(3D) Bioprinting-Next Dimension of the Pharmaceutical Sector.

To create a review of the published scientific literature on the benefits and potential perspectives of the use of 3D bio-nitrification in the field of pharmaceutics. This work was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for reporting meta-analyses and systematic reviews. The scientific databases PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect were used to search and extract data using the following keywords: 3D bioprinting, drug research and development, personalized medicine, pharmaceutical companies, clinical trials, drug testing. The data points to several aspects of the application of bioprinting in pharmaceutics were reviewed. The main applications of bioprinting are in the development of new drug molecules as well as in the preparation of personalized drugs, but the greatest benefits are in terms of drug screening and testing. Growth in the field of 3D printing has facilitated pharmaceutical applications, enabling the development of personalized drug screening and drug delivery systems for individual patients. Bioprinting presents the opportunity to print drugs on demand according to the individual needs of the patient, making the shape, structure, and dosage suitable for each of the patient's physical conditions, i.e., print specific drugs for controlled release rates; print porous tablets to reduce swallowing difficulties; make transdermal microneedle patches to reduce patient pain; and so on. On the other hand, bioprinting can precisely control the distribution of cells and biomaterials to build organoids, or an Organ-on-a-Chip, for the testing of drugs on printed organs mimicking specified disease characteristics instead of animal testing and clinical trials. The development of bioprinting has the potential to offer customized drug screening platforms and drug delivery systems meeting a range of individualized needs, as well as prospects at different stages of drug development and patient therapy. The role of bioprinting in preclinical and clinical testing of drugs is also of significant importance in terms of shortening the time to launch a medicinal product on the market.

Digital Medical Information Services Delivered by Pharmaceutical Companies via WeChat: Qualitative Analytical Study.

BACKGROUND: Social media has become one of the primary information sources for medical professionals and patients. Pharmaceutical companies are committed to using various social media platforms to provide stakeholders with digital medical information services (DMISs), which remain experimental and immature. In China, WeChat tops the list of popular social media platforms. To date, little is known about the service model of DMISs delivered by pharmaceutical companies via WeChat. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore the emerging service model of DMISs delivered by pharmaceutical companies via WeChat in China. METHODS: This study applied a qualitative research design combining case study and documentary analysis to explore the DMISs of 6 leading pharmaceutical companies in China. Materials were collected from their official WeChat platforms. Thematic analysis was conducted on the data. RESULTS: The DMISs of 6 pharmaceutical companies were investigated. Themes emerged regarding 2 essential information services delivered by pharmaceutical companies via WeChat: business operation services and DMISs (ie, public information services, professional services, science and education services, and e-commerce services). Business operation services mainly function to assist or facilitate the company's operations and development trends for general visitors. Public-oriented information services are realized through health science popularization, academic frontiers, product information, and road maps to hospitals and pharmacies. Internet hospital and pharmacy services are the main patient-oriented professional services. Medical staff-oriented science and education services commonly include continuing education, clinical assistance, academic research, and journal searching. Public-oriented e-commerce services include health products and health insurance. CONCLUSIONS: Pharmaceutical companies in China use WeChat to provide stakeholders with diversified DMISs, which remain in the exploratory stage. The service model of DMISs requires more distinct innovations to provide personalized digital health and patient-centric services. Moreover, specific regulations on the DMISs of pharmaceutical companies need to be established to guard public health interests.

Overcoming Ethical Issues Surrounding the Relationships Between Physicians and Pharmaceutical Companies in Rural Hospitals.

Conflicts of interest (COIs), such as the relationships between pharmaceutical companies and patients and/or their families, can be a significant ethical issue in the field of medicine. The relationship between physicians and pharmaceutical company representatives is just one non-clinical ethical dilemma frequently encountered in medicine. For example, our family medicine department has a COI stemming from its relationship with pharmaceutical companies. We reflected on this COI and discussed a concrete approach from which we implemented evidence-based learning to overcome the challenges presented by this particular COI. This editorial reviews this case and demonstrates an effective approach to addressing COIs.

Comparison of the Speed of Enrollment for Clinical Trials Conducted by Japanese and Global Pharmaceutical Companies.

Since the establishment of the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH), many countries in the world have rapidly improved their clinical trial performance, and the era has come to compare the clinical trial performance of each country. Japan's clinical trials are considered excellent quality, but costly and slow. In this study, we examined the speed of enrollment period in clinical trials. We surveyed clinical trials from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2019, covering the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in each global sales ranking (Global 10) and the Japanese sales ranking (Japan 10). Clinical trial data were obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a clinical trial registration information database, and the speed of participant enrollment (cases/month) was compared for each phase of the trials. The number of clinical trials conducted during the 10 years was 8938 trials for Global 10 and 1439 trials for Japan 10. Comparing the speed of participant enrollment by phase, Japan 10 was significantly faster in phase 1 for both healthy subjects and oncology patients. [Japan 10: Global 10; 15.1 : 12.0 cases/month (healthy subjects) and 5.5 : 1.8 cases/month (oncology), respectively. p < 0.001]. Global 10 was also significantly faster in phase 3. [Japan 10: Global 10; 12.4: 36.9 cases/month, p < 0.001). No significant difference was observed in phase 2 and phase 4. There was a possibility that the speed of enrollment differed by phase between global companies and Japanese domestic companies.

Reflexiones ético-legales entorno a la recogida y análisis de muestras biológicas humanas en los ensayos clínicos promovidos por las compañías farmacéuticas / Reflexions ètico-legals al voltantde la recollida i anàlisi de mostres biològiques humanesenels assaigs clínics promoguts per les companyies farmacèutiques / Ethical and legal considerations on collection and analysis of human biological samples within clinical trials sponsored by the pharmaceutical companies

La recogida de muestras biológicas humanas dentro del contexto de un ensayo clínico promovido por un laboratorio farmacéutico y no relacionada directamente con el ensayo es cada vez más habitual. Este artículo plantea los conflictos bioéticos que dicha recogida, almacenamiento y análisis conllevan, y como afrontarlos.(AU)

La recollida de mostres biològiques humanes dintre del context d ́un assaig clínic promogut per un laboratorio farmacèutic i no relacionada directament amb l ́assaig és cada cop més habitual. Aquest article planteja els conflictes bioètics que aquesta recollida, enmagatzematge i anàlisi comporten i com enfrontar-los.(AU)

The collection of human biological samples within a clinical trial sponsored by a pharmaceutical company and not directly related with the trial it is more and more common. This paper shows the bioethical conflicts regarding the collection, storage, and analysis and how to face them.(AU)

Comparation of differences in the performance of corporate social responsibility between Chinese and American pharmaceutical enterprises-based on corporate social responsibility report.

Objective: We compared Chinese and American pharmaceutical companies' corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports to determine their differences and to analyze the possible reasons for them. Methods: We took as a model the top 500 pharmaceutical companies from Torreya's (a global investment bank) list of the 1,000 most valuable pharmaceutical companies in the world. We then collected the 2020 corporate social responsibility reports of 97 Chinese and 94 American pharmaceutical companies. These reports were analyzed using software such as ROST Content Mining 6.0 and Gephi 0.92. Results: We formed a high-frequency word list, a semantic network diagram, and a high-frequency word centrality scale for the Chinese and American pharmaceutical corporate social responsibility reports. The Chinese pharmaceutical companies' corporate social responsibility reports formed a layout of "double centers and double themes," and the text paid more attention to the disclosure of environmental protection information. The American pharmaceutical companies formed a report presentation form of "three centers and two themes," focusing on corporate social responsibility information disclosures from the perspective of humanistic care. Discussion: The differences in between Chinese and American pharmaceutical companies' corporate social responsibility reports may be due to different corporate development strategies, regulatory requirements, social demands, and the concept of "corporate citizenship." This study makes recommendations for Chinese pharmaceutical companies to better fulfill their CSR at three levels: policy-making, company management, and society.

Strategic trends of pharmaceutical companies: A growth model through regional focus and inter-regional alliances.

Pharmaceutical companies face challenges in business continuity resulting from declining research and development productivity. This study examines the relationship between two strategic pillars: region and therapeutic area, while considering company size. The results indicate that a therapeutic area focus is an effective strategy for small/medium-sized companies, whereas a regional focus is effective for larger companies. These findings highlight the limitations of the traditional global pharmaceutical model from 2004 to 2018 and aim to contribute to the future corporate strategic planning of these companies.

Pharmacoeconomic Analysis of Fixed-Dose Combinations of Proton Pump Inhibitors Available in India.

Introduction The global proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) market was valued at US$ 2.9 billion in 2020 and is expected to exhibit a compound aggregated growth rate of 4.30% during the forecast period (2020-2027), as they are regularly prescribed for many gastrointestinal disorders, and the treatment usually lasts for a longer period. PPIs are usually combined with antiemetics and prokinetic drugs. The price of PPIs for the same combination varies a lot, which can lead to a lot of financial burden on the patients. Objective To evaluate the cost ratio and percentage cost variation of commonly used PPIs in various combinations. Methodology The cost of different brands of commonly used PPIs in combination with other drugs was analyzed in our study. A total of 21 different combinations (10 capsules/tablets for oral use) were tabulated by referring to the "Monthly Index of Medical Specialities" October-December 2021, and 1mg online pharmacy. The cost ratio and percentage cost variation for various brands of a particular strength and dosage form were calculated and compared. Cost ratio > 2 and cost variation > 100% were considered significant. Results The results show a huge variation (1788.88%) in costs of different brands with the highest being rabeprazole 20 mg and domperidone 10 mg (cost ratio: 18.88, percentage cost variation: 1788.88%) in oral formulation, followed by pantoprazole 40 mg and itopride 150 mg. The minimum cost ratio (1.35) and percentage cost variation (1.35%) is for pantoprazole 40 mg and levosulpiride 75 mg. Logistic regression analysis between the number of brands and percentage cost variation gives an R2 value of 0.0923. Conclusion There is a wide variation in the prices of PPIs available in the market, which can inadvertently increase the financial burden of therapy on patients. Physicians need to be made aware of these price differences so that they can choose the best available alternative for patients, which can help in increasing compliance with the prescribed drugs.

Characteristics, risk management and GMP standards of pharmaceutical companies in China.

The Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) is one of the gold standards by which governments worldwide judge modern pharmaceutical companies' production processes and product-safety standards. However, in all the nations, it is difficult to obtain real data about GMP inspection results, so conducting the related research is impossible. Taking advantage of a rare chance to obtain the on-site GMP inspection results in China, we have been able to initiate an empirical analysis of how company characteristics and risk management affect the GMP inspection results of certain pharmaceutical companies. The 2SLS method regression was employed in this study. Our four main findings are as follows. First, compared with Chinese state-owned companies, foreign commercial and private enterprises are held to higher standards. Second, the GMP inspection results tend to be better for those enterprises whose main sources of capital are not dependent on bank loans. Third, enterprises with higher fixed assets tend to receive the better GMP inspection results. Fourth, the longer the quality authorized staff has worked in a company, the better the GMP inspection results expected of that enterprise. These findings offer insights into inspections and production improvements in China and other GMP-compliant countries.

A Critical Review of the Drug Promotional Literature Published in Scientific Medical Journals and Available at Outpatient Departments: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study.

Background A vital method used by pharmaceutical companies to make physicians aware of new drugs and increase the prescription and sale of the same is through drug promotion literature (DPL) published in scientific journals and distributed in outpatient departments (OPDs). It is important that drug promotion is done ethically to avoid the spread of false information for which guidelines are available at the international level by the World Health Organization (WHO) and at the national level by the Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI). In this study, we aim to review the DPLs used for promotion by market authorization holders (pharmaceutical business entities) in scientific healthcare journals and OPDs for their compliance with the "Ethical criteria for medicinal drug promotion" of the WHO and OPPI Code of Ethics Practice. In addition, we compare the ethical standard of the DPL available in scientific journals and OPDs with respect to existing norms and guidelines. Methodology A cross-sectional, observational study was conducted at a tertiary care teaching institute in Navi Mumbai, India. DPLs were collected from journals available at the institute library nearby published from January-June 2022 and from the outpatient departments of our hospital and other clinics nearby during the same time duration. Analysis was done according to the criteria given in WHO and OPPI guidelines. Each point in the criteria was scored as 1 or 0 based on whether the DPL was compliant or not respectively. DPLs were graded into 3 categories based on percentage compliance: Grade A (>70%), Grade B (35-70%), and Grade C (<35%). Results A total of 370 DPLs were collected, of which 191 (51.6%) were collected from scientific journals and 179 (48.4%) from OPDs. DPLs collected from journals showed that only 7.85% belonged to Grade A (WHO guidelines). According to the OPPI guidelines, 57.59% of the same DPLs belonged to Grade A. DPLs from OPDs showed similar results by both guidelines with >90% belonging to Grade B. Approximately less than 5% of the DPLs belonged to Grade C from both scientific journals and OPDs. Conclusions None of the DPLs were found to be entirely compliant with either of the guidelines. Most of the DPLs from both sources belong to Grade B, with information about adjuvants, adverse drug reactions, contraindications, drug interaction, and references to scientific literature missing from them. DPLs belonging to Grade C even had information about active ingredients missing from them which can lead to serious harm due to the wrong prescription of drugs.

[The Renaissance of Russian pharmaceutical market (2000-2004). Report I. The field players].

The article (third one out of author's cycle of historical studies of medicinal provision and pharmaceutical business) considers period of economic renaissance of Russian pharmaceutical market during the first five years of Third Millennium. The market conditions are analyzed according data of Russian analytical agencies, materials of medical periodicals and memories of participants. The article is composed of three reports. The first report demonstrates changes in composition of essential players on market field that occurred after 1998 default.

Characteristics of development and dissemination of environmental management systems in the area of production of medicines in Ukraine.

The article presents the results of a study based on an expert survey of senior management and leading experts of enterprises for the production of medicines in Ukraine and typical problematic aspects of implementing environmental management systems (EMS). It was found that among the enterprises whose respondents took part in the survey, only 25% implemented EMS and passed the certification procedure following the requirements of ISO 14001. A significant problem identified is the lack of influential information tools and methodological developments for the implementation, operation, and benefits of EMS in pharmaceutical production, especially to ensure processes regarding the readiness of enterprises to respond to emergencies. Insufficient support was noted, particularly in regulatory and financial incentives, and no benefits could encourage more efficient greening of pharmaceutical production. The negative consequence is the lack of interest of small and medium enterprises in investing in new technologies and sustainable business practices to reduce environmental pressures. EMS should be implemented as a part of the overall management system of the enterprise to manage environmental aspects, meet mandatory legal requirements and voluntary commitments in accordance with the objectives and environmental policy of the enterprise, as well as to address risks and opportunities. It is important to note the urgency of developing theoretical and methodological principles of design, implementation, and further development of EMS to increase the environmental efficiency of the enterprise, greening in medicines production, and achieving sustainable development goals.

Corporate social responsibility of pharmaceutical industry in Korea.

Background: Global pharmaceutical companies in Korea argue that the development of innovative drugs should be recognized as a social contribution, yet it has been countered by various stakeholders. The need to distinguish between philanthropic activities and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of pharmaceutical companies and reaching consensus in the Korean context has been raised. We sought to evaluate the CSR status of Korean pharmaceutical companies and collect the stakeholders' opinions to define philanthropic activities and CSR related to pharmaceutical companies in Korea. Methods: We conducted a literature review on the definition of CSR of pharmaceutical companies, and the CSR activities of the domestic pharmaceutical companies were compared with those of global pharmaceutical companies operating in Korea. The opinions of stakeholder groups (patient advocate groups, consumer organizations, and domestic/global pharmaceutical companies) were collected using focus group interviews (FGI) and written surveys. Results: Literature review suggested that CSR is categorized as "must do" (economic and legal responsibilities), "ought to do" (ethical responsibilities), and "can do" (philanthropic responsibilities), whereas contributions beyond the economic, legal, or ethical responsibilities can be defined as "can do" (philanthropic responsibilities). Domestic pharmaceutical companies simply adopted systems for ethical and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management, which are at the "ought to do" level (ethical responsibility), whereas the headquarters of these global pharmaceutical companies established the CSR team and systematically reported on the CSR activity, including ESG management reports, which is at the "ought to do" level and further moving to the "can do" level, but the Korean branch rarely has CSR teams, and the CSR activities in Korea were also insufficient. At the FGI, the global pharmaceutical companies argued that CSR activities, such as innovative drug development, should be recognized as similar to philanthropic activities, yet stakeholders besides them suggested that those activities are "can do" rather than being philanthropic. Discussion: We found that the pharmaceutical companies in Korea are attempting to achieve the "ought to do" level (ethical responsibilities) while complying with the "must do" level (legal and economic responsibilities) yet not philanthropic activities. A social consensus regarding the philanthropic responsibilities of pharmaceutical companies in Korea was not reached.

Medical Affairs in Pharmaceutical Companies and Related Pharmaceutical Regulations in Japan.

Medical affairs has received a lot of attention in recent years in Japan, but it is also often misunderstood or poorly understood in the healthcare industry in Japan. In the United States, the function of medical affairs has been established for a long time, whereas its history in Japan is relatively short. Many scandals in clinical trials occurred with inappropriate relationship between medical doctors and the sales departments of pharmaceutical companies from 2012. These incidents undermined confidence in clinical trials in Japan and triggered the enforced separation of sales departments from the conduct of post-marketing clinical trials and evidence generation. There have been growing compliance issues identified in marketing and sales practices, and off-label promotion is also becoming an issue in Japan. These issues resulted in the establishment of independent medical affairs departments from sales departments in pharmaceutical companies operating in Japan. Due to the short history of medical affairs in Japan, the roles and responsibilities vary between companies in Japan. Medical affairs departments aim to fulfill unmet medical needs through the generation of scientific evidence and to deliver scientific value to key stakeholders and patients. People working in medical affairs need to engage in scientific exchange activities with key opinion leaders independent of sales departments. Through these activities, medical affairs ensures that patients receive optimal medical care. Medical affairs in Japan is still developing, and its roles, responsibilities, and functions are improving. This article covers the history of medical affairs in Japan and the current status and future perspectives of medical affairs in Japan.

Accuracy of post-publication Financial Conflict of Interest corrections in medical research: A secondary analysis of pharmaceutical company payments to the authors of the CREATE-X trial report in the New England Journal of Medicine.

In June 2017, Japanese and Korean authors published the results of the CREATE-X trial in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). After we identified their inadequate disclosures of Financial Conflict of Interests (FCOIs), the authors made a post-publication correction of their FCOIs. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the accuracy of the post-publication corrections by the Japanese authors of the CREATE-X trial. All the Japanese authors of the CREATE-X trial were included in the study. We determined the payments received by these authors in 2016 using publicly available data published by 78 pharmaceutical companies based on the stipulated Japanese transparency guidelines. We retrieved the original and revised versions of the FCOI disclosures as published on the NEJM website, and compared the payments reported by the pharmaceutical companies and the original and revised FCOI disclosures of the authors. Of the 12 authors, nine received payments made by the drug manufacturer involved in the CREATE-X trial. Of these nine, only three (33.3%) originally disclosed their relationships, and another three (33.3%) later disclosed such relationships in the post-publication corrections. Similarly, of the 11 receiving at least one payment from other manufacturers of breast cancer products, none correctly disclosed the payments in the original or the revised disclosure. In the CREATE-X trial, FCOIs with pharmaceutical companies were not properly disclosed by 11 of the 12 Japanese authors, even after the post-publication corrections, which highlights the need to pay more attention to the accuracy of FCOI disclosures in academic publications.

How Do Pharmaceutical Companies Overcome a Corporate Productivity Crisis? Business Diversification into Medical Devices for Growth Potential.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the performance of pharmaceutical companies' business diversification into medical devices in terms of their technical efficiency (TE) as compared to that of traditional pharmaceutical companies. For a total of 174 externally audited pharmaceutical companies engaged in the drug product business between 2008 and 2019, pharmaceutical companies were classified into two groups according to medical device business diversification. The TE of pharmaceutical companies that diversify the medical device business was lower than that of traditional pharmaceutical companies. However, in terms of the meta-technology ratio (MTR) calculated using meta-frontier analysis, pharmaceutical companies diversified into medical devices showed higher MTR than the traditional pharmaceutical company group. The results imply that the corporate performance growth potential of traditional pharmaceutical companies is lower than that of pharmaceutical companies that have diversified into the medical device business.

Awareness and Attitudes of the Pakistani Population With Regard to Physician-Pharmaceutical Company Interaction: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Objective: To determine the awareness and attitudes of the Pakistani population regarding physician-pharmaceutical company interactions. Methods: The data were collected from primary health care clinics and pharmacy outlets located within cities of six randomly selected districts of the Punjab Province. Those individuals (age ≥18 years) who have just completed their visit to the physician and well understand Urdu language were approached. Descriptive analysis was performed for all variables by using SPSS (IBM version 26). Results: A total of 3,852 participants fully completed the study out of 4,301 (response rate 89.5%). Of those, 30.9% were female; two-thirds (66.7%) were aware of drug representatives' visits to clinics. The majority were aware of pharmaceutical company material presence (or absence) in the physicians' rooms (56.6%), company items with logos (66.8%), patient education materials (73.4%), and 60.8% thought that receiving gifts from companies was "wrong/unethical" practice for physicians, which was lower in comparison to other professions such as judges to accept gifts from lawyers (65.6%) and professional sports umpires to acknowledge gifts (64.3%). A minority said that they have lower trust on physicians for using drug company notepads or pens (16.7%), going on trips sponsored by the company (16.7%), accepting gifts <15,000 PKR (90.3 US$) (26.7%), and accepting gifts >15,000 PKR (90.3 US$) (40.0%). Conclusion: Survey participants were well aware of physician-pharmaceutical company interactions. Participants were more knowledgeable regarding the pharmaceutical company presence (or absence) in physicians' offices than about gift-related practices of physicians. Trust on the physician was not affected by small gifts but by the large gifts.

Analysis on the Relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility ，Financing Constraints and Corporate Performance of Listed Pharmaceutical Companies in China / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE：To study the r elationship between corporate social responsibility ，financing constraints and corporate performance of listed pharmaceutical companies ，so as to provide reference for pharmaceutical enterprises to fulfill their social responsibility in China. METHODS ：Taking 211 A-share listed pharmaceutical companies in China from 2015 to 2018 as samples ， using corporate performance as explained variables ，corporate social responsibility and financing constraints as explanatory variables，asset size ，equity nature ，growth，R&D investment ，marketing investment and annual as control variables ，a multiple regression equation was constructed to study the relationship among corporate social responsibility performance ，financial constraints and corporate performance and put forward the suggestions. RESULTS ：Corporate social responsibility had a significant positive impact on corporate financial performance ；in the promotion of corporate social responsibility on corporate performance ， finacing constratins couldn ’t inhibit the promote function. CONCLUSIONS ：In China ’s pharmaceutical industry ，the awareness of corporate social responsibility needs to be improved ；pharmaceutical enterprises actively perform social responsibility will interactively promote corporate performance. The overall financial constraints faced by Chinese pharmaceutical enterprises are not high，and enterprises which facing financial constraints will better improve their performance by fulfilling corporate social responsibility. It is suggested that the government should promote the legislative process of corporate social responsibility ； pharmaceutical enterprises should enhance the awareness of social responsibility and pay attention to the impact of financing constraints；investors should pay real-time attention to the responsibility information and actual performance of pharmaceutical enterprises.

Assessing Knowledge and Perceptions of Alzheimer's Disease Among Employees of a Pharmaceutical Company in Spain: A Comparison Between Caregivers and Non-Caregivers.

BACKGROUND: Raising knowledge about Alzheimer's disease (AD) may help in identifying the disorder, seeking earlier appropriate healthcare, and decreasing its stigma. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge and perceptions towards people with AD among employees of a pharmaceutical company in Spain. METHODS: A non-interventional, cross-sectional study was conducted among 447 employees. Participants answered demographic questions and completed the Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS). Caregivers also answered questions related to their personal experience with patients with AD and completed the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), the Revised Memory and Behavior Problems Checklist (RMBPC), and the Beck Depression Inventory-Fast Screen (BDI-FS). RESULTS: Participants were mostly between 30 and 50 years old (63%), female (65.3%), and had bachelor or master degrees (82.7%). Forty-two (9.4%) of participants were caregivers, mainly of moderate to severe dementia subjects. Overall knowledge about AD was moderate (mean ADKS score = 21.2 ± 2.8 [70.6% of correct answers]). Risk factors and caregiving were the domains with lowest scores (correct answers: 58.58% and 63%, respectively). Mean total ADKS score was significantly higher in participants caring for people with AD compared with non-caregivers (22.1 ± 2.9 and 21.0 ± 2.8; p=0.02, respectively). There was no statistically significant association between total ADKS score and age, sex, educational level, or relative's AD severity. Most caregivers were satisfied with life (mean SWLS score = 26.8 ± 5.6) showing a low impact from behavioral problems (mean RMBPC reaction score = 26.81 ± 20.2). Six of them (14.3%) were scored as depressed. CONCLUSION: There is a continuing need to improve understanding of AD to fill the gaps in knowledge of the disease, even in a population working in healthcare sector with a high educational level.

Current status of pathological image analysis technology in pharmaceutical companies: a questionnaire survey of the Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association.

The Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (JPMA) has instituted a task force (TF) for the "development of image analysis technology for histopathological changes" as part of the collaboration for realizing cutting-edge drug development since 2016. In recent years, there has been progress in the digital pathology technology; however, few applications in nonclinical drug development studies have been observed. Therefore, TF performed a questionnaire survey to investigate the current status, needs, possibility, and development of image analysis. The subjects were 35 member companies of the JPMA. The questionnaire was set to assess the efficacy and/or safety of researchers engaged in pathological evaluations for each company. The questions focused on the experiences, implementation, and issues regarding histopathological examinations; the need for image analysis software; and future views. Valid responses were obtained from 26 companies. Most companies assumed that the beneficial aspect of image analysis is to gain objectivity and persuasiveness; however, challenges in the analysis conditions with regard to accuracy and without subjectivity persist. Additionally, there seems to be a need for image analysis software with advanced digital pathology technology, with most companies believing that, in the future, pathological evaluations will be partly performed by computers. In conclusion, in this questionnaire survey, TF extracted the current status of image analysis in nonclinical studies performed by pharmaceutical companies and collected opinions on future prospects regarding the development of image analysis software with advanced digital pathology technology.