Shaw Science Partners

Shaw Science Partners is a pharmaceutical-marketing agency and public relations firm that has had a key role in launching some of the most heavily marketed and advertised drugs of recent years, including Ambien, Flonase, Viagra, Cymbalta, Procrit, Celebrex, Zoloft and Rozerem. Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTC) campaigns, which involve big budget television, radio and print advertising are used to drive sales from new drugs or existing 'blockbuster' drugs. The company's web site says it "works closely with prominent scientists and thought leaders in the medical community" to craft "science messaging" to help pharmaceutical companies sell drugs.

The company was started in 1987 and has an estimated annual sales of $1,600,000.

EthicAd
The president of Shaw Science Partners is Michael S. Shaw, M.D., MBA, who runs a non-profit called "EthicAd" out of the Shaw Science headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. The goal of EthicAd, according to its web site, is "to raise public awareness of the issues associated with DTC advertising and about the need to develop comprehensive ethical standards for DTC advertising." EthicAd's web site claims the organization is supported by donations from its board, but a loophole in Georgia law allows non-profits to incorporate in the state without registering with the IRS, so financial records for EthicAd are not publicly available. In an interview for Integrity in Science Watch, Shaw admitted Shaw that his firm, as well as other members of EthicAd’s board, underwrite the group’s expenses, and that “All members do work for [the pharmaceutical] industry; if not all, almost all” do.

Clients
Shaw's clients include:
 * AstraZeneca
 * Bayer
 * Boehringer Ingelheim
 * Bristol-Myers Squibb
 * Ciba-Geigy
 * Eli Lilly and Company
 * Genentech
 * GlaxoSmithKline
 * Merck
 * Novartis
 * Parke-Davis
 * Pfizer
 * Pharmacia
 * Roche
 * Roerig
 * Sandoz
 * Sanofi-Aventis
 * Schering-Plough
 * Searle
 * The Upjohn Company
 * Wyeth-Ayerst
 * Zeneca

Contact
Shaw Science Partners 4151 Ashford Dunwoody, Suite 650 Atlanta, Georgie 30319 Phone: (404) 845-9994 President: Michael S. Shaw, email mshaw AT shawscience.com

Related SourceWatch resources

 * Disease Mongering
 * Direct-to-consumer advertising
 * Drug industry