Pharma Veterans

Dear Pharma Veterans! The purpose of ‘Pharma Veterans’ is to share your wealth of knowledge and wisdom with others. And to create a movement to recognize and celebrate the Pharma Industry Professionals. Presently, Pharma Veterans Blog is published on WordPress, one of the top blog sites. More is due to come in near future. Your stories, ideas and thoughts are eagerly awaited. Please send to asrar@asrarqureshi.com . Your contributions will be published promptly. Please join the Community and the Movement. After the Mega Quiz, Ali Shabbir came to training office and informally announced who would go where. It was customary in Abbott and other MNCs not to post med reps in their hometowns. He mentioned that I would be posted at Sukkur. I reminded him that during interview, he had indicated that I would be posted either at Lahore or at any of the places where I had worked previously; Sukkur was not one of those. He was not very pleased, but he went back. Later, he decided that I co...

During early days in Bahawalpur, someone mentioned about The Central Library. It had been established long time ago, in the time of State. I went to the library and found that Jalal Ashraf was the Chief Librarian. JA used to be librarian in our college. I didn’t know he had switched to TCL. JA was extremely kind, and he and his staff became my reading mentors. They would recommend books, hold books for me and give me access to sit and read reference books which could not be issued. I had the best reading in that time. I slept late and little. Nights, traveling hours and whenever I could, I would read. I still wish I could read more. Life in Bahawalpur was a great time. Work was enjoyable and rewarding. I regained my reputation and credibility. SK Manzar, who had been elevated to the NSM position, visited Bahawalpur once in my time. He was very happy to see my work and said so. Life was routine. One week in Bahawalpur, and one week in Rahimyar Khan. While in Bahawalpur, work in BV...

During second half of 1977, it was internally announced that a new product will be launched early next year. The details of product were not revealed. Some time in October, the first training session was conducted. It was focused on nervous system; the anatomy, physiology and functions. In November, the second training session was conducted which focused on neurotic and psychotic disorders. Third and last session was held in late December. A guy named McEwan came from UK to conduct the session. McEwan was young, energetic and active person. He did something very bold. First day, he asked us to take a crushed, white tablet in the morning, which we did. Before close of the session, he asked us to record how did we feel during the day. The process was repeated on second and third day. He revealed on the last day that first day he gave us Valium (diazepam), second day Ativan (lorazepam) and third day Frisium (clobazam). We recorded various degrees of lethargy and drowsiness. That he wo...

In 1976 Montreal Olympics, Nadia Comaneci of Romania, at age 14, became the first athlete in Olympic history to score a perfect 10; and became a celebrity instantly.  In 1977-78, Ciba Geigy introduced their landmark drug Voltaren (diclofenac sodium). They chose Nadia Comaneci, in a 360 o pose, to grace the front page of promotional folder and as icon for the drug. The folder became an instant hit; the drug took longer to capture the market, which it did big time. Ciba Geigy was pioneer of Irgapyrine (phenylbutazone) which was an earlier cornerstone of anti-rheumatic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic therapy. Afterwards, MSD had dominated this segment with Indocid (indomethacin). Voltaren took over all of them and became a gold standard in its class. When you are looking at a brand evolution closely or are part of it, you understand how much goes into building a brand. Current tactics of brand building may well be questioned on reasonable grounds. True, that the overall life cy...

Working in Bahawalpur area was quite easy, and productive. Even the most senior and busy consultants were courteous and listened to what you had to say. Using my three early lessons again, I got recognized very quickly. I enjoyed work and the business grew quickly and effortlessly. Of the 16 or so non-local medical reps, several came from Karachi. They were senior guys, with families and many years of working. They treated the younger colleagues with respect and affection and tried to support them. There was Ameer Qureshi from Pfizer, a very cultured, tall, handsome gentleman in early 40s maybe. He had a peculiar smoking habit. He would smoke first cigarette of the day at 12.00 noon. He would come out of BVH, stand in one of the shops apposite BVH, take out his cigarette paper and bag of tobacco, roll a cigarette and light it. The love of doing the ritual and the enjoyment it gave to him was worth watching. I also loved smoking and smoked quite heavily, but his love was superior ...

I reached Bahawalpur the same evening. Through the long travel, I kept thinking about Rawalpindi tenure. I did not have to think too much to analyze. It was written on the wall and we thought it will not come. This is a usual mistake we make and many times may be. Great Sufi poet Bulleh Shah says ‘ Bulleh Shah asee marna naahin – gore peya koi hore {Bulleh Shah! I shall never die – it is someone else lying in the grave} The major business at that time came from Rawalpindi. Islamabad was still small. I worked in almost entire area, all major towns in Azad Kashmir, and all towns on and off GT road. Getting business in those days was not difficult. The competition was not intense, the customers were not too busy and special activities were not expected. You just worked and got results. The products sold on merit. Of course, the capability of organization and the skills of individual salespersons made the difference between more and less business. New launches were few and companies d...