Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Dr.

Taher Hamed

(1) An Introduction to Market Research

Market Research

Secondary Research

Internal Sources
Company Accounts Internal Reports and Analysis Stock Analysis Retail data Customer loyalty cards, etc.

External Sources
Government Statistics Trade publications Commercial Data ( Commercial Chambers) Household Expenditure Survey Magazine surveys Other firms research Research documents publications, journals, etc. Professional Market Research Agencies (IMS)

Primary Research

Market Research
Primary Research
First hand information Expensive to collect, analyse and evaluate Can be highly focussed and relevant Care needs to be taken with the approach and methodology to ensure accuracy Types of question closed limited information gained; open useful information but difficult to analyse

Market Research
Quantitative and Qualitative Information: Quantitative based on numbers 26% of Egyptians over 60 year olds have hypertension - doesnt tell you why, when, how Qualitative more detail tells you why, when and how!

Purpose

Market Research
Advantages of Market Research
Helps focus attention on objectives Aids forecasting, planning and strategic development May help to reduce risk of new product development Communicates image, vision, etc. Globalisation makes market information valuable

Market Research
Disadvantages of Market Research
Information only as good as the methodology used Can be inaccurate or unreliable Results may not be what the business wants to hear! May stifle initiative and gut feeling Always a problem that we may never know enough to be sure!

Pharmaceutical Marketing Research

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Unique Aspects of Pharmaceutical Marketing and Sales

Influence of non-purchasers (Physicians-Pharmacists) on the purchasing habits of the consumer. Authorization power of physicians consumers need an authorized document to purchase a prescription drug Importance of the diagnosis and knowledge of diseases 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

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Definitions
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

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Market 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
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Questions Answered by Market Research

Strategic Level:
What diseases or product areas should be considered for long-term investment or Short-term investment? 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?

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Questions Answered by Market Research

Clinical trial Planning:
Seasonality Regionality Specialty

Pre-marketing 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?

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Questions 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.
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Types of Market Research

Hospital Purchases Retail Pharmacy Purchases Warehouse Withdrawals

Promotional Media

Periodic Surveys

Retail Pharmacy Prescriptions

Retail Pharmacy Sales

Physician Panels

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Types of Market Research

Measures the inflow of products from the manufacturer to the pharmacy OTC Prescription drugs Indirect (through wholesalers) Direct purchases from manufacturers

Retail Pharmacy Purchases

Periodic Surveys

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Types of Market Research

Hospital Purchases

Periodic Surveys

Measures the inflow of products from the manufacturer to the hospital OTC Prescription drugs Indirect (through wholesalers) Direct purchases from manufacturers

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Types of Market Research

Measures the outflow of products from the warehouse to all purchasers
OTC Prescription drugs)

Warehouse Withdrawals

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

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Types 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

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Types 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

Periodic Surveys

Tracking of new prescriptions over time and monitors changes in doctor prescribing habits

Physician Panels

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Types of Market Research

Periodic Surveys
Retail Pharmacy Sales

Historically used for nonprescription pharmaceuticals Data typically collected for products of interest Collect unit and L.E 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

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Types of Market Research

Promotional Media

Periodic Surveys

Monitoring of detailing visits to physicians by sales representatives Monitoring of journal advertising Monitoring of direct mail advertising Physician sampling

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Market Research Organizations

IMS Health Data-monitor Healthcare Consulting Frost. COM Reuters Also check out:
eyeforpharma.com FDA.gov Journal of the American Hospital Association AMA Drug Evaluations

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