(live-PR.com) - Piribo, the online destination for business intelligence for the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, has now added a report analysing the technique pharmaceutical companies are using by reformulating prescription drugs as over-the counter medicines.
This switch is called the 'Rx-to-OTC' strategy, and the report identifies the drivers and resistors of Rx-to-OTC switches across the seven major pharmaceutical markets and provides case study
analyses for the most recent Rx-to-OTC switches.
The study titled “Rx-to-OTC Strategies:Maximizing The Commercial Potential of an
Rx-to-OTC Switch”, which is available at
tinyurl.com/4823x8 finds that the growing cost of developing novel drugs and the fact that fewer such drugs are gaining regulatory approval, has made cost-conscious pharmaceutical companies increasingly deploy lifecycle management (LCM) techniques.
Analysts say that with reformulated products taking less time and therefore less money to develop Rx-to-OTC switching is one such strategy employed to either enhance existing franchise revenues or protect branded revenues from generic competition.
Authors of the report say that manufacturers need to carefully identify what products are suitable for an Rx-to-OTC switch, and identify when in the lifecycle of the Rx product the switch should be initiated. They also explain how to differentiate the price and position of the OTC product.
The publication states that unless the benefits of OTC medicines can be justified to patients, the rising prices of OTC medicines as compared to Rx products could conceivably become the single most important factor limiting the growth potential of the OTC market.
The study finds that leading initiators of Rx-to-OTC switches have been Schering-Plough
(seven OTC products), GlaxoSmithKline (six) and Johnson and Johnson (four), which are
collectively responsible for half of the total number of Rx-to-OTC products launched between 2001 and 2007.
The study highlights that for a product to be considered for an Rx-to-OTC switch, it must possess a number of specific qualities that allow it to be obtained without prescription, and without pharmacist supervision. Consequently, the most frequently switched products from Rx-to-OTC in the US and UK markets between 2001 and 2007 include topical antifungals, antihistamines, antiulcerants and certain pain medications.
“Rx-to-OTC Strategies: Maximizing The Commercial Potential of An Rx-to-OTC Switch” is available in pdf format from Piribo.
For more information, go to:
www.piribo.com/publications/pharmacy/rxtootc_str ..
Piribo product ID: DAT1465
About Piribo.
Piribo (http:www.piribo.com) is a UK-based independent online store supplying business information on the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The website now carries over 10,000 English language titles including, market reports, studies and books and is the UK’s largest online biopharma information store. Subscribers receive a free monthly newsletter and email alerts on new titles in their areas of interest. The company was established in 2004.
