New Study Finds Parents Embrace Alternative Treatments for Children’s Asthma

Cymfony Analysis of Consumer Online Discussions Reveal Dissatisfaction With Asthma Pharmaceutical Treatments

WATERTOWN, MA–(EMWNews – August 15, 2008) – Cymfony, a TNS Media Intelligence company,

today reported that caregivers of children with asthma discuss

non-pharmaceutical treatment options more than twice as often as the

most-discussed type of asthma drug. Cymfony drew this conclusion from its

study of over 15,000 posts on blogs, discussion boards, and social network

sites written between October 2007 – April 2008 in which parents discussed

treatment approaches for their child’s asthma.

“Pharmaceuticals play a central role in treatment of children with asthma,

but parents see them as only part of the solution to their child’s

condition,” according to Csaba Dancshazy, the Cymfony analyst who authored

the report. “Parents seek information on managing their children’s

lifestyle as well as alternative therapies to complement the action of the

medication. To meet these caregivers’ needs for a range of ways to help

their child cope, drug companies may wish to increase efforts in patient

education to become a valued information source and not just one treatment

option among many in the market.”

Other findings from the study indicate that parents are somewhat negative

about most classes of asthma drugs, with inhaled corticosteroids being the

exception. And while about one-third of these discussions take place on

disease-specific or general medical sites, the majority takes place on

sites with no medical content.

“There has been steady growth in use of the Internet for both informational

needs and emotional support around management of chronic conditions,” said

Cymfony President Andrew Bernstein. “Pharmaceutical brand marketers need to

understand the online context for patients and caregivers.”

The 30-page study, “Treating Pediatric Asthma,” is available for purchase

from Cymfony and TNS Healthcare. More information on the study is available

at www.cymfony.com/asthma.asp.

Separately, Cymfony announced the availability of the only syndicated

social media tracking service specifically focused on asthma brands. The

service aggregates discussion of 22 medications in 7 therapeutic categories

from over 8000 social media sources including message forums, discussion

groups and blogs. Pharmaceutical marketing professionals can subscribe to

this data to understand brand perceptions as well as the issues associated

with the diagnosis and treatment of the disease among patients and

caregivers.

Cymfony’s ongoing social media tracking platform can be used to gain a near

real-time understanding of consumer issues, questions, and concerns about

asthma. For example, brands can measure the impact of specific campaigns

by tracking the presence of messaging and changes in conversation volume.

Social media analysis complements research methodologies such as surveys

and focus groups. TNS Healthcare’s physician panels and other services can

be used to explore findings of the syndicated study.

About TNS Media Intelligence/Cymfony

TNS MI/Cymfony tells brands and companies what people are saying about them

— whether the people are bloggers, traditional journalists or even

influential consumers. TNS MI/Cymfony sifts and interprets the millions of

voices at the intersection of traditional and social media to gain insights

that help companies identify the people, keep on top of the issues and

respond to the trends impacting their business — at the speed of the

market. We call this approach to harnessing this new dynamic “market

influence analytics.”

TNS MI/Cymfony pioneered the innovative technology to extract meaning from

high volumes and diverse sources of text. U.S. intelligence agencies have

been relying on our technology for more than eight years. We are an

innovator in the integration of social and traditional media, offering

access to the greatest breadth of content sources and analytical expertise.

Contact TNS MI/Cymfony at 617-673-6000 (x2) or visit

www.cymfony.com/asthma.asp for more information.

About TNS Healthcare

TNS Healthcare provides market research consulting to the worldwide

pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device industries, as well as

health-focused ad agencies, media and analysts. It offers globally

consistent solutions and custom advisory services to support product

introductions; brand, treatment and sales performance optimization; and

physician and DTC promotional assessment.

Informing decisions across the life cycle, TNS Healthcare offers

action-ready insights for pre-launch landscaping, market and opportunity

assessment, segmentation, positioning, message and campaign creation,

pricing, forecasting, attitude and awareness measurement and post-launch

tracking. It delivers information across stakeholders — including

physicians, patients and consumers — to help companies anticipate and

impact customers’ behaviors. TNS Healthcare provides both qualitative and

quantitative offerings, using traditional and on-line methodologies,

combining worldwide reach with local expertise.

Contact Ilene Siegalovsky, Senior Vice President of Marketing and

Communications for TNS Healthcare at 201-836-0040 x 225 or visit

www.tns-global.com/healthcare for more information.