Physicians and Pharma

1
The Physician - Pharma Relationship
2
The Physician-Pharma Relationship

• Is very old and very close
• But are the goals of pharmaceutical companies and
  medicine the same?

3
Promotion includes

• Detailing
• Meetings and events (dinner meetings, rounds,
  symposia)
• Advertising and reprints
• Direct mail

4

• 1 minute of a sales reps interaction with a
  doctor results in a 16 prescribing change
• 3 minutes with a doctor results in a 52
  prescribing change

5
Why docs like samples

• Start treatment immediately
• Test tolerance to a new drug
• Reduce the total cost of a Rx
• Provide free medication to those who cant afford
  it

6
Why drug companies like samples

• Increases new starts on a new drug
• Encourages switches from other drugs
• Patients usually stay on the sampled drug
• Increases prescriptions of the most expensive,
  most promoted drugs

7
The real purpose of samples

• Gain access to physicians
• Habituate physicians to prescribing targeted
  drugs
• Increase goodwill by enabling doctors to give
  gifts to patients
• Serve as unacknowledged gifts to physicians and
  staff

8
Samples are a marketing tool

• the manufacturer needs to figure out the right
  amount of samples the rep has to drop off in
  order to maximize the number of paid
  prescriptions written.

9
Meetings and events

• Nearly 30 percent of physicians who attend
  association meetings refuse to see reps in their
  officea no-see strategy is critical for
  companies to overcome

10
Advertising in medical journals

• More than 95 of JAMA ads are for Rx drugs
• 5 of 6 physician organizations raised at least
  10 of annual revenue from ads in affiliated
  medical journals
• Pharma companies also purchase sponsored
  subscriptions
• And are the largest purchaser of reprints

11
I Never Read the Ads
12
Correct message retention by media mix

• Detail only 21
• Detail and print ads 36
• Detail and sales aid 33
• Detail and print and sales aid 44

13
What about RD costs?

• Pharma spends 2-3 times as much on marketing as
  it does on research

14
Thank you