What is Prescription Drug Marketing?
Pharmaceutical industry is different from other sectors in term of marketing and sale type. In pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical companies can’t sell drugs directly to customers. Drugs require a prescription of a registered medical practitioner to be sold to patient or its care taker. Without prescription, sale of prescription drugs like Schedule H, Schedule H1, and Schedule C and C1, Schedule G, and Schedule X etc drugs are prohibited. No pharmacy or chemist shop allows selling prescription drug to patient or its care taker. OTC and herbal medicines are allowed to sell without prescription of medical practitioner.
Selling drugs through generating prescription from registered medical practitioner is known as prescription drug marketing. Pharmaceutical companies have to market and promote their products to the registered medical practitioners. It is also known as detailing marketing.
Pharmaceutical company sales representative also known as medical rep, medical representative etc visit to doctors, hospitals, institute and details doctors about particular molecule, their uses, side effects, dosage, benefits etc and convince them to prescribe their product at prescription to patients. Detailing is also useful for doctors as it provides brief knowledge about that particular molecule.
Pharmaceutical industry is competitive market and lot of competition is present at ground level. Hundreds of pharmaceutical company’s medical representatives visit to doctors daily to convince them for prescribing their company’s brand. Over crowded medical rep presence has started to irritate doctors and knowledge driven detailing has lost its concept with time.
This overcrowded sales force creates a challenge to pharmaceutical ethical practice and promote unethical practice thanks to the target pressure at sale force. Pharmaceutical companies have to invest at team building and their training to make sales force competitive and performing. Along with detailing freebies, gifts and lucrative seductions are used to generate prescription.
Prescription drug marketing concept is also different in USA and India as definition of prescription drugs and generic drugs varies in both countries. As USA has only single brand available for a particular molecule and remaining products will be only with generic name but in India, every product has a brand name whether it is researched molecule (Branded Medicines) or generic version (Generic Medicines) of that molecule. Which are known as branded generics.
Single brand availability differentiates Brand with generic versions of that molecule. Branded medicine sold out at higher price but generic versions are comparatively lower rates, and reduce prescription cost for patients. In multi brand market it is not possible to differentiate between these and prices remains almost same for all brands and doesn’t affect prescription cost.
Despite of disadvantage one major advantage of multi brand market is that it pressurize innovator’s brand to compete with other brand and keep check at its prices as not in case of single brand market where innovator’s brand sold out at sky high rates.
Selling drugs through generating prescription from registered medical practitioner is known as prescription drug marketing. Pharmaceutical companies have to market and promote their products to the registered medical practitioners. It is also known as detailing marketing.
Pharmaceutical company sales representative also known as medical rep, medical representative etc visit to doctors, hospitals, institute and details doctors about particular molecule, their uses, side effects, dosage, benefits etc and convince them to prescribe their product at prescription to patients. Detailing is also useful for doctors as it provides brief knowledge about that particular molecule.
Pharmaceutical industry is competitive market and lot of competition is present at ground level. Hundreds of pharmaceutical company’s medical representatives visit to doctors daily to convince them for prescribing their company’s brand. Over crowded medical rep presence has started to irritate doctors and knowledge driven detailing has lost its concept with time.
This overcrowded sales force creates a challenge to pharmaceutical ethical practice and promote unethical practice thanks to the target pressure at sale force. Pharmaceutical companies have to invest at team building and their training to make sales force competitive and performing. Along with detailing freebies, gifts and lucrative seductions are used to generate prescription.
Prescription drug marketing concept is also different in USA and India as definition of prescription drugs and generic drugs varies in both countries. As USA has only single brand available for a particular molecule and remaining products will be only with generic name but in India, every product has a brand name whether it is researched molecule (Branded Medicines) or generic version (Generic Medicines) of that molecule. Which are known as branded generics.
Single brand availability differentiates Brand with generic versions of that molecule. Branded medicine sold out at higher price but generic versions are comparatively lower rates, and reduce prescription cost for patients. In multi brand market it is not possible to differentiate between these and prices remains almost same for all brands and doesn’t affect prescription cost.
Despite of disadvantage one major advantage of multi brand market is that it pressurize innovator’s brand to compete with other brand and keep check at its prices as not in case of single brand market where innovator’s brand sold out at sky high rates.
Check out: How to convince doctor's to prescribe own Brands?
Hope above information is helpful to you...
For any query and suggestion, mail us at pharmafranchiseehelp@gmail.com
Hope above information is helpful to you...
For any query and suggestion, mail us at pharmafranchiseehelp@gmail.com
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