Pharmaceutical companies information services

KYM International Directory of Pharmaceutical Companies 1988 1989, KYM Consultancy Ltd, Kent, UK Corporate Technology Directory, U.S. Edition, Corporate Technology Information Services, Wellesley Hills, Mass., 1991. 

The ABPI examinations for medical representatives and generic sales representatives are based on a syllabus published by the ABPI which covers, as appropriate, subjects such as body systems, disease processes and pharmacology, the classification of medicines and pharmaceutical technology. Information on the National Health Service and pharmaceutical industry forms an additional core part of the syllabus. The syllabus is complementary to, and may be incorporated within, the company s induction training which is provided to representatives as a pre-requisite to carrying out their function. 

A common example of a service in a community pharmacy is the filling of a prescription that is not compounded. In this case, a pharmacist, with the assistance of technicians and clerks, is adding value to the product that was made by a pharmaceutical company. The pharmacist is packaging the exact amount needed by the patient, adding information that will help the patient to take it appropriately, and billing the patients insurance company for the cost of the prescription. Pharmacists may add additional value to this product, and these value-added services illustrate the similarities to product creation. 

As pharmaceutical companies merge and continue to right-size, CSOs will become more a true partner and less a pair of hands to complete tasks. The clients will have to share more scientific information, both positive and negative, to the service providers that, in turn, will need to learn more about the entire drug discovery and development process for these partnerships to be effective and beneficial for both parties. 

The services of the medical information group are also used by internal customers, that is, other departments within the pharmaceutical company. The group supports internal customers in the same fashion as external ones. The communication with the field sales force is extremely important. It is imperative to impress upon sales representatives the limits of their ability to answer questions. Questions that include information outside the package insert should be referred to the medical information group. 

It is mandatory that pharmaceutical companies should have a scientific service which is responsible for information about medicines that they market. Council Directive 92/28/EEC (the advertising directive) states this clearly. Prescribers and qualified suppliers of medicines must have access to neutral and objective information about products that are available and companies have accepted that an information service department is a necessary and responsible facility. These are usually staffed and managed by qualified pharmacists, information scientists and nurses and, in general, should form part of the company s medical department so that impartial advice is seen to be provided. Such a service can only be... 

Chemical researchers can boost their own productivity by seeking and accepting the many valuable services that pharmaceutical companies offer them. Expert information scientists search the literature using computers, combing much of Chemical Abstracts or Beilstein to learn how to make or where to buy needed compounds. 

Table 1.2.2 The 10 largest chemical companies by sales in 2007 and 2010 (without pharmaceuticals. Data for 2007 from Behr, Agar, and Joerissen [2010] and for 2010 from International Chemical Information Service, www.icis.com (accessed on 04.09.2012).

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