http://www.pharmainfocus.com.au/news.asp?newsid=2953

Posted 28 September 2009

Wyeth spent over $1 million on a single Australian weekend meeting on
antidpressants in March this year shortly after the PBS listing of its
new SSRI, Pristiq (desvenlafaxine) say new Medicines Australia (MA)
records for spending on sponsored events.

The company, which is continuing to mount a so far successful defence of
its remaining patents on Australia’s biggest selling antidepressant
Efexor-XR (venlafaxine), described the event as a “new anti-depressant
overview weekend meeting” and said the money was spent on venue hire,
hospitality, speaker fees, accommodations and flights and various
technical support and event management fees.

The occasion was a standout among 16,020 events sponsored by MA member
companies over the six months from 1 January to 30 June 2009 at a total
cost of $31.89 million, $15.65 million of which was spent on hospitality
(an average of $39.22 per attendee). Total spending is a slight jump
from the second half of 2008, which came in at just over $30 million,
but down from the first half of 2008, at $32.6 million