Title: Marketing and Sales Roles in the Pharmaceutical Industry
1Marketing and Sales Roles in the Pharmaceutical
Industry
2MARKETING
3The Marketing Concept - Key Principles
- It is easier to change the products and services
of the individual manufacturer to fit the needs
of the market than it is to convince the entire
market to use the products and services as the
individual manufacturer prefers them - You can have any color car you want as long as
its black - Henry Ford
- All the resources of the firm should be organized
into a total system aimed at meeting the needs of
the consumer - The role of marketing is to influence or direct
activities from the manufacturer to the patient - The right products
- In the right quantity
- At the right place
- For the right price
- At the right time
4Marketing as an Actualizing Process
- Markets can be viewed as gaps that separate
parties interested in an exchange - Marketing removes the gaps between the parties
through various actualization processes
MARKET SEPARATORS
EXCHANGE FLOWS
MARKETING ACTIVITIES
- PRODUCT FLOW
- toward the consumer
- INFORMATION FLOW
- both ways
- PAYMENT FLOW
- toward the provider
- USE RIGHT
- toward the consumer
Assembly, transportation storage, packaging,
grading Advertising, personal selling,
publicity, labeling, sales promotions, marketing
research, consumer complaints, drug education
programs Credit and cash payments Purchasing
and selling, pricing, post transactional rights
- TIME
- SPACE
- VALUE
- OWNERSHIP
- QUANTITY
- ASSORTMENT
Source McInnis A Conceptual Approach to
Marketing
5ITs Role in the Actualizing Process
- IT can assist marketing in closing the gaps
that separate parties interested in an exchange - IT can make some of the gaps irrelevant (e.g.,
space and time)
MARKET SEPARATORS
IT
- Connectivity across geographically dispersed
regions - 24 x 7 Availability
- Enabling information access
- Enhancing personalization
- Right use
- Right amount
- Right need
- Increasing the number of available options
- TIME
- SPACE
- VALUE
- OWNERSHIP
- QUANTITY
- ASSORTMENT
Source McInnis A Conceptual Approach to
Marketing
6Unique Aspects of Pharmaceutical Marketing and
Sales
- Influence of non-purchasers on the purchasing
habits of the consumer - Veto/authorization power of physicians
consumers need an authorized document to purchase
a prescription drug - Importance of the disease to identifying and
classifying markets - Professional licensing required to stock and sell
pharmaceutical products - Records of every transaction are kept that are
specific to - Patient
- Physician
- Product
7Definitions
- Market Research
- Determination and assessment of qualitative and
quantitative dimensions of a market - Marketing Research
- Analysis of the effects of various marketing
activities of a company or its competitors
8Market Research
- Environmental scanning
- Physicians
- Pharmacists
- Pharmacies
- Hospitals
- Data gathering and analysis
- Influence of unique aspects of the pharmaceutical
market on market research - Known list of entities
- Knowledge-based decisions
- Similarities in education and thinking
(professionalization) - Availability of records for transactional
activity - Significant use of outside vendors for market
research - Syndicated services
- Custom services
9Questions Answered by Market Research
- Strategic Level
- What diseases or product areas should be
considered for long-term investment? - Short-term?
- Market size or potential?
- Availability and utilization of therapies?
- Next logical steps in therapy?
- Potential market segments to be exploited
- Disease conditions (e.g., migraine sufferers)
- Dosing preferences (inhalants vs. injections vs.
patches) - Prevalence of disorder?
- Shared conditions?
- Potential development partners?
- Potential acquisitions?
10Questions Answered by Market Research
- Clinical trial Planning
- Seasonality
- Regionality
- Specialty
- Premarketing Planning
- What physician specialties are important in a
given therapy or diagnosis? - What patient characteristics are important?
- Who are our competitors in this market?
- How do our competitors promote their product?
- Are there unsatisfied portions of the market?
- How do physicians perceive a proposed product?
11Questions Answered by Market Research
- Post-marketing Monitoring
- Adverse events
- Product sales
- Patient information (medical history)
This can be critical in product defense
situations! Example Pfizers defense of Viagra
when suits were filed alleging an increased risk
of stroke.
12Types of Market Research
Hospital Purchases
Retail Pharmacy Purchases
Warehouse Withdrawals
Periodic Surveys
Promotional Media
Retail Pharmacy Prescriptions
Physician Panels
Retail Pharmacy Sales
13Types of Market Research
Retail Pharmacy Purchases
- Measures the inflow of products from the
manufacturer to the pharmacy - OTC
- Prescription drugs
- Indirect (through wholesalers)
- Direct purchases from manufacturers
Periodic Surveys
14Types of Market Research
Hospital Purchases
- Measures the inflow of products from the
manufacturer to the hospital - OTC
- Prescription drugs
- Indirect (through wholesalers)
- Direct purchases from manufacturers
Periodic Surveys
Growth of pharmaceutical purchases by hospitals
has greatly exceeded purchases from pharmacies on
a proportional basis In many communities, the
hospital has become more important in routine care
15Types of Market Research
Warehouse Withdrawals
- Measures the outflow of products from the
warehouse to all purchasers - OTC
- Prescription drugs)
- Does not reflect direct purchases from
manufacturers - Provides ability to analyze small segments of the
marketplace such as zip code or territories
Periodic Surveys
Can be valuable in dealing with questions of
individual territory performance and potential or
different selling techniques
16Types of Market Research
- Measures the outflow of prescription drugs from
the pharmacy to consumers - Most sensitive indicator of prescription product
performance (factual) - Reflects mindset of prescribers and consumer
demand - Best indicator of marketing or promotional effort
effectiveness - Data available at national and sub-national
levels
Periodic Surveys
Retail Pharmacy Prescriptions
17Types of Market Research
- Specialized research services to identify patient
product usage along specific variables - Diagnosis
- Patient characteristics
- Location of visit
- Drugs used
- Action desired from drugs used
- Tracking of new prescriptions over time and
monitors changes in doctor prescribing habits
Periodic Surveys
Physician Panels
18Types of Market Research
- Historically used for non-prescription
pharmaceuticals - Data typically collected for products of interest
- Collect unit and dollar information at the
package size level - Main use is to obtain prescription counts by
product - Used for pricing analysis and cross-tabulation
analysis using data warehouses
Periodic Surveys
Retail Pharmacy Sales
19Types of Market Research
- Monitoring of detailing visits to physicians by
sales representatives - Monitoring of journal advertising
- Monitoring of direct mail advertising
- Physician sampling
Periodic Surveys
Promotional Media
20Generic Stages of Market Research
Marketing Problem
- Marketing Objectives Reviewed
- Problems Defined
- Alternative Marketing Options Considered
Written marketing brief
- Exploratory research
- Formulation of data requirements, sources
- Research objectives defined
Research Design
Costing
Research Proposal
Was this what was requested?
Select Sample
Design Survey Feedback
Design coding, analysis instructions
Interpret
Present Findings
Take Action and Monitor
Source Smith, Pharmaceutical Marketing
21Market Research Organizations
- IMS Health
- Datamonitor Healthcare Consulting
- Frost.com
- Reuters
- Also check out
- Eyeforpharma.com
- FDA.gov
- Journal of the American Hospital Association
- AMA Drug Evaluations
22Market Research Industry Associations
- EphMRA European Pharmaceutical Research
Association (www.ephmra.org) - BHBIA British Healthcare Business Intelligence
Association (www.bhbia.org.uk) - PhRMA Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers
Association (www.phrma.org)
23SALES
24Sales Roles
- Detailing
- Face-to-face visits to physicians or purchasing
managers (e.g., hospitals, HMOs) to present new
prescription drugs - Influence prescribing habit
- Increase current prescription usage
- Deliver samples
- Build relationships with doctors
- Get drug into a formulary pull through
- Sample Management
- Track delivery of prescription drug samples to
physicians or other purchasers
25Effective Detailing
Influences on Physician Prescribing Habits
Potential drug-drug interactions
Side Effects
Efficacy
Dosage
Drug delivery method
Payor formulary status
Cost of drug
Patient request
Personal preference
Brand
Source IBM Analysis
26Detailings Value to the Physician
- Learn new drug information
- Get drug samples
- Connect with peers or physician thought leaders
- Receive the perks
- Establish personal contact with the drug company
- Provide stress release
Source IBM Analysis
27Detailing - Physician Concerns
What are your top complaints about detailers?
78
Biased information
47
Inconvenient timing
44
Too many from the same company
40
Take too much time
28
Not enough medical expertise
20
Not enough samples
Source The Forrester Report Pharmas Detailing
Overhaul, February 2001 (IMS Health,
Scott-Levin, Forrester Research, Inc)
(Ziment/WebSurveyMD.com) IBM Analysis
28Companies Are Experimenting with e-Detailing
There have been promises made about the benefits
of e-Detailing
Benefits to Physicians
- Allows physicians to see sales reps, gather
information they deem important, and to have the
flexibility and control to do it in their own
schedule
- Offers physicians a range of convenient
interactive channels
- Provides timely updated drug information
- Provides simpler sample ordering and delivery
- Provides quality peer-to-peer discussions on a
topic that interests a physician.
Source IMS Health, iPhysicianNet website,
Aptilon.com website, IBM Analysis
29Sample Management
- The pharmaceutical industry in America
distributed 6.7 billion worth of samples to
physicians in 1999 - During a typical month, the average
pharmaceutical sales representative will visit
150 physicians, distribute thousands of packages
of drug samples, obtain FDA required signatures
on 150 sample distribution forms and receive
scores of new sample cartons to their home-based
office, and expend as much as 25 of their time
tediously managing a paper-based process
Source IMS Health
30Sample Management and Regulatory Requirements
- PDMA (Prescription Drug Marketing Act)
- Designed to minimize the threat to the public
health posed by prescription drug diversion and
counterfeiting - Requires that samples distributed by
pharmaceutical representatives be signed for and
tracked to create audit trails - Helps to ensure that the correct physician
receives the correct samples. If a pharmaceutical
company is found to be non-compliant, they could
face significant penalties, fines, and possibly
even prison terms
Source FDA
31Typical Sample Distribution Process
- The pharmaceutical sales representative (rep)
arrives at a physicians office. - The rep manually fills out a pre-printed sample
distribution form including physician
information, sample product information, and the
proper quantity of all samples to be
distributed. - The representative conducts a 3-5 minute
presentation with the doctor about the product he
or she is promoting, encouraging the physician to
write more scripts for the product. - The rep ends the detail by giving the physician
the intended samples, and asks the physician to
manually sign for the samples on the distribution
form. - At the end of the day, the rep will review each
distribution form to check for accuracy, and then
manually type all of the data from every form
into their laptop Sales Force Automation (SFA)
system. - The rep then removes a copy of the triplicate
form for his or her own records which must be
kept for seven years, and mails a copy to a
central processing location. - The data sent to the central processing location
is then manually entered for a second time into a
database by a team of data processors. Since this
is a manual process, there is an increased chance
for the data to be full of errors. Each
discrepancy found must later be reconciled during
an audit to meet PDMA standards. It can often
take weeks before this information is matched to
the sales representatives inventory, and even
longer for the marketing manager to gain access
to it. - Finally, the representative will place a manual
order, writing everything out on yet another
pre-printed form, to replenish their own sample
inventory
Source Pharmiweb
32OTHER MARKETING SALES TECHNIQUES
33Key Opinion Leader Management
- Expert physicians -- often called "opinion
leaders" or "thought leaders" -- play critical
roles in driving pharmaceutical sales - Participate in ongoing RD
- Have privileged access to RD information
- Company-sponsored featured speaking engagements
at prestigious conferences - Exchange ideas with other physicians regarding
new products or indications or adverse events - Helps convince other doctors to prescribe new
products and can make the difference between a
successful product launch and a major
disappointment - Program is actively integrated with marketing
program - Physician recruitment (specialty, name
recognition, etc.) - Matching to appropriate RD efforts
- Matching to appropriate marketing programs
34Medical Science Liaisons (MSLs)
- Scientific professionals
- Pharmaceutical PhDs
- Pharmacists
- Physicians
- Nurses
- Generally have more scientific knowledge than
sales representatives - Roles
- Support and expand sales representatives
marketing of a product - Be able to speak to the purchaser on a more
scientific (peer) level not on a marketing level - Will focus on clinical information
- Focus on key opinion leaders
- Typically will only see more knowledgeable sales
reps - Organize symposia, conferences, focus groups,
etc. - Training and continuing education programs
- May be involved in setting up Phase IV trials
(post launch)