Pharma Veterans

Strategy Meetings in Pharma Industry – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1126 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1126 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Kampus Production Cedit: Kampus Production Preamble - Why Pharma Strategy Retreats Feel Like Replays -- And How to Reinvent Them Having worked in pharma industry for decades, I have attended numerous strategy retreats which happen every year in any pharma company of substance. It has rather become a show that must be held every year. It is also desired that these should be held in newer, exotic places so that the participants feel more motivated. What I write below is reality as I became more aware of the futility of these retreats. Here is my take on this subject. I would also like to take up the brainstorming sessions that also happen in ph...

Disruption of Careers in Pharma Industry – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1018 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1018 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to aq.pharmaveterans@gmail.com for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Antoni Shkraba Credit: Lukas Credit: Yan Krukau Preamble When I started at the entry level in pharmaceutical industry four decades ago, there was no talk about career progression. The market was dominated by MNCs who invested in training and development, but discussion on career planning for every individual was not done. The MNCs followed the rule of hiring at the entry level or at the highest level. Lateral hirings at middle and senior middle position were rare. The rule was to promote from inhouse talent. The problem, however, was that the companies were not expanding, and senior positions were few and far between. Even the first promotion t...

Medicines Consumption in Pakistan – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1017 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1017 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to aq.pharmaveterans@gmail.com for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Anna Tarazevich Credit: Pavel Danilyuk Credit: Tima Miroshnichenko Preamble Pharmaceutical industry is among major industries of Pakistan, and it is a significant and integral part of healthcare in the country.  The volume of drug sales at the pharmacies is over one trillion rupees. The number of drugs runs into thousands. Being largely a generic market, multiple brands of the same drugs. There are over 700 manufacturing companies and a fairly big number of marketing companies.  Generally, Pakistanis are not hypochondriac – means we are not overtly sensitive about our health. We usually don’t like to take medicines and keep finding excuses to...

Status of Pharmaceutical Business in Pakistan 2024 – Part II – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 962 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 962 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to aq.pharmaveterans@gmail.com for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Kübra Kuzu Credit: Polina Tankilevitch Credit: Tran Nhu Tuan This is the second and last part. Corporates Growth Pakistan market is extremely unevenly divided with about 95% market share with only top 100 companies. The top players added further huge revenues to their already bursting volumes. They have also further strengthened their positions by increasing share of the total market. The top players have done this by growing at a rate higher than the market growth. How are they able to do it? There are several factors. Human Resource – The big players have the financial strength and market standing to attract top talent. Once a...

Bayer Hierarchy Structure Shakeup – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #943 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #943 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to aq.pharmaveterans@gmail.com for publishing your contributions here. Bayer CEO - Bill Anderson Brief History of Bayer Bayer is a German chemical and pharmaceutical company which was founded in 1863 by Friedrich Bayer, who was a chemical salesman, and Johann Friedrich, who owned a dye company. The company enjoyed rapid growth, and it was transformed into a joint stock company in 1881. Between 1881 and 1914, Bayer developed into a company with international operations. By 1913, over 80 percent revenues came from exports. Pharmaceutical department and more production sites were added. And then World War I started causing major disruption in exports. After WWI ended, German companies could not regain their previous markets and there...

Doing Pharma Business in Pakistan – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #867 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #867 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans aims to share knowledge and wisdom from Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on  WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Antoni Shkraba Credit: Suzy Hazelwood Credit: Tima Miroshnichenko There are two countering narratives on the matter of ease of doing business in Pakistan. One view is that it is quite easy to do business here because the implementation of regulations is weak; the other view is that it is quite difficult to do business here because the regulations are adverse and business-unfriendly, and corruption among officials is rampant. The second view is more factual. Pharma business in Pakistan is highly regulated at all stages, with regulations aimed at policing and contro...

Global Drug Pricing Practices and Pakistan – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #865 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #865 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans aims to share knowledge and wisdom from Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on  WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Credit: CDC Credit: Los Mortes Crew Credit: MART Production This blogpost partakes from an excellent article by ZUD Babar, published in Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice. Link at the end. The medicines pricing policies of country should cover the following objectives. a. To ensure access to effective, safe, and quality assured affordable medicines for all, b. To establish fair medicines pricing mechanisms that can improve access, c. To support the pharmaceutical industry. It is also important to understand the global medicines pricing setup....

Pain Points of Pharma Industry Pakistan – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #829 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #829 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans aims to share knowledge and wisdom from Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on  WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Photo Credit: Jonathan Borba Photo Credit: Mikhail Nilov Photo Credit: Thirdman Pharma Industry in Pakistan is going through difficult times, and it is not just due to Pak rupee devaluation or rising cost of production. There are several pain points, some gathered internally over time, and some brought on by government policies and circumstances.  Let us talk about three major pain points. I may add here that pharma industry also has a role in getting pain inflicted on it.  Pricing  Without doubt, it is the biggest pain point. And the main responsibil...

AI and Chat GPT Based Digital Marketing in Pharma Business – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #810 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #810 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans welcome sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on  WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Photo Credit: Ivan Samkov Photo Credit: Jep Gambardella Photo Credit: Vlada Karpovich A former colleague asked me to elaborate how AI and ChatGPT can support digital marketing. Here are some ideas to make it happen with particular reference to Pharma business. Digital marketing refers to the practice of promoting products, services, or brands using digital channels and technologies. It encompasses various strategies and tactics aimed at reaching and engaging a target audience through online platforms such as search engines, social media, email,...