Main Subject - Business

"No time to network!" Is this something you grapple with?

I can certainly relate to not having enough time in the day to do everything I want to. With a toddler and an infant, ALL my time is

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

spoken for -- for now, at least. Yet I continue to network (successfully, I might add).

How do I manage?

Before I answer the question, let me ask you this: do you consider "network

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

Examples of combination products may in

ing" to be a distinct and separate activity (like an item on your "to do" list)?

That could be part of the problem.

Well, here are two ways you can network, even when you "don't ha

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

e time".

1. Integrate "networking" in your normal day.

People "network" all the time. You too. Except, you may not think of what you're doing as "networking".

Here

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

is an example of what I mean:

Let's say you're looking for a landscape maintenance company, that will take care of your yard year round. Mowing the grass in the summer, raking the

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

Combination pro

leaves in the fall, clearing the snow in the winter. But perhaps you're new to the area, or maybe you know the area but are a new homeowner, and you don't know how best to find someone who is

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

reliable, affordable and does good work.

So what do you do? Chances are, you probably ask people you know who are homeowners, for information, recommendations and references.

This i

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

s networking.

And as I said, you probably do this kind of thing without thinking.

Now, if you consciously applied the same concept to your business needs, you woul

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

dn't need to carve out extra time for "networking". It would become integrated into your normal day and how you did business.

2. Leverage technology whenever you can.

In th

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

s day and age, it's possible to get to know and work with someone without ever meeting them in person. In my previous career, I successfully built and led a team, whose members were located i

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

n 4 different continents.

How did we work successfully without ever meeting each other? We simply used technology (nothing fancy -- common stuff like phone and email) to get to know each oth

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

Following aspects would a

er, keep in touch and coordinate our work.

You can do the same in networking.

Here are a couple of examples of how you can use technology to your advantage when networking:

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

A client of mine asked me once if I could recommend some Executive recruiters to him. I didn't have this information. However, I did belong to several online groups that had people who could

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

provide me with this information.

So I posted a question on a few of these lists, describing exactly what I was looking for. Within a couple of days I got a list of Executi

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

ve recruiters from people I trusted. And I passed this information on to my client.

Note a couple of things here though.

First, this information came from "people I trusted"
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
. Even though I'd never met many of them in person, I knew them (or got to know them) through email and/or phone conversations. Second, I posted my question on *some* lists -- I chose
ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust
only those lists whose members I thought would be best able to help me find this information.

In terms of generating referrals for my own business, here is one way I leverage techn
y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products
ology to help me with this:

I regularly ask my customers and subscribers, especially those who find my articles and products useful, to refer people to me.

Specifically, I ask them to tell
.

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
heir friends and associates about these resources, and provide an online form to help facilitate this. I ask for referrals (and present this form) during key interactions, such as when someon
elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip
e requests the free self-paced program, or buys one of my products.

My point is, even when I'm unable to ask for referrals in person, using technology I am still able to ask.

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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Main Subject - No Time to Network?

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