Monday, February 15, 2010

No more free lunches!
So what’s next for the
Pharmaceutical Industry?


There are fervent discussions going on behind the closed doors of various doctor association offices. The topic? You guessed it, the recent Medical Council of India (MCI) guidelines. There is no doubt that this time around pharma companies and doctor community have taken the issue seriously. There have been strong views & counterviews towards these stringent guidelines.

There are of course pros and cons to the guidelines. The good thing is now the industry has the chance to cleanse its image (which of late received a lot of negative media publicity for alleged unethical practices). The bigger challenge is of course how to look at new kind of influencers for doctors and reps. Undoubtedly, this may involve reinventing the entire marketing modus operandi for some.

We at Sorento felt a strong need to know your view as industry experts on MCI guidelines & its implications on pharmaceutical industry / marketing tactics for gaining market share.
With your consent, we propose to publish these views in our Sorento’s mouthpiece for the industry happenings, “Creative Playgroup”. We are sure you would like to participate, deliberate and debate to get a more comprehensive view on this issue.

In this context we invite your views on the following areas:
  • What kind of changes you foresee in the industry & among doctor community?
  • How optimistic are you about the implementation of these guidelines by the industry & doctors?
  • Do you think these guidelines stress the need for a different kind of marketing? If yes what are the new opportunities that will open up?

Please let us know your views by clicking the ‘Comment’ tab at the end of this post.
Or you can even email your views to sbarde@sorentohealth.com


(You can view the original MCI guidelnes by clicking
on the 'The Gazette of India' thumbnails given below)