FDA Policy/General

Drug Marketers’ Digital Efforts Eclipse Traditional Detail Visits

Drug company digital and non-personal contacts are on the rise as sales representatives are denied access to physicians, according to new reports from ZA Associates. In fact, such activities have now exceeded the number of sales rep visits to doctor offices, the reports say.

According to AccessMonitor, the number of “rep-accessible” physicians — the number of physicians who meet with more than 70% of sales reps who attempt to meet with them — dropped to 44% from 46% in 2015. As sales rep access to physicians continues to decline, ZS found through a related study — AffinityMonitor — that more than half (53%) of marketing outreach to physicians now takes place through “non-personal” promotion, such as email and mobile alerts, as well as direct mail and speaker programs. ZS adds that the remainder of marketing to physicians (47%) still takes place through in-person interactions with sales reps.

With this changing dynamic, pharmaceutical companies’ finance teams have not seen a significant shift in spending, ZS says. Drug companies continue to allocate most (88%) of their total sales and marketing budget to the sales force ($12 billion). And physicians estimate that 62% of the time they spend interacting with drug companies is through non-personal channels. The downside, according to ZS, is that if companies continue to increase investment in less expensive digital communications without considering customer preferences, physicians may feel overwhelmed and eventually ignore these too.

“As physicians limit access to sales reps, pharmacos should embrace a customized, thoughtful marketing approach to deliver the right message to the right provider at the right time,” ZS says in a release. “This will increase the likelihood that health care providers will continue to respond positively to communications from pharmaceutical companies despite frequent contact from sales reps.”

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FDA Classifies Boston Scientific Imager II Catheter Recall as Class I

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Gupta Raises Concerns About Overton’s Independence, Ideology

Overton Confirmation Remains Uncertain After Senate Hearing

FDA Classifies Boston Scientific Imager II Catheter Recall as Class I

FDA Approves Gazyva for Childhood-Onset Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome