Main Subject - Business

I received this inquiry asking how I would assess this Customer-Gone-Wild episode. After I share it with you, I'll affix my answer, which I hope everyone will find useful.

Two women came into the store and I gree

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

ted them with a smile and a pleasant hello and one "lady" proceeded to tell me what a rotten company (ours) was and how disgusting that the figurines were now being made in Thailand, not England. Said she had ove

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

100 figurines and started saving them over 40 years ago. She never would have started if she had known. It went on for several minutes, no matter how I explained what we have been advised to, she just kept on

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

and on. Telling me I will never convince her that it was wise or a smart move and she raised her voice.

At first I tried to tell her what companies like ours do when they open new factories {as we have been tr

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

ined}, then I tried to show her the figurines that are still manufactured in England --they start at $550.00 and upward for these prestige pieces. Most pieces run into several thousand dollars. The average pe

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

son cannot afford that. So by having them made offshore they have become affordable again.

This all took place over approximately 12 - 15 minutes. When I started to leave her to attend to other priorities sh

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

followed me and kept it up..... I finally made a comment about our clothing and said just about everything we are all wear is not made in North America. There aren't many items now.

I know not to take this pe

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

sonally but when it keeps up for as long as it did, how do you handle it?

Hi B,

Thank you for your "war story."

In no special order of significance, here are my reactions:

The real key is this question: "Wh

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

t is VALUE to the customer?" In her case, the answer is complicated.

Value, I suspect, for her means a certain snob appeal, a sense she is part of something exclusive, having bragging rights, impressing her fr

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

ends.

Collecting your products served these purposes for her, but no longer. She is HUGELY disappointed that your firm decided to cater to from her view, a downscale clientele.

This is a classical example of

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

he fact that a company cannot serve everyone perfectly, that it will inevitably disappoint many by making strategic and sourcing and pricing decisions as yours has done.

Instead of being able to cast a spell o

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

her friends as they listen aptly to how and where she acquired each unique piece, there will always be a cynical voice threatening to seize the stage and her limelight, trying to take her down a notch by inse

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

ting, "Well, you know they're made in THAILAND now!"

For her, the decision to offshore is a disaster, devaluing her entire collection, EMOTIONALLY and EGOTISTICALLY.

Possibly, the value of her overall collect

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

on may have decreased, and this could be an undisclosed fear on her part. Maybe in a pinch, she always felt she could fetch a premium for it, but perhaps no longer.

We're getting into something that is probabl

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

called, "collector psychology." Come to think of it, those folks who insist on using ORIGINAL PARTS to repair and recondition old cars, are similar. They're PURISTS.

You can argue all day long that cheaper, f

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

reign parts are made to exactly the same specs and standards as those made in Canada, or the U.S., but they won't buy it.

Piano buyers are disappointed and shocked that so many models that bear distinctive Ge

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

man nameplates are actually made in China.

YOU cannot personally restore her lost status or the luster of your products.

The best you could probably do is to use transition phrases such as: "I understand that

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

but" and "I appreciate that, however," and "I respect that, though."

My concern is her ranting might have infected other buyers in the store, so it is important to learn techniques for nicely and firmly abbr

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

viating these negative encounters.

Moreover, a person such as this, expressing vitriol and such negativity, infects YOU and all of your associates, which is a huge pity. It takes time to recover from her.

Yo

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

r company might want to invest in some training and methods for doing damage control, especially if her generation of buyers feels the same.

I do this, professionally, and I am at your service.

Hope this helps

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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