Whether browsing through magazines or watching television, one doesn't have to look long in order to find a direct-to-consumer advertisement for a prescription medication.
Though it may sound paradoxical, the most effective deployment of a patient-feedback program is within a pharmaceutical brand's professional promotions
It's certainly not headline news that these are tough days for the pharmaceutical industry. More than $60 billion in revenue from blockbuster drugs will evaporate as these products go generic over the next five years, while the productivity of clinical development has hit a particularly rough patch. Even in the companies with relatively strong pipelines, many of the new treatments are biotech products acquired out of house. The expected authorization of biogenerics will squeeze profits only further.
Welcome to the new employer's market for reps. The Hay Group's annual survey reports how, as the primary sales force contracts, so too does its pay.
Though it may sound paradoxical, the most effective deployment of a patient-feedback program is within a pharmaceutical brand's professional promotions
Lisa LeCointe-Cephas, SVP, chief ethics and compliance officer and office of general counsel, human health, Merck, uses her unique style of leadership—stop, drop, and roll—while elevating voices that need to be heard.
Companies, like individuals, must stay in shape, and both must search-in an environment of high demands on time and resources-for the right tools to achieve and maintain fitness. The pharma industry's current challenges suggest that the need for fitness may be greater than ever:
Personalized health communication enables marketers to vary the messages they deliver, and it increases their ability to motivate different patients to act
During the next ten years, big pharma companies will need to launch two products a year to generate 5 percent annual growth, five products a year to hit 10 percent growth, and nine products a year to meet a 15 percent annual growth target. Clearly, the stakes are high.
Consider the following real-world scenario: Feb. 28-Apr. 14, 2000. Third-party auditors warn Schering-Plough (SP) of problems with product quality, including lack of quality control (QC) and high staff turnover. Dec. 20, 2000. SP's stock price reaches a high of $60 per share. Jan. 19, 2001. FDA completes an in-depth inspection of SP production facilities, identifying significant, repeated, and widespread QC violations dating to 1998. Several production lines are shut down and the Clarinex (desloratidine) launch is delayed.
Pharm Exec's Editorial Advisory Board member, Peter Young, cover a summary of the strategic issues facing the biopharma industry, but goes on to tell the story of what happened last year and this first quarter in terms of the stock market, M&A and financing (including IPOs) activity, where it is headed, and the implications for senior management.
For several decades, conventional wisdom in the pharmaceutical industry has held that a large sales force is the key to commercial success. However, in recent years, a number of warning signs have emerged about the effectiveness and long-term viability of this expensive asset. While few are saying it publicly, a number of pharma executives are now exploring the possibility that it could be only a matter of time before the industry's dependence on personal selling comes to an end.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act-or SOX, as it is dubbed (not always so affectionately)-requires companies to provide greater control and quality assurance across a vast spectrum of business processes. In practice, SOX plays out differently industry by industry and even company by company. But for pharma, one of the most pressing consequences is the need to improve the accuracy of revenue recognition.
The last few years have seen tremendous consolidation in both the pharmaceutical and contract research industries. The impact among pharma companies has created a heightened demand for productivity. Consequently, contract research organizations (CROs) have struggled to find their footing in a business where the number of customers has shrunk and the demand for speed and cost-effectiveness has risen. Delivering service excellence when customers' names and addresses are changing regularly is a challenge, resulting in disrupted continuity, broken lines of communication, and policies and relationships thrown into disarray.
Pediatric drugs require investments in formulation, but the market opportunity is worth the cost.
In August, eMarketer reported that Internet ad sales had officially displaced radio ad sales, nabbing the slot of fourth-largest ad medium. That was a huge blow to radio, which receives a sizable chunk of ad dollars from the pharma industry. Now pharma marketers have a new option-ReachMD, a 24-hour satellite radio station that plays content targeted at doctors.
Pharma companies today are focused on driving prescriptions. But just because physicians are prescribing a brand doesn't mean that they are committed to it. Who's to say a doctor won't jump ship the moment a flashier new drug comes on the scene?
By using digital signatures to eliminate paper from signature approval processes, pharmaceutical companies are achieving automated processes that are efficient and cost-effective without compromising security or compliance.
Single drugs for single indications are hard to find. Here's how to get around that.
Exploring new character benchmarks for today’s pharma executives, and whether they have the transformational traits to lead through change.