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Restart Pharma Demand Generation Activities With Actionable Insight

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As the ‘Lockdown. 04’ in India passes by, a time comes to press the restart button of all business activities in the country, in a calibrated manner, though, keeping in mind, the Covid-19 cases is yet to find its peak in the country. The process would naturally include all activities of the pharma industry. And more specifically, the prescription demand generation activity, where personal selling has remained pivotal in all these years.

But now, while living with the new Coronavirus, it would require greater cerebral interventions of astute pharma marketers. Creating an innovative pathway for recovery – driven by actionable insights, through an agile and digitally empowered workforce, would be the name of the game for success. In this article, I shall focus on this important area, as the industry moves on.

The bedrock of the new pathway:

The ‘restarting’ process of the prescription demand generation mechanism, I reckon, would no longer be the same ball game. It will now entail gaining cutting-edge actionable insights on the evolving dynamics of the changing business processes. It involves customers’ new preferences for consumption in the healthcare space and ascertaining the most effective demand generation processes or tools in the prevailing new normal.

Therefore, the bedrock of the new pathway, in my view, will necessarily need to be based on:

  • A huge pool of relevant, credible and preferably real-time ‘Data.’
  • ‘Information’ obtained by analyzing the ‘Data’ as desired.
  • ‘Actionable Insight’ gathered from the collected ‘information.’

The encouraging point is, several companies, even in India, have already started testing the water to chart the way forward.

Some fundamental changes in the path to recovery:

The McKinsey article of May 12, 2020 titled, ‘Pharma operations: The path to recovery and the next normal,’ also noted: ‘Given the shifts that have taken place seemingly overnight in response to the immediate crisis, companies are also turning their attention to recovery and the path to the next normal. It will likely bring about fundamental changes in pharma operations.’

Besides, the future of work will become more remote and distributed, and demand may shift to new capabilities and talent. Moreover, ‘the post-COVID-19 workforce and organization will also likely adopt new, more efficient ways of working.’ Thus, pharma organizations should consider adapting quickly in the path to the next normal, the article added.

The change and increasing relevance of ‘Data’, ‘Information’ and ‘Insight’: 

While discussing about ‘Data’, ‘Information’ and ‘Actionable Insight,’ let us first try to understand the differences between each of these three. Voccii, the US based market research firm, captured this difference eloquently, as follows:

  • Data: the raw and unprocessed facts, captured according to some agreed-upon standards. It could be a number, an image, an audio clip, a transcription, or similar.
  • Information: the data that has been processed, aggregated, and organized into a more human-friendly format. Data visualizations, reports and dashboards are common ways to present information.
  • Insight: gained by analyzing data and information to understand the context of a particular situation and draw conclusions. Those conclusions lead to actions that one can apply to business operations.

To facilitate the process of desired changes, translating research data into actionable insights will now be a crucial strategic input. In fact, these are essential while recomposing notes in pharma sales and marketing playbook, more than ever before. Notably, it has now been established in other industries that actionable insights facilitate prompt business process transformation, putting the organization ahead of competition for excellence.

What really are ‘actionable insights?’

Although, these two words are self-explanatory, it’s better to reiterate again – what ‘actionable insights’- based ventures are. It will help all to be on the same page while reading this piece. As I understand, ‘actionable insights’ mean gaining an accurate and deep understanding of someone or something or some situation based on relevant and credible data, that can help generate specific actions for a successful outcome.

However, what generally happens instead, and particularly in the Indian pharma industry, is usually very different. Quite often, many marketers get drowned in a large pool of available data and information, sans the cerebral skill of gaining actionable insights out of those – they start relying more on their ‘gut-feel’. As a result, ‘gut feel’ driven actions try to be in the driver’s seat, rather than data-based ‘actionable insights’ of high value.

Digital insights would be ‘The new currency of business’ in the new normal:

Today, it’s not quite uncommon to find pharma companies, especially in India, having loads of data and information. What they perhaps need to learn is, how to convert those inputs into actionable insights, the lack of which could make even the best of market research initiatives unproductive. That’s why, around the world, many believe that Digital Insights Are The New Currency Of Business. More so, in the new normal of living with Covid-19.

The article – ‘Actionable Insights: The Missing Link Between Data And Business Value,’ published in Forbes on April 26, 2016 also emphasized this point. It said. ‘With many companies struggling to make sense of their data and create value with their big data investments, the promise of actionable insights sounds wonderful. Forrester reports 74% of firms say they want to be “data-driven,” but only 29% are actually successful at connecting analytics to action. Actionable insights appear to be the missing link for companies that want to drive business outcomes from their data.’

Harvesting insights from data can fetch huge financial returns for the company. Which is why, sitting at the apex of the data pyramid, actionable insights help drive strategic action. It prompts rethink the status quo, pushing marketers to move into a new strategic direction. From this perspective, in the new normal of living with Coronavirus, actionable insight based unique brand strategy, content development and the process for reaching out to patients, doctors and other health care consumers, I consider, will decide the degree of business success.

Some focus areas for ‘actionable insights’ in the changing scenario:

Although, ‘actionable insights’ would help strategize a whole new chain of activities for increasing ‘prescription demand generation,’ some of these areas, for example, may include:

  • Capturing changes in patients’ behavior and preferences, specifically during the national ‘Lockdown’ period, besides, ‘compliance to social-distancing’ norms.
  • New ways of regrouping patient population, alongside, effective content creation and choosing right platforms for a sharper focus on them in the new situation. 
  • Doctors’ changing preferences for interacting with drug companies for the same reasons.
  • Making remote prescription demand generating actions highly productive, ensuring a cutting-edge over the competition.
  • Taking a quantum leap in improving the level of engagement for a greater share of mind with doctors, patients and other stakeholders, without bombarding them with ‘me-too’ emails, messages and calls. 

Conclusion:

As the ‘Lockdown. 04’ in India – the second most populous country of the world – ends, as on May 31, 2020 morning, the recorded Coronavirus cases in the country reached 182,490 with 5,186 deaths. Comparing the same with the most populous country of the world – China, where Covid-19 struck first ever – in December 2019, one finds it recording 83,001 cases with 4634 deaths, on the same day.

Be that as it may, after the national ‘Lockdown’ of about two and half months to save lives, it’s about time to restart initiatives for the livelihood of millions of Indians. Accordingly, pharma industry would also hit the restart button of its all business activities in the country – understandably, in a calibrated manner. The restart would include one of its most critical activities – generation of prescription demand, where personal selling has been pivotal in the years passed by. Several research studies have already highlighted a changing pattern in this area.

In the coming days of work while living with Covid-19, all would need to take measures to prevent the Coronavirus infection. Thus, strict compliance with the social distancing guidelines and other norms, as prescribed by the Government, will be ne necessary for all. This would also make the working life of pharma professionals, along with the practices of its stakeholders, significantly different from the traditional past.

From this perspective, while reaching for the restart button in the new normal, pharma sales and marketing leadership would need to create an innovative pathway to recovery. This would call for actionable insights about changes in the behavioral and preference pattern, especially of the healthcare consumers and providers. These will be absolutely critical for commercial success in the ‘new world,’ as it were – more than ever before.

By: Tapan J. Ray     

Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own, written in my individual and personal capacity. I do not represent any other person or organization for this opinion.

Come Covid-19 Drug And Vaccine, Pharma Will Get Back To The Traditional Mode

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‘Corona will remain a part of our lives for a long time. But at the same time, we cannot allow this to happen that our lives will be confined only around the corona. We would wear masks, follow two yards distance and pursue our goals. Therefore, the fourth phase of lockdown, lockdown 4, will be completely redesigned, with new rules,’ said the Prime Minster of India, during his televised address to the nation on May 12, 2020.

Many countries around the world, have already decided to move ahead, phasing out Covid-19 lockdowns cautiously, in a manner that each country will deem appropriate. Alongside, in line with many other industries, several pharmaceutical companies seem to have also started accepting this new reality. For example, Novartis, which reportedly, started digitizing its sales and marketing even before the COVID-19 pandemic, has hit the fast forward button.

This is evident from what Novartis said: “We were already on a journey in terms of our commercial model where digital and other channels and virtual detailing were becoming a bigger part of our mix.” The Company is planning an omnichannel digital launch for its latest new product – Tabrecta for metastatic lung cancer. This was prompted by the very sensitive situation that the world is going through ‘and the extra burden that’s put-on physicians and patients” as the pandemic continues - the company clarified.

This leads to the key question, are most companies on the same wavelength as Novartis, in this area? Or, a large majority of drug players, is still nurturing the hope that prescription demand generation activity from doctors and hospitals will soon return to the traditional mode of what was prevailing during pre-Covid-19 pandemic days? This flows from an age-old experience – a large number of sales or medical representatives have always spearheaded the demand generation mechanism for any patented or brand-generic medicine.

Still, for many it is difficult to even think of any quantum shift in this space, as the traditional core mechanism continues, despite so much hype of digitalizing pharma operations. Whereas, several others do feel, at least, a Covid-19 vaccine or a drug for its effective treatment, which, apparently, are almost knocking at the door, will bring the current situation back to the previous normal. Will vaccine or an effective drug be a panacea to win the war of Covid-19 pandemic, decisively? In this article, I shall dwell on this subject. To set the ball rolling, let us fathom whether or not coming out with a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine, in a jiffy, is rather a certainty.

Is Covid-19 vaccine a certainty?

No doubt, a large majority of people believe, a vaccine to prevent COVID-19 is perhaps the best hope for ending the pandemic, as Mayo Clinic has also said so. However, it also records the following major apprehensions or challenges in developing a COVID-19 vaccine, based on the research data:

  • Ensuring vaccine safety
  • Providing long-term protection
  • Protecting older people

On May 12, 2020, at the US Senate hearing about the path forward from pandemic lockdowns in the United States, NIAID director Anthony Fauci also said, there’s “no guarantee” any of the vaccines in testing will be effective, though based on his knowledge of other viruses, he is “cautiously optimistic.” Thus, projections about how COVID-19 will play out, are still mostly speculative.

Why ‘projections about how COVID-19 will play out are still speculative’?

A recent article – ‘How the COVID-19 Pandemic Could End,’ published in the ‘Scientific American,’ also commented so. It said, the end game will most likely involve a mix of everything that checked past pandemics:

  • Continued social-control measures to buy time,
  • New antiviral medications to ease symptoms,
  • And a vaccine.

Citing the famous example of the H1N1 influenza outbreak of 1918–1919, it said, doctors and public health officials had far fewer weapons than they do today. Thus, the effectiveness of control measures, such as school closures depended on how early and decisively, they were implemented. Over two years and three waves, the pandemic infected 500 million and killed between 50 million and 100 million. It ended only as natural infections conferred immunity on those who recovered.

Which is why, as on date the pursuit to achieve all three goals as mentioned above, would likely to continue. That said, a safe an effective Covid-19 vaccine will be the most preferred way to stop rapid transmission of the Coronavirus outbreak. However, this comes with a critical caveat.

Would the entire population need to be vaccinated?

Experts believe, unless a vaccine is administered to all of the world’s eight billion inhabitants who are not currently sick or recovered, COVID-19 is likely to become endemic. It will circulate and make people sick seasonally—sometimes very sick. But if the virus stays in the human population long enough, it will start to infect children, showing mild symptoms.

In that process, children appear less likely to develop severe disease if they get re-infected as adults.  Thus, the combination of vaccination and natural immunity will protect many of us. ‘The Coronavirus, like most viruses, will live on—but not as a planetary plague,’ the ‘Scientific American,’ article concluded.

Covid-19 end game to involve a mix of those that checked past pandemics:

Let us now look at the possible mix of the Covid-19 end game, which were involved in checking the past pandemics, one by one:

Continued social-control measures to buy time:

The social control measures would include compliance with the prescribed social distancing norms, in tandem with aggressive testing for the infected individuals, isolating them, and quarantining their contacts. These measures were well tested in the past epidemics and useful if followed well, by all.

Therefore, from the pharma industry perspective, getting back to the traditional ‘pre Covid-19 mode’ of prescription demand generation mechanism, will indeed be challenging for most drug players.

Availability of well-tested antiviral medications to ease Covid-19 symptoms:

So far, there is no scientifically and well-tested medications for the treatment of Covid-19. However, many different medications are under clinical trials in various parts of the world. So far, most hyped among them appears to be remdesivir, an experimental antiviral developed by Gilead for the treatment of Ebola.

However, the clinical study result of ‘Remdesivir in adults with severe COVID-19,’ published in The Lancet on April 29, 2020 found that the dose regimen of intravenous remdesivir used in the study, was adequately tolerated, but did not provide significant clinical or antiviral effects in seriously ill patients with COVID-19.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also, reportedly, announced a large global trial, called ‘Solidarity’, to find out whether any of those drugs can treat infections with the Covid-19. In India, several drug companies are also testing the water, with their shortlisted drugs, such as, Zydus Cadila want to test a form of interferon, usually used against hepatitis B and C, as a potential treatment for COVID-19. More trials on remdesivir are ongoing, let us keep our fingers crossed.

Interestingly, Gilead has, reportedly, signed nonexclusive licensing agreements with five Indian generic drug makers – Cipla, Mylan, Ferozsons Laboratories, Hetero Labs and Jubilant Lifesciences,  to produce COVID-19 therapy remdesivir for low- and lower-middle income countries. Under the agreements, Gilead will share its manufacturing know-how with them to help gear up remdesivir local production. Moreover, each of these companies will be allowed to set the price for its own generic version of the drug.

In any case, scientifically proven safety and efficacy of any drug or vaccine for the prevention or treatment of Covid-19, is yet to be known. Hence, for all individuals, strict compliance with social distancing measures is the only way to avoid this highly contagious infection. The same is also applicable to doctors and sales representatives while working in the field, at least, till an effective Covid-19 vaccine or drug comes.

Affordability and access to Covid-19 drug and vaccine:  

Assuming that a safe, effective and clinically proven vaccine or a drug for Covid-19 will be available sooner than what experts anticipate now, yet another critical issue needs to be resolved, soon. This is related to their affordability and access, to contain the mortality and morbidity of the disease, for a vast majority of the population, especially in the developing nations, like India.

Even Gavi noted: ‘In the race to produce a safe and effective vaccine against the COVID-19 virus, one of the many challenges will be the cost of developing the vaccine and eventually getting it to the vast number of people worldwide who will need it.’ However, it is generally anticipated that ‘COVID-19 vaccine or a drug may end up costing people a small fortune.’ Another article also echoed the same sentiment by saying, ‘Covid-19 treatments won’t work if people can’t afford them.

However, India’s Serum Institute based at Pune, has announced that it is ready for 20-40 million vaccine shots at Rs 1,000/dose, by September-October 2020. The company is ‘’putting its weight behind an Oxford University-led consortium, which announced the start of human clinical trials on April 23 and is one of the first such projects to get underway globally.’

At the same time, another report emphasized: “Even after India approves the Coronavirus vaccine, it might not be possible to produce more than 10-20 million doses in the first year,” again raising the availability and access issue for a Covid-19 vaccine, as and when available in India.

Conclusion:

As on May 17, 2020 morning, the recorded Coronavirus cases continue to climb sharply to 90,927 with 2,872 deaths.. Moreover, on May 13, 2020, the world Health organization has also warned that “this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away.” Thus, the world has to live with it. By the way, the accuracy of many Covid-19 test kits has also been widely questioned. This reportedly includes speedy Abbott test, as well.

In this scenario, people may have to necessary live with social distancing norms and the practice of wearing a mask outside the home, always. Besides, the template for relief from Covid-19 becomes more complex, particularly considering availability, affordability and access to a safe and effective drug or vaccine in India, as and when these will come. Taking these together, the end game for Covid-19 in the foreseeable future, becomes anybody’s guess.

Coming back to the pharma industry, curiously, some people are still hoping for ‘business as usual’ in the traditional pre-Covid-19 mode, although the writing on the wall is increasingly getting clearer. The only alternative that people can possibly follow under the circumstances, is strict compliance to social distancing norms, which pharma companies, doctors, healthcare consumers and others would also require to adhere to, with as much earnest. Thus, envisaging a return to pre-Covid-19 prescription generation mode, may not be prudent choice, anymore.

By: Tapan J. Ray   

Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own, written in my individual and personal capacity. I do not represent any other person or organization for this opinion.

Post Covid-19 Lockdown: Is Pharma Industry Ready?

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It’s over a month now since national lockdown in India came into force to win the war against Covid-19. Many promises and apprehensions about whether or not Covid-19 will keep ravaging human life, continue surfacing. As it appears today, whatever best happens post May 03, 2020, the Coronavirus outbreak is going to change the way we live and the businesses used to operate, in many respects, till an effective vaccine comes, at the very least. This change also includes the health care, in general, and the pharmaceutical industry, in particular.

It is obvious now that Covid-19 will stalk the planet for a long time to come. On April 22, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) also reiterated: ‘Make no mistake, Coronavirus will be with us for a long time.’ This vindicates many apprehensions against an early promise of winning the Covid19 war decisively in 21-days or even by May 03, 2020, or whenever the national lockdown is phased-out in a calibrated manner. Further, W.H.O has also cautioned: “Most countries are still in the early stages of their epidemics. And some that were affected early in the pandemic are now starting to see a resurgence in cases.”

As on April 26, 2020, the recorded Coronavirus cases in India has sharply climbed to 26,496 and 825 deaths, with the Union Health Ministry saying on April 23, 2020: ‘Doubling rate of Covid-19 cases in country is now 10 days.’ Whereas, on the same day, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) also said, ‘for now, it is very difficult to tell when a peak state of COVID-19 pandemic in the country will arrive.’

The life-changing disruptions that Covid19 has caused, and may continue to cause in the near future, has apparently made a significant impact, also on how the healthcare consumers think about the available disease treatment solutions, including buying medicines. Thus, in this article, I shall, focus on this area.

Why winning the Covid-19 war can’t be immediate: 

Covid-19 pandemic brought the drug industry under a sharp focus of the entire world, with an expectation to win the war against this deadly and invisible virus. This solution could be anything – an effective prevention, such as, with a vaccine, or a curing the infection with a drug, or even a mechanism that is able to make the virus less contagious. There are still no scientifically proven and approved drugs or vaccines for Covid-19. Although, many trial and error experiments are in progress, mainly based on anecdotes and gut-feeling, for the respiratory disease caused by Coronavirus.

The good news is, since January 2020, after scientists in China provided the virus’s genetic sequence, over 40 teams of global drug companies and the academia, are working on a vaccine and drugs for Covid-19. As of now, six Coronavirus vaccines are on clinical trial. Last Thursday, human safety trial of Oxford University developed Covid-19 vaccine, with the first two of 800 healthy volunteers, has commenced. Meanwhile, Serum Institute of India (SII) has tied-up with the Oxford University to manufacture the vaccine in India, if the trial succeeds.

Some bad news in this area also came by, such as, ‘remdesivir’ – the well-hyped drug, thought to be one of the best prospects for treating Covid-19, failed to have any effect during the first full trial. However, Gilead – the drug company developing this product has said, ‘the findings were inconclusive because the study was terminated early.’

The bottom-line is, although, first tests for more new vaccines may commence within a few months, the final regulatory approval of these will take much longer - at least 18 months, i.e. not before 2022, according to W.H.O. Meanwhile, some disruptive changes within current health care delivery systems, involving both behavior and transaction practices of key stakeholders, may prompt equally disruptive changes in the Indian health care delivery mechanisms. These changes are likely to have unforeseen impact on several pharma operations, critical for business excellence in the drug industry.

Commonly followed procedures for the Indian healthcare system:

The procedures that most health care consumers currently follow for healthcare in India, require patients to be physically present in most touchpoints of a disease treatment process. These include, doctors, chemist shops, hospitals, diagnostic clinics, among others. During the national lockdown period, redressal of non-Covid-19 related common health issues, has been a great challenge for many people, such as:

  • visiting a doctor
  • going to a hospital outdoor
  • procurement of medicines from retail shops for chronic conditions
  • visiting a diagnostic clinic even for follow-up – previously advised by a doctor

This happened primarily due to the need of compliance of social distancing and mostly out of fear of getting the Covid-19 infection. Fortunately, the available digital platforms to address the pressing common health issues, proved to be of immense help to many.

Pharma business has also been greatly impacted: 

Driven by initial panic buying of regular medicines by the people, for the lockdown period and may be beyond, monthly sales of pharma might show a spurt. But, that is unlikely to be the real picture for a medium to long term. Otherwise, like many other industry sectors, pharma business has also been greatly impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak, across its various domains – right from planned R&D – through manufacturing, sales and marketing – to supply chain.

The early adopters to the new normal will be the outright winners:

For example, meeting a doctor for product detailing following the conventional chain of activities, and simultaneously maintaining strict ‘personal distancing’ or ‘social distancing norms, may not be the same again. The changes required by the pharma companies to make this process effective and productive, may also be disruptive in nature.

No-one can accurately predict toady, how exactly the important business operations can be resumed, ensuring full health-safety for all and with compromising on the effectiveness and productivity of business. Nevertheless, one thing for sure, lockdown during Covid-19 pandemic has brought the possibility and the opportunity of going digital to the fore, for both – the healthcare business and also its consumers, including various other stakeholders. The early adopters to the new normal are expected to be the outright winners.

Green shoots of digitalization within healthcare consumers and providers: 

As digital transformation at health care consumers and providers level, gain a critical mass, the healthcare business would require to be not just digitalized, but also digitally innovative. The situation would demand from them to be much more ‘customer centric’ on digital platforms, as the locked down – homebound health care consumers, complying with ‘social distancing’ norms, get increasingly more digitally empowered.

Bain & Company in its March 20 ‘Brief’, titled ‘How the Coronavirus Will Transform Healthcare in China,’ discussed some of these issues from China perspective, which are already visible there. To illustrate this point in this deliberation from the Indian perspective, let me draw examples from the country’s health care consumers’ standpoint.

Is the traditional health care system slowly undergoing a metamorphosis?

The overall impact of Covid-19 outbreak in India has made visiting general practitioner’s (GP) clinics, pathological labs or even hospital emergency facilities, a tough challenge for many patients. This is primarily out of fear of getting a Coronavirus infection from others during the process, with strict compliance to ‘social distancing’ becoming a top priority for many. Consequently, traditional healthcare related activities in India, is likely to undergo an early metamorphosis.

Being literally locked down at home, a good number of healthcare consumers in India, are utilizing innovative digital platforms, for common illnesses or follow-up consultations, such as:

  • for medical consultation on digital platforms, e.g., Skype, Facetime etc.
  • getting diagnostic tests done at home by requesting through digital apps,
  • sending test reports to doctors digitally,
  • getting doctors prescription through digital mode,
  • ordering medicines through e-pharmacy apps by uploading prescriptions,
  • getting medicines delivered at home after e-payment,
  • repeating the same process whenever required.

An upside of the situation: 

The upside of the situation is, these patients are feeling more digitally empowered and self-reliant to get non-too-serious ailments addressed against all odds. Some of these practices, such as, online consultation with doctors, getting most of the medical tests done at home, buying medicines through e-pharmacies, I reckon, may continue even after calibrated withdrawal of the national lockdown in India.  The net impact of all could trigger a meaningful attitudinal change in patients, especially towards health care delivery processes, in general.

The healthcare industry is ready to log on to this digital mode? 

Many early adopters in the global pharma industry, are going for digitalization within various functional domains of the company, at a varying scale. This has started happening in India, as well. However, as social distancing becomes the new normal in the foreseeable future, how prepared are the pharma companies to adopt themselves with the increasing number of digitally empowered consumers, is still unclear. More importantly, how will the industry meet new demands at various points of transaction and interaction with various critical stakeholders, such as, doctors, in the post Covid-19 eraof social distancing, ensuring health safety of all?

Another requirement that should form the bedrock of the grand integrated corporate strategy of a customer-centric pharma business, necessarily, in the changing times. This is – all decisions in this area must be based on a huge pool of contemporary data, analyzed by sophisticated data analytics and thereafter, the strategic and tactical pathways need to be charted, desirably, through skillful application of Artificial Intelligence (AI), because of evolving complex and multi-dimensional health care needs of the consumers.

Alongside, telemedicine in different new formats – even for GP level consultations, besides, drug procurement through e-payment from approved e-pharmacies by uploading doctor prescriptions, signal a great potential in the years ahead. This appears to be very close to reality, especially, going by the W.H.O prediction for a long-haul Covid-19 battle, where compliance with ‘social distancing,’ is one of the basic requirements of health safety for all.

Conclusion:

‘Month of lockdown impedes virus – a long battle lies ahead’. As the former President of the Unites States twitted on April 25, 2020, ‘If we want life to approach anything like normal anytime soon, we need a comprehensive testing program. It’s not going to be cheap, but it will ultimately pay off many times over in saved lives, saved businesses, and saved jobs.’

In any case the crux of the matter is, Covid-19 is not going to vanish soon, even after scaling down of the lockdown in a calibrated way. Moreover, the fear, if not the panic of a large population in India and around the world, on the possibility of getting infected by Covid-19, will continue – till one does not get vaccinated or acquire ‘herd immunity’ in a different way. Meanwhile, related behavioral changes and habits, of a large number of people, including health care consumers, will continue taking place.

From this perspective, besides the existing ones, once the lockdown-period-converted ‘e-consumers’ of health care get used to the new digital mode of availing healthcare services against e-payments, it could have a snowballing impact on many others. That will help usher in a new paradigm of medical consultation, follow-up interaction, disease diagnosis, drug procurement and all related transactions, through digital platforms.

Having experienced the convenience and user-friendliness of the digital mode, during an extended period of social or physical distancing and other new normal, instead of time-consuming legwork, it seems unlikely that the majority will try to go back to the traditional mode of pre-Covid 19 era. In that situation pharma companies will have no option but to necessarily re-engineer the business operations, bringing disruptive digitalization at the center of any strategy formulation related to mainly patients and doctors, besides others.

Covid-19 prompted lockdown and the post lockdown period, I reckon, is unlikely to be a ‘switch-off’ and ‘switch-on’ type of a situation for anyone or any industry, as threat of getting Coronavirus infected will continue for quite some time. The need of the hour for pharma players in India, therefore, is gaining deep insight, through continuous data capturing and analysis, on each component of the changing market dynamics – prompted by Coronavirus pandemic. The point to ponder, therefore, is pharma industry getting ready for a possible disruptive change in the future environment?

By: Tapan J. Ray  

Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own, written in my individual and personal capacity. I do not represent any other person or organization for this opinion.