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ePharma: The Online Pharmaceutical Industry

Visiongain
July 28, 2006
171 Pages - SKU: VSG1331755

Abstract Table of Contents Related Reports

The purpose of this visiongain report is to examine the commercial prospects of online technologies in the pharmaceutical sector. In particular, this report examines the fast-growing fields of pharmaceutical eMarketing, eDetailing, ePrescribing and online drug sales. Online technological solutions have great potential to benefit - even revolutionise - the marketing efforts of drug companies. Visiongain predicts that all aspects of pharmaceutical eMarketing will exhibit steady growth from 2006-2011. Key technological solutions - such as Internet-enabled DTC promotion, eDetailing and ePrescribing - will drive that expansion. Sales of prescription drugs via the Internet will also be significant.

ePharma: The Online Pharmaceutical Industry, 2006-2011 examines this burgeoning new method of marketing and the selling of drugs online through comprehensive primary and secondary research. In addition to consultation with experts in eMarketing and ePrescribing, the research involved a detailed study of policy documents, industrial reports and relevant news. Importantly, Visiongain also applied techniques such as financial forecasting, SWOT analyses and qualitative projections. The result is a comprehensive market-based report with detailed analysis and informed opinion.

In particular, this report concentrates on the following essential aspects of online solutions in the pharmaceutical sector:

Technologies that drive the online pharmaceutical sector
Key players in eMarketing and ePrescribing - both providers of technology and leading users of these solutions or platforms
Forecasts of key metrics in eMarketing, ePrescribing and online drug sales from 2006-2011
Drivers and opportunities in pharmaceutical eMarketing, both to consumers and medical professionals
Restraints and threats in pharmaceutical eMarketing
Regulatory issues in pharmaceutical eMarketing, ePrescribing and online drug sales
Comprehensive assessments of relevant business models, technological solutions and associated issues

Why you should buy this report:

To receive a comprehensive analysis of the prospects for online solutions in pharmaceutical sales, marketing and prescribing from 2006-2011
To discover predicted investments, growth rates and other key metrics for online pharmaceutical solutions from 2006-2011
To determine the forces that influence pharmaceutical eMarketing, ePrescribing and online drug sales: - Competitive characteristics of the marketRegulatory, technological and societal issues - Drivers and restraints - Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
To find out where pharmaceutical eMarketing, ePrescribing and online drug sales are heading - both technologically and commercially

Please Note: Prior to initiating fulfillment of an order, the client will be required to sign a document detailing the purchase terms for a publication from this publisher.

Additional Information

Organisations Listed:

Allscripts
AltaVista
Amgen
AOL
Aptilon Health
Ask Jeeves
AstraZeneca
Aura Pharmaceutical Specialities
Biogen
Biogenesis Laboratories
Biotran
Bluefish Wireless
Bremchem.com
Budget Medicines
Canada Discount Generic Drugs
Canadameds.com
canadapharmacy.com
CanadianDrugstore
Canadian-Internet-Drugs.com
Capgemini
Cheap Meds Online
Cisco Systems
Clickdrugstore
closerlook
Cognizant Technology Solutions
crossborderpharmacy.com
CRX Solutions
Dendrite International
Destiny Rx
Detail-Direct.com
Deutsche Bank Securities
DocCheck
DoctorsNet.co.uk
DrFirst
drugbuyers.com
Drugstore.com
DST Output
EDS
eFORCE
e-Healthcare Solutions
Eli Lilly
EmailLabs
ePocrates
EthicalRXOnline
Europharmacy
Fityourneed.com
FriendlyClinic.com
Genzyme Corporation
GetPharma
GlaxoSmithKline
Good Health Pharmacy
Google
Group DCA
GSK
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
Healthcare Pharma
Healthpluspharmacy
Healthy Choice Pharmacy
Hewlett Packard
IBM
IDX Systems
IMS Health
Indianmeds4u
InfoLogix
InfoMedics
IntegriChain
Intel
Intercare
International Pharmaceutical Services
iPhysicianNet
Iplanet E-Commerce Solutions
Jeeves Solutions
Johnson & Johnson
Keynote Systems
Lathian Systems
Life Extension Foundation
Madison Pain Clinic
MailPharma
marketRx
MedAptus
MedManage Systems
MedsCorp
Medsite
MedsMex
Merck & Co.
Microsoft
Millennium Pharmaceuticals
Minnesota RxConnect
MSN
MYDRugRep
NDCHealth
NetDoktor.com
Novartis
OnMedica
openPR
Oracle
Ortho-McNeil
Overture
Palm
Pfizer
PharmaEnergy Drugstore
Pharmaland Healthcare
PharmaMx
Pharmatico
PharmiWeb Solutions
Physicians Interactive
PIPS (Personal Information Platform for Life & Health Services)
Proxicom
PVS (Physician Verification Services)
Roche
Rx2world
RxCentric
RxHub
RxNT
RXPharmacy24
Sanofi-Aventis
Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals
Sepracor
Serono
Siemens Communications
Sky BSB
Square Meds.com
SquareTrade
Starlite Pharmacy
Sun Microsystems
SureScripts
Synavant
TargetRx
Temel
Thomson Healthcare
Trustedmeds
United Pharmacies
UniversalDrugstore
Verity
Vignette
WebMD
Wyeth
Wyeth
XL Pharmacy
Yahoo!
YourPharmacyStore.com

1. Executive Summary: Online Solutions Exhibit Strong Potential in the Pharmaceutical Sector
2. Introduction: The Roles of Online Communications in the Pharmaceutical Sector are Expanding Rapidly: 2.1 What is the Internet and How Has it Changed Commerce?; 2.2 The Sale of Pharmaceutical Products to Patients via the Internet; 2.3 Online Patient Information and Education and Use of The Internet as a Part of DTC Promotion of Pharmaceuticals; 2.4 Use of the Internet to Promote Pharmaceutical Products to Doctors (eDetailing); 2.5 The Use of the Internet in the Prescribing of Drugs (ePrescribing)
3. Use of the Internet to Facilitate DTC Promotion and Consumer Healthcare Education: 3.1 DTC Promotional Spending on the Internet Currently Accounts for Less Than 5% of The Total DTC Budget; 3.2 DTC Promotional Spending on the Internet is Set to Rise to over $100m in 2011; 3.3 SWOT Analysis of Internet Use By Consumers of Pharmaceutical Products; 3.4 Advanced Communications Technologies Will Continue To Expand Their Presence in the Pharmaceutical Industry - Consumers Will Increasingly be Targeted; 3.5 Acceptance by Consumers and Competition for their Attention Constitute the Principal Limitations of Advanced Communicational Technologies in Healthcare; 3.6 The Internet is the Fastest-growing Channel in Pharmaceutical Marketing; 3.7 A Shift in Focus from DTC Advertising in the Mass Media to That Through the Internet Will Become More Pronounced; 3.8 Pharmaceutical eMarketing Appears to be at a Turning Point - Experts Predict Significant Growth and Emphasis on That Channel; 3.9 The Internet is an Important Component of Patient-centred Healthcare; 3.10 eMarketing in the Pharmaceutical Industry Needs to be Taken Out of Isolation and Treated as An Integral Part of Marketing; 3.11 Pharmaceutical Companies Need To Ensure Internet Sites Comply With Regulations; 3.12 The Effective Naming of Pharmaceutical Internet Sites is an Important Consideration; 3.13 The Internet Can Bridge the Gap for Consumer Education and the Communication of Risk; 3.14 The Recent Partnership between Yahoo and Medsite Constitutes an Important Development in Internet-based Promotion of Healthcare; 3.15 Google is Now the Top Online Searching Tool for Healthcare; 3.16 Novartis Has Formed a Partnership with Jeeves Solutions to Optimise the Use of Branded Internet Sites; 3.17 Presentation of Clinical Trial Information is Likely to Attract Increasing Scrutiny From Regulators; 3.18 PhRMA Launches an Online Database to Promote Access to Free Medicine for Eligible US Patients; 3.19 The Use of Email in Pharmaceutical Marketing is on the Rise, Despite Restraining Factors; 3.20 The Industry Can Benefit from Online DTC Promotions - Especially Since Other DTC Channels are Decreasingly Effective
4. eDetailing and Other Use of the Internet by the Medical Profession is Set to Rise: 4.1 Investment on eDetailing Will Continue to Rise, Despite Mixed Results to Date; 4.2 The Numbers of Prescribers Engaging in eDetailing Will Also Increase Steadily; 4.3 SWOT Analysis of Internet Use by Prescribing Medical Professionals; 4.4 Advanced Communications Technologies Will Continue To Expand Their Presence in the Pharmaceutical Industry - Prescribers Will Increasingly be Targeted; 4.5 Acceptance by Prescribers and Competition for their Attention Constitute the Principal Limitations of Advanced Communicational Technologies in Healthcare; 4.6 While the Number of Sales Representatives Has Increased Greatly in the Past Few Years, Access to Doctors Has Become Increasingly Difficult; 4.7 European Pharmaceutical Companies Are Set to Reduce Sales Forces, Concentrating Instead on More Sophisticated and Targeted Forms of Sales Promotion; 4.8 Return on Investment from eDetailing Is Currently Subject to Close Scrutiny in the Industry; 4.9 eDetailing Requires Prescribers to Change their Practices - Companies Need to Build Trust; 4.10 Experts Surveyed By Visiongain Agree that eDetailing Will Continue to Expand from 2006-2011; 4.11 Pharmaceutical eMarketing in Europe Often Poses a Greater Challenge Compared With the More Homogeneous US Market; 4.12 Technological Solutions for eDetailing have Progressed In Recent Years; 4.13 Medical Portals Constitute a Promising Technology or Communications Between the Pharmaceutical Industry and Other Stakeholders in Healthcare, Especially Prescribers; 4.14 It is Important for Companies to Determine Optimal Strategies for eDetailing - Using Appropriate Metrics is Important; 4.15 eDetailing Differs from the Traditional "Push" Model of Sales Promotion - This May Suit Prescribers Better; 4.16 Prescribers are Divided Upon eDetailing as a Preferable Form of Communication with the Pharmaceutical Industry; 4.17 Material Inducements Have Been Prominent in Driving Prescribers' Acceptance of eDetailing; 4.18 Security of Access is an Important Issue for Physician-only Internet Sites; 4.19 The Pharmaceutical Industry Can Overcome Limitations on eDetailing Practices, Possibly in An Advantageous Manner; 4.20 eMarketing Will Become Increasingly Important to the Pharmaceutical Industry
5. ePrescribing Now Plays an Important Role in Healthcare Increasingly Important to the Pharmaceutical Industry: 5.1 The Number of Prescribers Using ePrescribing is Increasing; 5.2 Investment in ePrescribing is Also Growing Steadily; 5.3 Uptake of ePrescribing Increases According to the Number of Prescribers in the Medical Practice; 5.4 Prescription Writing Constitutes One of the Largest Paper-based Processes in Healthcare; 5.5 Administrative Benefits Drive ePrescribing, But Process Implementation Should Not Disrupt Existing Processes; 5.6 Technology Vendors in ePrescribing Are Competing Vigorously to Meet Clients' Requirements; 5.6.1 Allscripts - A Brief Case Study of This Leading ePrescribing Vendor; 5.7 Alliances of Stakeholders of ePrescribing Constitute an Important Driver of the Technology; 5.7.1 Café Rx - A New Alliance to Promote and Facilitate ePrescribing in the US; 5.8 The Uptake of ePrescribing Systems Is Occurring Only Gradually
6. Online Purchase of Pharmaceuticals Chapter is a Controversial Part of the Pharmaceutical Sector: 6.1 The World Market for Online Drug Sales is Set to Increase Steadily from 2006-2011; 6.2 The Online Pharmaceutical Market Will Continue To Be Heavily Overshadowed by Sales from Other Channels; 6.3 Only a Small Proportion of US Adults Have Bought Pharmaceutical Products Online So Far - Lack of Trust is Still Prevalent; 6.4 The Principal Drivers of Online Drug Sales Will be Rising Consumer Acceptance Due To Rising Healthcare Costs and Willingness of Suppliers to Seize Opportunities in the Market; 6.5 The Principal Restraining Factor for Online Drug Sales Will Be Increasing Regulation; 6.6 Consumers Point to Low Cost and Convenience As Reasons for Purchasing Drugs Online; 6.7 "Lifestyle" Drugs Constitute Some of the Most Popular Healthcare Purchases Online; 6.8 Online Pharmacies Differ in their Operations -Especially Policies for Releasing Drugs to Consumers; 6.9 Many Authorities Recognise that Prescribing Drugs Over the Internet Creates Significant Health Risks; 6.10 Illegality Continues to Plague the Online Drugs Market; 6.11 US Pharmaceutical Imports for Personal Use Are Predominantly Supplied by Canadian Online Pharmacies; 6.12 The Rise of Domestic and Foreign Online Pharmacies Has Led to Greater Surveillance of Online Drug Sales - Especially in the US; 6.13 The Online Supply of Drugs Holds CertainAdvantages that Must Be Weighed Against Significant Risks
7. Mobile Telecommunications Have Potential In Healthcare Similar to that of the Internet: 7.1 Implementation of Mobile Technologies Will Prove Increasingly Useful in Healthcare; 7.2 Tablet PCs Have Important Roles in Pharmaceutical Sales and Marketing; 7.3 eDetailing and Other Healthcare Communications are Now Possible via Mobile Phones and PDAs; 7.4 Dendrite International Became a Supplier of Custom Mobile Technology to Merck & Co.; 7.5 eDetailing via iDTV is Another Innovation That is Being Proposed; 7.6 There Are Many Hypothetical Applications That Could Potentially Be Used With Portable Hand-held Devices; 7.7 Visiongain Concludes that Mobile Technologies Have Manifold Uses In Healthcare
8. Conclusions - Use of Electronic Solutions Will Benefit the Pharmaceutical Sector in an Incremental Manner: 8.1 Growth of the Internet Drives eCommerce; 8.2 eMarketing to Consumers is Vital Now That DTC Promotions Via Television Are Out of Favour; 8.3 eDetailing Will Compensate for Decreasing Returns on Traditional Sales Promotions to Medical Professionals; 8.4 ePrescribing Promises Further Efficiencies in Healthcare Systems - Provided Acceptance by Users and Payers is High Enough; 8.5 Sale of Drugs Via the Internet Causes Much Controversy; 8.6 Mobile Communications Are Relevant to Modern Healthcare
List of Tables: Table 2.1 Estimated Numbers of Internet Users by Country, 2006; Table 2.2 The Main Components of the eEnvironment in Business; Table 2.3 Revenue Generation ($bn) by the World Pharmaceutical Industry, 1999-2005; Table 2.4 The Proportion of Consumers Seeking Healthcare Information Online in the US, 2004; Table 3.1 Worldwide Spending ($m) on DTC Advertising by Channel and Share (%) of Budget, 2005; Table 3.2 Spending ($m) on DTC Promotion via the Internet, 2005-2011; Table 3.3 A SWOT Chart for the Use of Online Technologies by Consumers of Pharmaceutical Products, 2006-2011; Table 3.4 Predicted Trends in DTC Marketing; Table 3.5 Typical Exposure Time of a Healthcare Brand Through Various Promotional Channels; Table 4.1 Forecasted Spending ($m) on eDetailing Worldwide by Pharmaceutical Companies, 2006-2011; Table 4.2 The Forecasted Number of Prescribing Medical Professionals Participating in eDetailing Worldwide, 2006-2011; Table 4.3 A SWOT Chart for the Use of Online Technologies by Prescribing Medical Professionals, 2006-2011; Table 5.1 The Proportion of Prescribing MedicalProfessionals Using ePrescribing Worldwide, 2005-2011; Table 5.2 Value ($bn) of the World Market for ePrescribing Technology Solutions, 2005-2011; Table 6.1 The World Online Drug Market ($bn), 2005-2011; Table 6.2 World Online Drug Sales ($bn) Compared With Sales from All Other Channels Combined, 2005; Table 6.3 Prominent International Online Pharmacies; Table 6.4 Canadian Pharmaceutical Exports to the US($m), 2005-2011
List of Figures: Figure 1.1 An Overview of the Online Pharmaceutical Industry; Figure 2.1 Estimated Numbers of Internet Users by Country, 2006; Figure 2.2 Estimated Share (%) of Internet Use by Country, 2006; Figure 2.3 Estimated Use of The Internet by Application, 2006; Figure 2.4 The eEnvironment With Its Commercial Sub-components; Figure 2.5 Revenue Generation ($bn) by the World Pharmaceutical Industry, 1999-2005; Figure 2.6 Top 10 Companies for Total DTC Advertising Expenditure ($m), 2005; Figure 3.1 Worldwide Spending ($m) on DTC Advertising by Channel, 2005; Figure 3.2 Worldwide Share (%) of DTC Advertising Budget by Channel, 2005; Figure 3.3 Spending ($m) on DTC Promotion via the Internet, 2005-2011; Figure 3.4 Drivers of Patient-centred Healthcare; Figure 4.1 Forecasted Spending ($m) on eDetailing Worldwide by Pharmaceutical Companies, 2006-2011; Figure 4.2 Spending (%) on eDetailing Worldwide by Pharmaceutical Companies Compared With That of Traditional Detailing, 2005; Figure 4.3 The Estimated Number of Prescribing Medical Professionals Participating in eDetailing Worldwide, 2001-2005; Figure 4.4 The Forecasted Number of Prescribing Medical Professionals Participating in eDetailing Worldwide, 2006-2011; Figure 4.5,Investment in eDetailing Through the Product Life-Cycle; Figure 4.6 eDetailing as Part of a PharmaceuticalCompany's CRM System; Figure 5.1 The Proportion of Prescribing Medical Professionals Using ePrescribing Worldwide, 2005-2011; Figure 5.2 Value ($bn) of the World Market for ePrescribing Technology Solutions, 2005-2011; Figure 5.3 Proportion (%) of Prescribers Using ePrescribing Increases With Number in a Medical Practice, 2006; Figure 5.4 Main Features Available in ePrescribing Systems; Figure 6.1 The World Online Drug Market ($bn), 2005-2011; Figure 6.2 World Online Drug Sales (%) Compared With Sales from All Other Channels Combined, 2005; Figure 6.3 Canadian Pharmaceutical Exports ($m) to the US, 2005-2011

ePharma: The Online Pharmaceutical Industry

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