New research looking at pharmaceutical sales and promotion methods
New research from Havard in the states has looked at the impact of various types of promotion upon pharmaceutical sales.
In particular this research focused upon the impact of advertising direct to consumers, a practice not allowed in the UK but allowed in the USA since 1997. The research is highly significant as since the event in 1997 which allowed the advertising, their spend has increased by some 330% to a value of $5bn dollars, which perhaps raises the question as to why it hasn't been looked at in detail before.
In fact the conclusion of this research is that pharmaceutical sales is not responsive to advertising to customers directly in anything other than the short term. One can often see a brief spike in sales only to return to the figures before the adverts took place.
The news will be some blow to pharmaceutical companies shareholders who may now be calculating the difference the $5bn would have made to their dividends over the 10 years. The good news for UK companies is that the research confirms the biggest impact on pharmaceutical sales is through medical rep promotion, the chosen method used in the UK.
Primary Care Representative
Poor medical sales advice given in UK pharmacies
