Pharmaceutical Sales and Marketing Articles

Physicians are a heterogeneous group with widely varying interests and aspirations. Many also have ancillary careers, which sometimes become full-time pursuits. Bradford Frank, MD, is one such doctor turned entrepreneur. He created http://thedoctorzone.com/ as a resource devoted to the needs and interests of other physician entrepreneurs.

Jill Wechsler
First, there was the international heparin crisis. Then more contaminated food, a crackdown on cough-and-cold medicines for children, melamine in baby formula, and multiple drug safety issues. The Science Board said that FDA cannot do its job due to a depleted work force, obsolete information systems, and a weak science base.

Months into the global financial crisis, the world continues to dedicate vast amounts of energy to worrying. Government officials issue lengthy statements to calm the markets; accountants spin their earnings reports; pundits yell more loudly than ever; and traders buy and sell at breakneck speeds.

The cover of this month's Pharm Exec may look as if it's about disaster, but that's not the way we meant it. It's not about falling off a cliff; it's about crossing a bridge that extends from yesterday, and an old, failing way of doing things, to tomorrow, and a revitalized pursuit of new (still only dimly understood) goals. Admittedly, in our cover illustration the bridge is out.

In these tough times, how does pharma see its future? How confident are top executives in the future of the industry and their own company? Does size make a difference? These were among the questions TGaS Advisors asked 20 operations executives from a cross-section of large, mid-tier, and specialty companies for its annual State of Commercial Operations benchmark conducted late last year.

Increasing numbers of low-cost and substitute products. Intense cost pressures. Falling prices and profits. Dramatically higher R&D costs. Fewer new, innovative products. High-quality products with little differentiation. Single-digit sales growth.

If pharma execs start upping their consumption of antihypertensives and anxiolytics (all branded, of course) in the months to come, it won't be a huge surprise. As we head into 2009, two remarkable developments—the collapse of the global economy and the election of Barack Obama as president—may be leaving them a bit stressed out.

Quality over quantity, a more tenured sales force, and yes, even some exciting double-digit growth were bright spots for pharma in 2008, a year which saw company giants begin to rightsize their sales forces and pull back from the "arms race" mentality.

Jill Wechsler

Patrick Clinton