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| home > epc > winter 2001 > arm for the pharmaceutical industry - protecting pharmaceutical brands and the impact of the internet |
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European Pharmaceutical Contractor
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Intellectual property has always been vital to the pharmaceutical industry. The future earnings of new drugs are assessed on the basis that they will have very high profit margins because of their virtual monopoly on the market until the patent expires. But once the 20-year patent expires, pharmaceutical companies increasingly rely on their brands to sustain sales on their blockbusting drugs.
The growth of the Internet is further complicating this issue. Whilst it offers opportunities to develop brands in new ways online, it also harbours many dangers for companies, particularly in controversial industries such as pharmaceuticals.
Pharmaceutical companies have long held the view that patents equal profits. Their products require vast investment in research and development, as well as extensive and rigorous testing, before they reach the market. But, given the fact that once a drug is approved, a well-drafted patent gives a pharmaceutical company 20 years of uninterrupted monopoly in which to sell and market a drug, pharmaceutical giants have traditionally paid more attention to their patent portfolio than to their trade marks and brands. GlaxoSmithKline's ranitidine hydrochloride (Zantac) is a good case in point. Zantac is an anti-ulcer drug for which Glaxo obtained a patent. To get an idea of the potential value of the patent, this monopoly was worth approximately two to three million pounds in profits to Glaxo for every single day that it lasted.
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Industry Events |
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4th Annual Patient Recruitment and Retention in Clinical Trials
13-15 October 2008, Amsterdam
Patient recruitment
is now consuming thirty percent of clinical trial time - more time than any
other clinical trial activity - and almost half of all trial delays result from
patient recruitment problems.
As the
recruiting culture becomes more sophisticated and the forces affecting patient
enrollment grow more numerous and complex, pharmaceutical companies are
striving to discover new strategies to facilitate enrollment in clinical
trials.
With
increasing industry pressure to develop, test and market greater numbers of new
drugs faster, pharmaceutical companies need to perform clinical trials as
quickly as possible. Inefficient patient recruitment processes is a formidable
barrier to pharmaceutical companies' success in launching new products.
Improving the patient recruitment process is imperative to avoid wasted
investments and eliminate costly delays in bringing new drugs to market --
today and even more so in the not-so-distant future. Improved patient
recruitment presents one of the largest opportunities for pharmaceutical
companies to eliminate delays in clinical trials, thereby making it possible to
reduce time to market. With patent time limits and large overheads
meaning that any delays in the development timeline can be disastrous, a good
understanding of how to successfully recruit patients for trials is vital for
any company looking to succeed.
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