Advice Pool - Business

Marketing research is necessary to determine what types of businesses have the potential to succeed, what area is right for your business, and are there enough potential custome

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

rs to make your business economically viable. Most businesses use one or more of the following market research methods:

1. Surveys. Using concise, straightforward questionnai

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

es, you can analyze a sample group that represents your target market. The larger the sample, the more reliable the results. In-person surveys are one-on-one interviews typical

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

y conducted in high-traffic locations such as shopping malls. You can give people a sample of your product and gather immediate feedback. In-person surveys get good results, but

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

they are expensive. The estimated cost is $100 per interview.

2. Telephone surveys are less expensive than in-person surveys, but consumers resist and resent relentless telema

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

keting. It is difficult to have participation in phone surveys. The response rate is approximately 50%.

3. Mail surveys are a relatively inexpensive way to reach a many consu

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

mers. They are the cheapest research method, but they typically only generate a 3% response rate.

4. Online Surveys may generate unpredictable response rates and unreliable da

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

a, because you have no control over the respondents. An online survey will only give you simple and sometimes vague responses. However, they are inexpensive, and you may to gat

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

er helpful information about what items capture the customer’s attention.

5. Focus groups use a moderator who asks a series of prepared questions and invites discussion about

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

he questions among a group of people for one or two hours. These sessions usually take place at facilities where the sessions can be videotaped. Usually there is an observation

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

room with a one-way mirror like an interrogation room. The researcher can gain immediate information.

6. Personal interviews include unstructured, open-ended questions lastin

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

g for about an hour. They are usually recorded. Like focus groups, the data is more subjective data than data from surveys. They usually do not represent a large enough segment

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

of the population to gather statistically reliable information. They do give insights into customer attitudes and are potential issues about new products or service.

7. Observ

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

tion of surveys and focus groups may not give true representations of actual behavior. If you can arrange to observe consumers in action by videotaping them in stores, at work

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

or at home, you get a much more accurate view of their buying behavior, usage habits, and shopping patterns.

8. Field trials is the process of placing a new product in select

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

d stores to observe customer responses in an actual selling setting. The observations may help you make product, price, or packaging modifications.

Whatever kind of market res

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

earch you use, the purpose is to determine whether you can reasonably expect success from the business you have chosen to start in a particular market. The more information you

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

have, the better you will be able to answer the key questions about the potential success of your business idea.

Jo Ann Joy, Esq., MBA, CEO Copyright 2006 Indigo Business S

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

mail at 2313 East Ocotillo Road, Phoenix, AZ 85016

Copyright 2006. Indigo Business Solutions is a registered trade name.

The future of your business starts here.

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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