I notice my personal trend when pursuing the opportunity in pharma sales. It is by no means representing the trend for the whole pharma industry but I'm just sharing in case you're making a decision on which opportunity to pursue, for example going for a new medical sales job or joining generic pharma company.
There are a few reasons for this:
Looking more at growth potential and agility
More control to their representatives to make decisions and plan of actions.
It does not mean that they pay better, but job satisfaction is not about salary or money related issues alone. The latest company I joined is smaller than the previous one, and the previous one was even lower than the one before. This is something I consciously decide to do.
I believe this is influenced by my knowledge of business online which I find its useful application on the street.
The previous portfolio I got involved in was very focused on one disease, and the recent one is even more focused.
In fact, I can safely say that it's like there are only TWO companies in the whole world that went for this niche.
How's that for focus?
An exciting question reached me today.
It says:
"How has pharmaceutical sales changed in the past 10 years?"
I say that it's interesting because I was about to write something similar in the next few days, but since the question has been asked, I might as well go ahead and answer it now.
Let me quickly walk you down my memory lane:
I can do this because I've been walking through this pharmaceutical path for slightly more than a decade ...
... 12 years to be precise.
This same period, ten years ago, the year would be 2003. That year, I was making my move from covering Government and Private Hospital sector to General Practitioners (GP) and the retail pharmacy sector. It was a big career jump. I'm still feeling anxious every time I think about that moment, but it was a calculated decision. I wanted to make the jump.
Back then, wanting a different sales experience was the main driving force.
Having a different product to cover was secondary. I just want a different sales experience covering GPs. It's part of my long term plan. Those days, covering the hospital sector can be very routine once you know who, what, where, and when.
To elaborate more, once you know who to see: the Consultants or Key Opinion Leaders, once you know what to say to them, once you know where they practice and once you know the best time to see them, your job becomes a routine.
I kept doing the same thing over, and over and over again.
Those days:
Hospitals had a huge budget to play with. No need to rotate contract for the item purchased, no need to severely limit purchase, fewer people needed to go through and promotional activities could range from ordinary to "wild" ...
... Wild means very little need to be considered regarding ethical or compliance issues. It was entirely free to bend corners here and there and not getting legal action taken.
Those were the days.
Those days:
It was easy to set the sky-high target and yet see pharma reps meeting and exceeding goals. Reps did earn huge incentives payout and being in the pharma industry was like working with ATM - you key in the right numbers and get to collect handsome cash and other sales incentives.
Those were the days.
A few years after 2003, in late 2006 and early 2007, I saw the pharma industry made some unexpected turn. I would not say that the whole industry turned because our company turned, but the company I worked with was the most significant industry player back then. What affected it, seemed to change the whole industry.
It started with a merger and acquisition exercise:
It was the biggest M& A then.
The process was far from complete, and the financial burden still dragged for years and years. No one really knows how it will end, but the exercise was delightful to experience with dinners, get together feast, and so on. No one really thought about the downturn and "bad side of the deal."
Then the real turning point came about:
One of the reasons for M&A, those days, was to cut short research and development (R&D) for products ...
... In my previous company's case, it was for the pain killer product.
But for some unexpected reason, one of the competitors was having adverse event outcomes with painkillers of a similar group. Due to that, the product was taken out of the market. Our company's product was not, but it was imposed to display a "black box" warning on every box.
That single event affects total sales.
Some jobs were cut off to compensate for the decline of overall profit. It was a global initiative at first, then it spilled over to the local level, and a "voluntary separation scheme" (VSS) was offered at that point in time.
As if that was not enough, another turmoil was brewing, and it acts as a killer blow to the pharma company I was with.
It was the generic attack on the blockbuster product...
...and it was the killer blow.
More jobs were lost, and profit continues to decline. Like I said earlier, since this was one of the most significant players in the pharma industry, what happened to it sort of affecting the whole industry.
If the small guy can now take the big guy, more small guys had the confidence to come out to the open to take on the bigger guys. It was a hideous battle of the price - decent versus generics, and profit was the ultimate prize.
The battle still continues.
Chain of events marked the dawn of "blockbuster drugs" as industry players know it.
For the past 5 years, many changes have taken over the industry's landscape:
Companies, for instance, are more vigilant with the "code of conduct." There has been tighter control over how pharma companies promoting their products and compliance has become a central theme.
Many CEOs come and go due to related issues, and billions of dollars were thrown in to settle legal suits. The highest so far is 3 billion dollars, paid by GSK for the wrongful representation of the product. Many legal suits took place along those lines, and they show no sign of stopping anytime soon.
What has happened in the last 10 years of pharmaceutical sales?
From my point of view, many things had happened for the past decade.
They affect the quality of life, financial and to a certain extent, mental state, of people who directly involve with the pharma industry.
The question now is:
What are you going to do with what happened?
I was just finished my visit to a consultant physician when a rep from another company with her boss was waiting outside the consultant's room.
As I was walking away, I overheard them talking:
"Yes?" asked the physician.
"Where are you from?"
"We're from Pharma Comp A doctor," the female rep answered.
"Pharma Comp A? What is it about?" asked the consultant.
"Oh! It's about Drug A, Drug B, and Drug C doctor," answered the rep as they walked into the physician room.
Now, here's what I was thinking:
What if I was in the female rep shoes and was asked the same question.
How would I answer?
The question is mostly about what the pharma company I'm representing is about.
Should I say something 'funny' like:
"Ha! Ha! Where were you all this while doctor? We're the biggest producer for blah blah blah in the whole world! And you've never heard of us?"
Should I say something 'intellectual,' like:
"There are currently 21 ethical drug companies and 128 generic drug companies in this country. As of today, April 26th, 2013, we're ranking at number 5 as the highest ROI ethical pharma companies, and number 12 overall, ethical and generic companies combine, in term of CAGR."
Should I say:
"Well doctor, that's why we're here for - to introduce you to what's provided by this pharma company - in helping you to meet your patients' treatment needs. Can I ask you a few questions before we proceed?"
As I was running the scene in my mind, I even thought of using the company's tag line as the hook: "Doctor, we are providers of treatment answers that matter to you and your patients."
Perhaps I can use that!
But the thing is, this is not the first time, I believe, the rep sees the consultant. One of her company's drug posters can be found outside the physician room.
Maybe, the physician was just teasing her since the boss was around. That should be fun!
Of course, it's fun to the consultant but not to the rep. I can tell you that.
I was thinking, the answer here needs to be short and sweet ...
... It needs to convey a hook and a key message.
One of the examples I come up with above might have met these two criteria.
Can you help me choose which one?
I'm leaning towards the 'introduce and ask a question' example.
But that's just me.
How about you?
For those who are going for pharma sales job interview, may I suggest asking the question:
"What is this company is all about?" ...
... When you were given the opportunity to ask the interviewer(s) question. It helps you to focus and imagine the possibility of working for the company.
If you see an excellent value fits between your profit and company's, the chance is high that you'll go far working together, but I'm not going to touch on benefits and congruent here. Those might be good topics for another time.
For now, I suggest, you think about how to best answer the question and practice it in front of the mirror. Practice until it becomes part of you and you can spontaneously give the answer whenever asked.
You can call this a 'script' or 'can' answer.
Why 'can'?
It's because what you see outside the can is what you get inside.
If you see baked beans, you can bet that you won't see medium size pizza inside the can!
That's what I'm saying.
I'm going to touch on the job outlook for pharmaceutical sales now.
If you've been following this blog, you'll find sort of flow, that run across the topic. After all, some of the write up can be traced back since 2007. Even back then, pharmaceutical sales and its industry were already very dynamic.
For the company I worked with in particular, it all began right after a massive merger.
In fact, it was considered the biggest merger ever in the pharma industry.
Due to its vast transaction amount, it took a while to see the return on investment.
Well, I guess 'a while' feels like forever!
And then:
Another disaster hit one of the significant product portfolio - the pain killer franchise. It was not directly concerning the product, but the pain killer happens to be in the same class...
...and the suspension order was issued.
Due to that, the operation side was affected, and so was the sales side. The effect then trickles to another region as well. It hit "home" the very next year, and the company had to let go of some of the employees.
It's harsh, but it's the reality.
In fact, not only the direct portfolio was affected. Those around us were affected indirectly. Double goes to the sales force.
Perhaps, it's a simple thing to implement, whenever a problem arises and involves the revenue of the company, the sales force needs to be cut.
It conveys the impression that salesforce costs the most for pharma companies.
Maybe it is, but how else can you "trade" drugs to revenue other than selling?
This practice seems to increase lately, in 2012 specifically, because of the patent cliff (patent expiry).
Many blockbuster products suddenly find themselves losing market positions, and with that, the sales force behind those products was taking along with the downfall.
And that sort of painting the picture for the overall outlook for pharmaceutical sales jobs ...
... I said sort of because that's not the whole picture.
If those outside the pharma industry thinking of getting their feet in, patent expiry that causes job loss is very important to factor consider.
You don't want to get caught in the middle of a meltdown or snowball, so, make it a point to look into products that were going through such phases.
Having said that, the sun is not setting on the pharma sales job horizon.
Let's take the patent expiry scenario above:
A few years ago when I was working for a multinational pharma company that just lost its prime antibiotic's patent.
But the trepidation didn't last long.
The company had learned its lesson from the previous patent loss ...
... The company was prepared.
And there were pharma companies that think three or four steps ahead by creating their generic subsidiary.
Therein lies pharma sales job opportunities.
But perhaps, the preference will be skewed to those with experience, particularly those with a similar product portfolio. It's a big "but" there.
Of course, people with no experience still stand a chance to compete for the medical sales rep job, with added creativity, persistence, and effort. It's a level playing field, as level as you see it to be.
And the generics:
Those products with patent lost might see the end of the daylight, but it means the sun is rising on another horizon. There are many generics companies established since the beginning of time. One thing to remember is:
Not all generic companies were created the same.
Local generics and foreign generics were different, and when it comes to countries and their preferences, no one country is similar to another. For example, the country I lived in, it prefers the local generic over its foreign counterpart, for whatever reason, known or unknown to us.
And how's this relate to medical representative job outlook?
It only sends the message that:
If you were job hunting in this segment, and you've ruled out Multinational Pharma as a potential employer, consider joining generics drug company, and to take it even further, find which is better for your situation: local or foreign generics.
Looks like the decision is mainly depending on your goal, motivation, and what you want from the job.
If, for example, you just want to learn how to sell and monetary rewards are not that important, join a foreign generics company.
Well, I may be wrong because some foreign generics companies do pay their sales force handsomely.
It's for you to decide.
So, let us recap what was shared up to this point:
1) Pharma sales job portrays a bleak outlook for many blockbusters' drug companies.
This is mainly due to the "patent cliff" phenomenon, and it looks like it's going to go on for a while.
Do exercise extreme caution when making a move into such companies.
For those who already in, perhaps, the direction is...
2) Generics drug companies.
Some experienced medical sales reps already moving away from multinational to generics companies, foreign or local, and charting a different career course. There's nothing to predict the success or failure for reps who making career moves this way because, in the end, the deciding factor is how one walks the path ...
...you can stick to a multinational company and succeed...
...or, you can change to generic companies and be equally (or more) successful.
You get to decide that.
And I wish you all the best for your endeavor!
Selling for generic companies is more than just about incentive payout or take-home salary.
Those of you who think of going into a pharmaceutical sales job, you would probably come to a point where you need to choose between selling for an innovator company like Pfizer or selling for generic drug company like Cipla.
Both have their pros and cons, and to help you make a choice, getting some background info is going to be helpful.
If you are based in India, for example, you need to know that they have specific regulations when it comes to drug patent, which can affect your remuneration in general.
Here's what I mean:
Over to you ...
As you can see, in this case, selling with a generic company is more than just about making a big incentive payout or higher base salary. Let me highlight the part that emphasizes a larger-than-job reason to sell for generic:
"... to ensure medicines remain affordable for the country where less than 15 percent of the population has health insurance ..."
Can you see it?
Hope this helps you make the right decision (which I admit I'm biased towards selling generics right now) on which pharma sales job you want to go for.
"No one shall be denied quality healthcare and services."
First time ever in my pharma career which span almost 12 years now, I joined a pharma generic company sales force as one of its members:
I'm anxious
I'm thrilled
I'm honored because the generic company makes one of my personal aims come accurate -- to work for a generic company.
The training structure they had in place is fantastic!
I'll spare the details for the reason why I had a personal aim to work in a generic pharma company, be it from Italy, Canada or India. I just want to highlight my amazement with this particular generic company especially its training.
I thought, initially when I got absorbed into the generic pharma industry, the most I'll get from training is some quiet time to read piles of brochures.
Boy, I was wrong with this one!
I was put through:
the complete induction
product training (its science and marketing)
sales training.
It's not only the training but the trainer too. The sales training was conducted by a trainer from the pharma company home ground ...
... The only time I remember having such experience was with a diagnostic pharma company based in Germany.
Well, looks like joining the generics is not too shabby at alley?
Going for the smaller pharma company
There are a few reasons for this:
Looking more at growth potential and agility
More control to their representatives to make decisions and plan of actions.
It does not mean that they pay better, but job satisfaction is not about salary or money related issues alone. The latest company I joined is smaller than the previous one, and the previous one was even lower than the one before. This is something I consciously decide to do.
Going for a niche portfolio
I believe this is influenced by my knowledge of business online which I find its useful application on the street.
The previous portfolio I got involved in was very focused on one disease, and the recent one is even more focused.
In fact, I can safely say that it's like there are only TWO companies in the whole world that went for this niche.
How's that for focus?
How Have Pharmaceutical Sales Changed In The Past 10 Years?
An exciting question reached me today.
It says:
"How has pharmaceutical sales changed in the past 10 years?"
I say that it's interesting because I was about to write something similar in the next few days, but since the question has been asked, I might as well go ahead and answer it now.
Let me quickly walk you down my memory lane:
I can do this because I've been walking through this pharmaceutical path for slightly more than a decade ...
... 12 years to be precise.
This same period, ten years ago, the year would be 2003. That year, I was making my move from covering Government and Private Hospital sector to General Practitioners (GP) and the retail pharmacy sector. It was a big career jump. I'm still feeling anxious every time I think about that moment, but it was a calculated decision. I wanted to make the jump.
Back then, wanting a different sales experience was the main driving force.
Having a different product to cover was secondary. I just want a different sales experience covering GPs. It's part of my long term plan. Those days, covering the hospital sector can be very routine once you know who, what, where, and when.
To elaborate more, once you know who to see: the Consultants or Key Opinion Leaders, once you know what to say to them, once you know where they practice and once you know the best time to see them, your job becomes a routine.
I kept doing the same thing over, and over and over again.
Those days:
Hospitals had a huge budget to play with. No need to rotate contract for the item purchased, no need to severely limit purchase, fewer people needed to go through and promotional activities could range from ordinary to "wild" ...
... Wild means very little need to be considered regarding ethical or compliance issues. It was entirely free to bend corners here and there and not getting legal action taken.
Those were the days.
Those days:
It was easy to set the sky-high target and yet see pharma reps meeting and exceeding goals. Reps did earn huge incentives payout and being in the pharma industry was like working with ATM - you key in the right numbers and get to collect handsome cash and other sales incentives.
Those were the days.
A few years after 2003, in late 2006 and early 2007, I saw the pharma industry made some unexpected turn. I would not say that the whole industry turned because our company turned, but the company I worked with was the most significant industry player back then. What affected it, seemed to change the whole industry.
It started with a merger and acquisition exercise:
It was the biggest M& A then.
The process was far from complete, and the financial burden still dragged for years and years. No one really knows how it will end, but the exercise was delightful to experience with dinners, get together feast, and so on. No one really thought about the downturn and "bad side of the deal."
Then the real turning point came about:
One of the reasons for M&A, those days, was to cut short research and development (R&D) for products ...
... In my previous company's case, it was for the pain killer product.
But for some unexpected reason, one of the competitors was having adverse event outcomes with painkillers of a similar group. Due to that, the product was taken out of the market. Our company's product was not, but it was imposed to display a "black box" warning on every box.
That single event affects total sales.
Some jobs were cut off to compensate for the decline of overall profit. It was a global initiative at first, then it spilled over to the local level, and a "voluntary separation scheme" (VSS) was offered at that point in time.
As if that was not enough, another turmoil was brewing, and it acts as a killer blow to the pharma company I was with.
It was the generic attack on the blockbuster product...
...and it was the killer blow.
More jobs were lost, and profit continues to decline. Like I said earlier, since this was one of the most significant players in the pharma industry, what happened to it sort of affecting the whole industry.
If the small guy can now take the big guy, more small guys had the confidence to come out to the open to take on the bigger guys. It was a hideous battle of the price - decent versus generics, and profit was the ultimate prize.
The battle still continues.
Chain of events marked the dawn of "blockbuster drugs" as industry players know it.
For the past 5 years, many changes have taken over the industry's landscape:
Companies, for instance, are more vigilant with the "code of conduct." There has been tighter control over how pharma companies promoting their products and compliance has become a central theme.
Many CEOs come and go due to related issues, and billions of dollars were thrown in to settle legal suits. The highest so far is 3 billion dollars, paid by GSK for the wrongful representation of the product. Many legal suits took place along those lines, and they show no sign of stopping anytime soon.
What has happened in the last 10 years of pharmaceutical sales?
From my point of view, many things had happened for the past decade.
They affect the quality of life, financial and to a certain extent, mental state, of people who directly involve with the pharma industry.
The question now is:
What are you going to do with what happened?
What Is Your Pharma Company About?
I was just finished my visit to a consultant physician when a rep from another company with her boss was waiting outside the consultant's room.
As I was walking away, I overheard them talking:
"Yes?" asked the physician.
"Where are you from?"
"We're from Pharma Comp A doctor," the female rep answered.
"Pharma Comp A? What is it about?" asked the consultant.
"Oh! It's about Drug A, Drug B, and Drug C doctor," answered the rep as they walked into the physician room.
Now, here's what I was thinking:
What if I was in the female rep shoes and was asked the same question.
How would I answer?
The question is mostly about what the pharma company I'm representing is about.
Should I say something 'funny' like:
"Ha! Ha! Where were you all this while doctor? We're the biggest producer for blah blah blah in the whole world! And you've never heard of us?"
Should I say something 'intellectual,' like:
"There are currently 21 ethical drug companies and 128 generic drug companies in this country. As of today, April 26th, 2013, we're ranking at number 5 as the highest ROI ethical pharma companies, and number 12 overall, ethical and generic companies combine, in term of CAGR."
Should I say:
"Well doctor, that's why we're here for - to introduce you to what's provided by this pharma company - in helping you to meet your patients' treatment needs. Can I ask you a few questions before we proceed?"
As I was running the scene in my mind, I even thought of using the company's tag line as the hook: "Doctor, we are providers of treatment answers that matter to you and your patients."
Perhaps I can use that!
But the thing is, this is not the first time, I believe, the rep sees the consultant. One of her company's drug posters can be found outside the physician room.
Maybe, the physician was just teasing her since the boss was around. That should be fun!
Of course, it's fun to the consultant but not to the rep. I can tell you that.
I was thinking, the answer here needs to be short and sweet ...
... It needs to convey a hook and a key message.
One of the examples I come up with above might have met these two criteria.
Can you help me choose which one?
I'm leaning towards the 'introduce and ask a question' example.
But that's just me.
How about you?
For those who are going for pharma sales job interview, may I suggest asking the question:
"What is this company is all about?" ...
... When you were given the opportunity to ask the interviewer(s) question. It helps you to focus and imagine the possibility of working for the company.
If you see an excellent value fits between your profit and company's, the chance is high that you'll go far working together, but I'm not going to touch on benefits and congruent here. Those might be good topics for another time.
For now, I suggest, you think about how to best answer the question and practice it in front of the mirror. Practice until it becomes part of you and you can spontaneously give the answer whenever asked.
You can call this a 'script' or 'can' answer.
Why 'can'?
It's because what you see outside the can is what you get inside.
If you see baked beans, you can bet that you won't see medium size pizza inside the can!
That's what I'm saying.
Job Outlook For Pharmaceutical Sales
I'm going to touch on the job outlook for pharmaceutical sales now.
If you've been following this blog, you'll find sort of flow, that run across the topic. After all, some of the write up can be traced back since 2007. Even back then, pharmaceutical sales and its industry were already very dynamic.
For the company I worked with in particular, it all began right after a massive merger.
In fact, it was considered the biggest merger ever in the pharma industry.
Due to its vast transaction amount, it took a while to see the return on investment.
Well, I guess 'a while' feels like forever!
And then:
Another disaster hit one of the significant product portfolio - the pain killer franchise. It was not directly concerning the product, but the pain killer happens to be in the same class...
...and the suspension order was issued.
Due to that, the operation side was affected, and so was the sales side. The effect then trickles to another region as well. It hit "home" the very next year, and the company had to let go of some of the employees.
It's harsh, but it's the reality.
In fact, not only the direct portfolio was affected. Those around us were affected indirectly. Double goes to the sales force.
Perhaps, it's a simple thing to implement, whenever a problem arises and involves the revenue of the company, the sales force needs to be cut.
It conveys the impression that salesforce costs the most for pharma companies.
Maybe it is, but how else can you "trade" drugs to revenue other than selling?
This practice seems to increase lately, in 2012 specifically, because of the patent cliff (patent expiry).
Many blockbuster products suddenly find themselves losing market positions, and with that, the sales force behind those products was taking along with the downfall.
And that sort of painting the picture for the overall outlook for pharmaceutical sales jobs ...
... I said sort of because that's not the whole picture.
If those outside the pharma industry thinking of getting their feet in, patent expiry that causes job loss is very important to factor consider.
You don't want to get caught in the middle of a meltdown or snowball, so, make it a point to look into products that were going through such phases.
Having said that, the sun is not setting on the pharma sales job horizon.
Let's take the patent expiry scenario above:
A few years ago when I was working for a multinational pharma company that just lost its prime antibiotic's patent.
But the trepidation didn't last long.
The company had learned its lesson from the previous patent loss ...
... The company was prepared.
And there were pharma companies that think three or four steps ahead by creating their generic subsidiary.
Therein lies pharma sales job opportunities.
But perhaps, the preference will be skewed to those with experience, particularly those with a similar product portfolio. It's a big "but" there.
Of course, people with no experience still stand a chance to compete for the medical sales rep job, with added creativity, persistence, and effort. It's a level playing field, as level as you see it to be.
And the generics:
Those products with patent lost might see the end of the daylight, but it means the sun is rising on another horizon. There are many generics companies established since the beginning of time. One thing to remember is:
Not all generic companies were created the same.
Local generics and foreign generics were different, and when it comes to countries and their preferences, no one country is similar to another. For example, the country I lived in, it prefers the local generic over its foreign counterpart, for whatever reason, known or unknown to us.
And how's this relate to medical representative job outlook?
It only sends the message that:
If you were job hunting in this segment, and you've ruled out Multinational Pharma as a potential employer, consider joining generics drug company, and to take it even further, find which is better for your situation: local or foreign generics.
Looks like the decision is mainly depending on your goal, motivation, and what you want from the job.
If, for example, you just want to learn how to sell and monetary rewards are not that important, join a foreign generics company.
Well, I may be wrong because some foreign generics companies do pay their sales force handsomely.
It's for you to decide.
So, let us recap what was shared up to this point:
1) Pharma sales job portrays a bleak outlook for many blockbusters' drug companies.
This is mainly due to the "patent cliff" phenomenon, and it looks like it's going to go on for a while.
Do exercise extreme caution when making a move into such companies.
For those who already in, perhaps, the direction is...
2) Generics drug companies.
Some experienced medical sales reps already moving away from multinational to generics companies, foreign or local, and charting a different career course. There's nothing to predict the success or failure for reps who making career moves this way because, in the end, the deciding factor is how one walks the path ...
...you can stick to a multinational company and succeed...
...or, you can change to generic companies and be equally (or more) successful.
You get to decide that.
And I wish you all the best for your endeavor!
Choosing To Sell For Innovator Or Generic Pharma Company
Those of you who think of going into a pharmaceutical sales job, you would probably come to a point where you need to choose between selling for an innovator company like Pfizer or selling for generic drug company like Cipla.
Both have their pros and cons, and to help you make a choice, getting some background info is going to be helpful.
If you are based in India, for example, you need to know that they have specific regulations when it comes to drug patent, which can affect your remuneration in general.
Here's what I mean:
MUMBAI (Reuters) - India has again denied Pfizer Inc a patent on its rheumatoid arthritis drug tofacitinib, the latest setback for a multinational drugmaker seeking to enforce its intellectual property rights in the country.
Pfizer sought a patent that covers an important chemical formulation of the active compound in the medicine, but the Indian Patent Office said the company would have to establish that the compound for which it is seeking a patent is therapeutically more effective than the active compound.
"The invention disclosed and claimed in the instant application ... is not considered as an invention under the provisions of the Act," Bharat N S, an assistant controller at the patent office, wrote in an order dated Sept. 3.
Pfizer is reviewing its options for further action, a Mumbai-based company spokesman said in an emailed statement.
Drug patents have become a thorny issue for global drugmakers seeking to expand in India's fast-growing healthcare market.
Companies including Pfizer, Bayer and Roche have in recent years struggled to retain exclusivity on drugs in India, and have blamed patent laws they say are designed to favour the local industry.
India, however, has said its drug patents policy is designed to ensure medicines remain affordable for the country where less than 15 percent of the population has health insurance.
India's patent office had rejected Pfizer's application to patent tofacitinib in 2011, but was ordered to reconsider the decision by the Intellectual Property Appellate Board, after Pfizer appealed.
(Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui; Editing by Miral Fahmy)
Over to you ...
As you can see, in this case, selling with a generic company is more than just about making a big incentive payout or higher base salary. Let me highlight the part that emphasizes a larger-than-job reason to sell for generic:
"... to ensure medicines remain affordable for the country where less than 15 percent of the population has health insurance ..."
Can you see it?
Hope this helps you make the right decision (which I admit I'm biased towards selling generics right now) on which pharma sales job you want to go for.
"No one shall be denied quality healthcare and services."
Generic Pharma Company Sales Training
First time ever in my pharma career which span almost 12 years now, I joined a pharma generic company sales force as one of its members:
I'm anxious
I'm thrilled
I'm honored because the generic company makes one of my personal aims come accurate -- to work for a generic company.
The training structure they had in place is fantastic!
I'll spare the details for the reason why I had a personal aim to work in a generic pharma company, be it from Italy, Canada or India. I just want to highlight my amazement with this particular generic company especially its training.
I thought, initially when I got absorbed into the generic pharma industry, the most I'll get from training is some quiet time to read piles of brochures.
Boy, I was wrong with this one!
I was put through:
the complete induction
product training (its science and marketing)
sales training.
It's not only the training but the trainer too. The sales training was conducted by a trainer from the pharma company home ground ...
... The only time I remember having such experience was with a diagnostic pharma company based in Germany.
Well, looks like joining the generics is not too shabby at alley?
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