THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

Sales and Medical Affairs

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

• 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

HOSPITALMEDICAL

REPRESENTATIVES

• 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

HOSPITAL REPRESENTATIVE: TYPICAL DAY

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

($42-48K, 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

• 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

HOW TO GET A JOB IN THE INDUSTRY

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