In a recent MedicinMan Poll on LinkedIn, it was clear that pharma field forces have hit a brick wall. Other than GPs, very few specialist doctors seem interested in meeting Medical Reps.
This is in keeping with the trends in the US and European markets, where Medical Reps meet with doctors only three or four times a year. If this is the case in markets where innovative molecules are available, it is not surprising that doctors in India are not keen on meeting with Medical Reps once a month, let alone twice a month just to be reminded of branded generic names. As if doctors have some memory problems!
The world is changing at a rapid pace like never before. Just look around – we no longer visit a travel agent to book our air tickets. The once lucrative business of booking air tickets with guaranteed margin of 15% has just vanished – but we still travel more than ever.
What has changed the travel industry? The rapid digitalisation and availability of resources like makemytrip.com where you can at the click of a mouse book not just your air ticket by also your hotel and cab services.
Likewise with the Post Office. We all looked forward to the regular visits from our friendly Postman bearing good news and money orders. The rapid digital transformation of communication and banking sectors made the Post Office into a logistics vendor for eCommerce giants like Amazon.
Is Pharma also headed in the same direction?
Of course drugs, diagnostics, devices and disposable industry will grow at a rapid pace. But the way in which drugs, diagnostics, devices and disposables will be prescribed or procured will change dramatically.
At MedicinMan, we have been writing about these changes and the recent foray by Amazon into healthcare (Amazon to buy One Medical for $3.9 billion as it expands healthcare footprint) reminded me of an article written by Salil Kallianpur and published in MedicinMan in 2018.
It is time that pharma companies and pharma professionals read the writing on the wall and take steps reinvent their business model.
Otherwise, it will become a relic of the past like travel agencies and the Post Office.
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