Can Artificial Intelligence Improve Sales Productivity in Pharma?

David Keane | PharmExec.com

For years, pharmaceutical sales representatives have been dealing with access challenges and shrinking availability of prescribers, stemming from a more restrictive regulatory environment, changing economic conditions and new healthcare business models. These factors, in turn, have pressured physicians to see more patients, leaving less time to learn about even potentially life-saving drugs. Whether it’s with key opinion leaders (KOLs), high prescribers, administrators or any other decision--makers, yesterday’s sales strategies and tactics are not only less effective, they’re also highly restricted and regulated. 

3 Habits of Successful Pharmaceutical Sales Reps

The pharmaceutical sales industry is always changing. With the end of 2016 proving to be a challenging time for a few pharmaceutical companies, pharma sales reps are having to re-think the way they set goals and achieve success in the industry.

While this news may be a wake-up call to some, many pharma sales reps are still advancing in their careers and experiencing success. In fact, pharma sales salaries continue rising year over year, according to 2017 Pharmaceutical Sales Salary Report. This is good news for anyone looking to continue growing a successful career in pharmaceutical sales.

Top 10 Pharmaceutical Therapy Areas in 2017

Many new medications and treatments have emerged this year for improving the management and prognoses of patients suffering from serious diseases. Driven growing therapy areas such as oncology, anti-rheumatics, and anti-virals, the prescription drug sales are increasing significantly. Let’s take a quick look at the top pharmaceutical therapy areas in 2017:

Eli Lilly Will Cut 3,500 Jobs by the end of the year

Under mounting pressure in diabetes, Eli Lilly has just become the latest drugmaker to undergo a major shakeup. The pharma giant on Thursday announced plans to cut 3,500 employees by the end of the year as it shoots to achieve $500 million in annual savings.

The company said it expects most of the cuts to come from an early retirement program in the U.S. in which participants will receive “enhanced retirement benefits.” Lilly disclosed the program to eligible employees today and expects the retirements to be done mostly done by the end of the year. Altogether, the announcement is the first major restructuring effort by new Lilly CEO David Ricks since taking the helm this year.

Drug Patent Losses Worth Billions Seen in 2017

Major pharmaceutical producers threaten to lose $26.5 billion in annual sales this year, as 18 branded drugs are due to expire, analysts for investment bank Bernstein said in a recent note quoted widely by news agencies.

Bernstein analyst Tim Anderson has identified Roche, GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly, Pfizer and AstraZeneca, among others, as being especially at risk. On the whole, he calculates that 2017’s potential patent expiry damage is is much more daunting than in 2015 and 2016, when respectively only four and nine drugs manufactured by companies in Bernstein’s coverage lost patent protection.

Patents due to expire this year are said to include Roche’s Rituxan, GSK’s Advair, Eli Lilly’s Humalog and Cialis, AstraZeneca’s Byetta, Pfizer’s Viagra and Merck’s Vytorin. Together, the 2017 patent losses and associated sales declines will continue to pressure growth in the industry under the investment bank’s scenario.

Some 45% of the sales identified as being at risk are for biologics, which will face biosimilar competition.  Bernstein expects Roche to to head the list of drugmakers facing biosimilar threats, followed by Sanofi, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Lilly.

In a look at potential patent losses through 2025 and including the potential value of pipeline assets, the analysis assumes that AstraZeneca will see the most growth of any drugmaker in the Bernstein portfolio, with gains averaging 5.6% per year, and that Pfizer will bring up the rear with only 2% annual growth.

Excluding pipeline assets, the analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will see the most growth up to 2025. In a reverse of the first estimate, AstraZeneca is seen as trailing its peers.