Financing In Brief

Pfizer raises commercial bar with Toviaz YourWay program: Pfizer initiated its patient support program, YourWay, for its new overactive bladder treatment Toviaz (fesoterodine fumarate) as of June 2, the pharma announces. "We haven't done anything like this to date in the [OAB] category," Pfizer senior director of marketing Jim Maffezzoli, who oversees Toviaz, said in an interview. Pfizer launched Toviaz into an already-crowded OAB market in April, after FDA approval last fall (1"The Pink Sheet" DAILY, Nov. 3, 2008). The drug maker is positioning the YourWay plan as a means to improve patient compliance by supplementing treatment with information about diet, exercise, setting personal goals and the treatment itself; compliance is a major issue for OAB treatments. Studies are ongoing to evaluate the plan's impact, Pfizer said. Pfizer says payers already are responding to YourWay. Currently, Pfizer has an OAB awareness ad campaign on air with plans for branded direct-to-consumer advertising later this year. It is detailing the drug through its primary care business unit, which recently reorganized into a regional commercial model, which is similar, at least superficially, to steps taken by many of its peers