The ICR Westwicke Blog is designed to deliver information and insights into the ever-changing world of healthcare communications.
For every healthcare company, public or private, the anticipation of clinical trial data represents an important, high-pressure milestone in its communications planning. For a public company, there is an obligation to disclose data within a reasonable timeframe. For a private company, while there isn’t an obligation to shareholders, there is pressure from private investors, the medical community, advocates, and even patients.
The Walt Disney Company and its CEO Bob Chapek are paying a high price for staying outside of politics, and then jumping into it. Disney’s entanglements with its employees on one side and Florida’s governor and lawmakers have spilled over with very real implications. Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed into law a bill that strips Disney of its special tax status in the state, a move which will effectively change how the company operates.
For CEOs and company leaders, interacting with the media isn’t an option — it’s a necessity. The media plays a significant role in telling your company story and shaping your public image. To ensure they tell an accurate story, however, it’s essential to learn how to work with the media and strive to understand how the industry is shifting.
As public health officials discuss whether to call subsequent COVID-19 vaccinations “boosters,” fearing it gives the impression that previous inoculations weren’t effective—some preferred “third dose” or “final dose”—chalk it up to yet another debate about words and nomenclature related to the worst global pandemic in a century.
Securing media coverage can be a fantastic opportunity to tell your company’s story, boost your reputation, and exhibit credible thought leadership in your industry. However, delivering articulate quotes can be challenging.
Just as schools and businesses run occasional fire drills, your company should periodically pressure test your crisis communications plan. To truly understand if and how the plan will work, your management team and employees need to see how your strategy will play out in a realistic scenario.
No matter how careful you are as a company, you can quickly find yourself in the center of a crisis you didn’t expect. When that crisis disrupts operations or threatens the reputation of the company, you must act swiftly but carefully.
One of our clients, a recently public diagnostics company, settled an ongoing royalty dispute with a major pharmaceutical company. The settlement amount was significantly lower than what our client had accrued, resulting in nearly $750 thousand upside to their P&L in the upcoming quarter.
After nearly 20 years of working in healthcare communications, the excitement never gets old for me. What’s not to love about an industry that’s critical to life itself, rife with issues and controversy, and delivers a solid dose of the unexpected on a daily basis?
In my mind, a highlight is the problem solving our job requires every day. Whether pursuing an opportunity, managing an issue or leveraging an insight, it’s our responsibility to chart the path forward on behalf of our clients.
There are many things public companies must consider when disseminating news. What is the most appropriate vehicle to disclose news to investors? In some instances, you will need to file a Form 8-K, the disclosure from the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). Sometimes, the news will necessitate issuing a press release. And sometimes, you will file both.
