Pharma Phunnies

The majority of the Top Companies issue is just about done, dear readers! Still need to finish up some layouts and write the short intros to the two major sections (Top 20 Pharma & Top 10 Biopharma), but the finish line is actually within sight!

So I thought I’d take a break from my biopharma layouts and share with you a couple of odd laughs:

Inadvertent Pharma Phunnies

Boehringer Ingelheim sponsors a website on transient ischemic attack. It’s www.stroke-forum.com, and I bet it receives a lot of disappointed visitors.

* * *

Astellas, a Japanese company, has a press release section with a link to archives titled “What’s New in the past”. Not quite Engrish, but close!

Advertent Pharma Phunnies

I needed a subhed for a section on how Enbrel has a strict warning about the possibility of TB and other infections among patients. Since Amgen has been hit with a lot of labeling and safety issues this past year, I went with “Phthisis Ridiculous!”

* * *

Huge restructuring plans with portentous names were the norm this year, leading to this paragraph from my Wyeth profile:

In 2008, Wyeth transitioned from its open-ended and somewhat ambiguous Project Springboard productivity plan into Project Impact. While the notions of “springboard” and “impact” may evoke images of Wile E. Coyote smashed flat against a cliff face, this new initiative is intended to “adjust down our infrastructure and reduce our operating costs in response to loss of Protonix sales in 2008 [and] to facilitate long-term growth, as well as to address short-term fiscal challenges,” according to the company’s 10-K statements.

Okay, maybe I’m just punchy.

2 Replies to “Pharma Phunnies”

  1. Never would’ve made the connection without your help, but now that you point it out, yeah, I see it–funny as shit.

  2. Credit my wife for that one. I mentioned the two project names, and she said, “Wow, it sounds like a Wile E. Coyote cartoon.”

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