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Indian Pharmaceutical Innovation – Post TRIPS

It is the twentieth anniversary of the new patent act in January 2025. The post-patent (P20) era is a story of resilience, determination, and charting a course that set global ambitions, a story of finding opportunity in adversity. It is a story for case studies in business schools, in international studies, in global health efforts.


Masterful Minds Make Monumental Sales Moments

In our rapidly changing world, adaptability is essential. The strategies and decisions that yielded results yesterday might not be as effective today. By actively engaging with and updating our mental models, we position ourselves to adapt swiftly to evolving circumstances. This ensures our decisions remain timely and anchored in the present.


Geo-Fencing / Shadow Messaging – Hook for Pharma Marketers

In the dynamic world of pharmaceutical marketing, staying ahead of the curve is essential for success. As technology continues to evolve, so do the opportunities for innovative campaigns. One area where pharma marketers can make a significant impact is in raising awareness about non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and promoting real-world studies and clinical trials.



How to Harness the Power of Omnichannel Marketing in the Pharma Industry

Pharmaceutical & medical devices Industry is fast adapting to these changes at various levels of the value chain. Billions of dollars are being spent on digital transformation projects ranging from usage of AI & ML in product development, production and predictive maintenance, Blockchain in supply chain and data management & analytics in strategic decision making.

This article focuses on Omnichannel marketing, one of the key digital transformations that the industry is learning and implementing at a rapid pace.

Omnichannel Marketing: Promise and Possibilities

An industry that historically focused all their brand building and market shaping efforts through F2F meetings & medical education programs has started making giant strides in multi-channel strategy now.

A digital journey that started with an e-detailing platform has progressed fast by adding brand websites, Approved E-Mails, social media, webinars and other media effectively creating a multi-channel strategy. The only hindside to this is, all these channels work independently, expecting HCPs to find and sort out information themselves.


Violence Against Medics – Lessons to Draw from Private Hospitals

One interesting fact: most medical colleges and linked public hospitals in major cities were designed in the British era, with an open ward design. A medical administrator, tongue-in-cheek, put it succinctly: “When these hospitals were designed, nobody would have imagined that doctors will face violence”.

Time for design thinking in public healthcare delivery!


Without Re-skilling, You’re as Good as Un-Schooled

Pharma companies that used large field forces for multiple divisions, selling the same me-too products to create a resounding Share-of-the-Voice in the market are beginning to Stare-at-the-Diminishing-Returns for investments on traditional sales and marketing strategies, if they can be called strategies at all in the first place.

Most pharma companies and professionals like Black & Yellow cabs, continue to hope against hope, that somehow they will be able to continue to hold on to their businesses and jobs till their shares are sold and EMIs are paid. After that, who cares?

The answer to pharma and healthcare’s challenges will need a combination of profound domain knowledge and experience combined with digital skills to engage Rx customers meaningfully.



The Pill is Now a Commodity – Can ‘Beyond the Pill’ Models Work in India?

The pill is now a commodity that many of these companies provide at heavy discounts, making money off everything ‘beyond the pill’. Investors are betting heavily on the potential of technological innovation to transform the way healthcare is delivered.

The Economic Times reported that in 2021, India recorded investments of $77 billion across 1,266 deals including 164 large deals worth $58 billion. While the money reduced in 2022, the reason wasn’t a lack of faith in this business model.

Meanwhile, the pharmaceuticals industry that is most affected by this quiet but rapid change, is grappling with its entrenched culture. Its current business is so profitable that everything else pales in comparison.

‘Build, measure, learn, build again’ – a mantra of the health tech industry is alien to pharma that doesn’t learn, build or measure after launching a product.

Pharma also thinks of its customers as doctors alone and does precious little to connect with patients, or caregivers. People who are not sick do not feature on their radar at all. These are cultural values that keep pharma focused on the pill and discourage thinking beyond it.

A social media poll conducted by MedicinMan showed almost predictable responses. 100+ respondents who work in the pharma industry in India were quite clearly divided. 48% of them wanted to know what beyond the pill actually meant, while 23% wanted to know how to execute it.

The rest felt that the ultra-competitive environment in the Indian generics market required very high share-of-voice tactics (19%), or that their customers demanded product information (9%).


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