Transcript No Slide Title

THE PHARMACEUTICAL
INDUSTRY
Sales and Medical Affairs
Jo Drummond PhD
GlaxoSmithKline
SUMMARY OF MY CAREER:
ACADEMIC RESEARCH
• B.Sc. Melbourne University
• Honours Zoology
• PhD Zoology (Neurobiology)
• Postdoctoral research
– 1 yr Melbourne University
– 2 yrs Georgia State University, USA
– 6 months Melbourne University
SUMMARY OF MY CAREER:
PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY
• GP Medical Representative
– AstraZeneca 8mths
– Cardiovascular
– Respiratory
• Hospital Representative
– AstraZeneca 4.5yrs
– Anti-infectives
• Medical Affairs Associate
– GlaxoSmithKline 6mths
– Vaccines
– Current position
MEDICAL SALES REPRESENTATIVES
• Employed by pharmaceutical company to maximise
prescribing of products in specific geographic area
• ‘Indirect’ selling to healthcare professionals
• Paperwork
– Personal budget for expenditure
– Sales data
– Recording information from all calls made with customers
– Business operational plans and SWOT analyses
• Significant travel requirement
– Country trips (eg. 5 days every 6 weeks)
– National conferences (Australia and overseas)
TRAINING
• Therapeutic area
– Basic anatomy and physiology
• Product
– How your particular drug works
• Sales
– How to become an effective sales person
• Medical representatives receive one of the best
training programs found in any industry
– Well sought after by most large companies
– Future directions not limited to pharmaceutical industry
GP MEDICAL REPRESENTATIVES
• Main customers: 500-1000 per territory
– GPs, practice nurses, community pharmacists
• Critical customers are high prescribers & key
opinion leaders who influence others
• Appointments
– Aim for 3-4 a year per customer
– Some customers allow only 1 appointment / yr
• Highly competitive between companies so
expectation is to stand out at all costs
• Companies require certain # of calls / day
• High level of sales skills imperative
GP REPRESENTATIVE:
TYPICAL DAY
• 9am: appointment at medical clinic with GP
• 9:30am: drop in to 2 pharmacies in local area
• 11am: appointment with GP
• 12:30pm: lunch at clinic (2-5 doctors, 1 nurse)
• 2-5pm: in the same area
– Drop off literature and check sample cupboards
– Drop in to see doctors or catch them at the counter
– Paper work (fill in details of all calls)
– Team meetings with members on the same territory
HOSPITAL
MEDICAL REPRESENTATIVES
• Main focus is education and customer service
• Appointments easier to obtain
• Lots of emphasis on clinical papers
• Work very closely with specialists in your area
– YOU are the product expert
• Travelling (conferences & 6/yr country trips)
• Contract negotiations for formulary listings
• Involved in development of clinical trials
• Paper work
HOSPITAL REPRESENTATIVE:
TYPICAL DAY
• 8-10am Breakfast meeting at St Vincent’s ICU
• 10am Appointment with Director of Microbiology
• 11am Appointment with Austin Health Director of ID
• 12-2pm Lunch inservice with ID/Micro journal club
• 2.30pm Page Austin Health ICU registrars
• 3pm Drop in to see ID physicians at Dorevitch
• 3:30pm Appointment with Austin haematologist
• 4pm Drop off literature for intensivists
• 4.15-5pm Enter calls and other paperwork
MEDICAL REPRESENTATIVE:
POSITIVES
• Excellent pay and promotional opportunities
• Flexibility and versatility
• Job security
• Independent working environment
• Excellent training for opportunities in other areas
– Sales in other areas, clinical research, management
• Involved in an industry that creates new medicines
to help improve people’s lives
• Challenging (?)
MEDICAL REPRESENTATIVE:
NEGATIVES
• The business world is very different to science!
• Big Brother!
– Every month, full day must be spent with field manager
to assesses your abilities in all calls
• Lots of out-of-hours work
• Often not family orientated
– Excellent for single people!
• Many doctors have condescending attitudes &
lack of respect for representatives
MEDICAL AFFAIRS ASSOCIATE
• Part of the Medical Directorate
• Medical knowledge for products within company
– Work with Marketing to develop brand strategies and
produce promotional material
– Work with Training to provide Therapeutic area and
Product knowledge to representatives
– Work with Sales (especially Specialist Representatives) to
handle customer enquiries
– Work with Medical Information and Pharmacovigilance to
handle difficult customer enquiries
MEDICAL AFFAIRS:
TYPICAL DAY
• Scan Alerts from medical journals and OVID
• Work in Progress meeting with Marketing and
external advertising and public relations agencies
• Review two promotional pieces currently under
approval process
• Today’s presentation!
• Meeting with Manager to discuss Personal
Development Plan & discuss promotional pieces
• Read clinical papers for meeting on Friday re. new
brand strategy for 2006
MEDICAL AFFAIRS:
POSITIVES
• Extremely rewarding and enjoyable
• Strong use of science background
• Encourages proactive research of disease, products
and clinical papers
• Involvement in brand strategy and development of
promotional material
• Strong teaching component
• Product expert
MEDICAL AFFAIRS:
NEGATIVES
• None!
• Act as Police for the company, approving
promotional material based on internal guidelines
and Code of Conduct
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
• Science/Research
– Honours (nil)
– PhD ($15-20K tax free)
– Research Assistant
($44K - NHMRC scale)
– Postdoctoral Fellow /
Research Officer
($50K – NHMRC)
– Research Fellow
($63K plus)
• Pharmaceutical industry
– GP representative ($4248K, car, phone,
computer, bonus
payments $5-20K)
– Hospital representative
($50-70K, car, phone,
computer, bonus
payments $5-20K)
– Management
($80K plus)
WHERE CAN YOU GO?
• Management
– Field manager
– State/National sales manager
– Sales director
• Marketing including business development
– Associate product manager
– Product manager
• Regulatory affairs
• Clinical research associate
• Training
HOW TO GET A JOB IN THE
INDUSTRY
• Research the companies and products
– Pharmaceutical (indirect sales) vs devices (direct sales)
– Company philosophies
– Different ways of working: regimented versus relaxed
– Incentive schemes
– Promotion opportunities
– Marketing and medical information support
• Talk to people in the industry
– Go out on the road for a day?
– Difficult to organise, but extremely worthwhile
HOW TO GET A JOB IN THE
INDUSTRY
• Learn to sell yourself
– Turn all negatives into positives
• Introduce yourself to companies & recruiting
agencies
• Learn how to handle interview style common to the
industry
– ‘Situation’ or ‘behavioural’ questions
• Industry courses ($200-400)
– Tanner Menzies, Darryl Alexander, Innovex
• seek.com, monster.com, The Age etc
WILL THIS JOB SUIT YOU?
• Must have passion, drive and enthusiasm
• Outgoing personality is vital for Sales
• Adaptability, resilience, persistence, creativity
• Strong communication skills
• Excellent organisation skills
• Team player – yet able to work autonomously
• Strong knowledge of the industry and customers