1. The Physician - Pharma Relationship

2.  Is very old and very close  But are the goals of pharmaceutical companies and medicine the same?

3.  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 can’t 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.  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 The real purpose of samples

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 office…a no-see strategy is critical for companies to overcome”

10.  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

12.  Detail only 21%  Detail and print [ads] 36%  Detail and sales aid 33%  Detail and print and sales aid 44% Correct message retention by media mix

13.  Pharma spends 2-3 times as much on marketing as it does on research

14. Thank you