose and imagery alone but found they failed to achieve her goal. She believes that a graphic narrative is highly effective because the integration of visual imagery and textual information allows both the right and left hemispheres of the brain to be involved in processing the message.
 
In 2005, Brian Fies won a prestigious award for his online comic: Mom’s Cancer. His work is now being used to educate patients and healthcare professionals alike, on the realities of cancer treatment. Brian puts the impact of Mom’s Cancer down to the fact that “comic strips meld words and pictures to convey an idea with more economy and grace than either could alone” [5].

Example of medical comic strip
Deliver an impactful message
With the abundance of information now on the internet, it is becoming more and more critical to quickly engage and transfer to your stakeholders a memorable message. As part of our service, PHOCUS can help with both your key message and its visual presentation. Contact mail@phocus.com for more details.
 
By Rhodri Saunders, DPhil, PHOCUS Medical Writer

Special thanks to MK Czerwiec and Brian Fies for their valuable input. MK Czerwiec will be hosting the second international conference on Graphic Medicine in Chicago, USA; June 2011.
 
References:
1. Kellett C, Hart A, Price C, Jones G, Bulstrode C. Poor recall performance of journal-browsing doctors. Lancet 1996;348:479
2. The BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7399192.stm
3. Kools M, van de Wiel MW, Ruiter RA, Kok G. Pictures and text in instructions for medical devices: effects on recall and actual performance. Patient Educ Couns. 2006;64(1–3):104
4. Katz MG, Kripalani S, Weiss BD. Use of pictorial aids in medication instructions: a review of the literature. Am J Health Syst Pharm 2006;63(23):2391
5. Fies B. http://www.momscancer.com/

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phocus
PHOCUS: Better, Faster, Closer
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 Why are our PHOCUS values: Better, Faster, Closer advantageous to our healthcare industry partners?
 
When working with PHOCUS you get an extension to your team. Not only do we work for you, but with you, sharing your goals and values. To each collaboration PHOCUS delivers:

Better
Our PHOCUS team offers a premium quality medical communication service that helps you to get ahead of the game. Our team has extensive and relevant scientific knowledge in the biomedical and communications fields. We have in-house physicians with in-depth clinical knowledge and expertise. As a team, we ensure that our collaborations add measurable value.

Faster
At PHOCUS we are able to hit the ground running on every project: from medical writing to education, strategic marketing to brand development, KOL development to conference planning, and regulatory support to market access. Our experienced team will reduce the time from concept to market implementation and by that help maximise your return on investment.

Closer
We at PHOCUS fully align with your goals. We help you to deliver impactful and memorable messages that bring you closer to your customers. Located in Basel, Switzerland, and New Jersey, USA, we are “next door” to many of you and are available for frequent, direct, and personal exchange.

Tea Freund, MD, PhD was speaking to Rhodri Saunders

Please visit us at www.phocus.com for further information. You can also send an email to mail@phocus.com or call us on +41 61 365 5000.

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