< PreviousMICROBIOLOGY10Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.netinfertile couples and gay couples were left with onlyadoption or surrogates they now have a new avenue ofpossibility to explore. What happens on a slide or in a petri dish may takeplace on the microscopic level, but has the biggestechoes. As is evident, the market is growing, driven asmuch by our pursuit of knowledge, as the medical andpractical breakthroughs it heralds. Indeed, themicrobiological culture market is being inched along by theincreasing frequency of microbial infection worldwide. Forexample, an outbreak of E-bola virus in African countiesand other developing economics is expected to affect themarket. The same is true of the Zika outbreak, whichspawned a number of innovative and groundbreakingprojects in order to counteract, control and stop the virus. Demand for antibiotics is one of the biggest drivers, forthe need to cope with myriad microbial infections or tocreate alternatives amid the looming antibiotic resistantsuper bug crisis. Needless to say, all of this is providing theimpetus for increased funding and research anddevelopment into the microbial market. However, the highcosts of antibiotics are the key limitations, hamperingfuture growth, but the market is resilient, and ongoingresearch efforts in the healthcare sector are expected toforge new growth avenues in the coming years. In a world where the human genome can now besequenced in a record 26 hours and at a relatively lowcost, the emphasis on rapid microbiology is paramount.The latest report from Credence Research reveals the rapidmicrobiology market to be growing with a similar rate asthat experienced by the microbiology market at large. It’llcome as no surprise to discover it is forecast to reach $6.2billion by 2022, up from $3.4 billion in 2015. Rapid microbiological tests are gaining traction in theglobal market due to their reliable and cost-effectivemeans of tracking and monitoring all types ofmicroorganisms in pharmaceutical applications, as well asnumerous other industrial settings. Cost and inventory canbe further saved due to the accurate methods used toassist in the rapid detection of microbes and earlydiagnosis. Sterile testing applications accounted for thelion’s share of the tests in the pharmaceutical market, duelargely to its ubiquity in the final drug product and otherapplications. Though this area will continue to experiencegrowth, process water testing is likely to witness thehighest growth in the pharmaceutical industry.The journey of scientific understanding is inexorably tiedwith understanding the microscopic world, a fact reflectedin the growing multi-billion microbiology markets. Formedicine and healthcare, it means helping tocircumnavigate and troubleshoot the threat of antibioticresistant bacteria, allowing individuals who wouldotherwise be unable to have their own children andproviding greater efficacy in drug development. We’ve onlyjust begun to scratch the surface; there is, after all, anentire unseen world hidden beneath the microscope. 08-11_Layout 1 08/02/2017 16:16 Page 3Pharma Business International 11www.pbiforum.netMICROBIOLOGY08-11_Layout 1 08/02/2017 16:16 Page 4MARKETING12Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.netThe pharmaceutical industry has yet tostrike a balance between its ownpractices and digital media. We’re usedto seeing medical advertisements intraditional media, from the ubiquitousprint to television. The advent of theinternet as a commercial entity saw therise of pharmaceutical pop up ads andspam emails – something that stillplagues the industry’s reputation now.The last decade, however, has seen ashift in the online sphere, with theunprecedented rise of social mediahelping to realise the internet’spossibilities. For pharmaceuticalcompanies and industry researchers, thisinterconnectedness is laying theinfrastructure for personalised medicine –the long touted medical utopia wheretreatments can be uniquely tailored frompatient to patient. For many, mobile applications wereseen as the herald of the brave newdigital age we’re entering, able to benefiteverything from our health and fitness, toour mental wellbeing. In many cases,apps are having a hugely positive effect,and the growing popularity of wearabletechnology to complement theseapplications is no coincidence. Apps thatoffer purported health benefits will likelyHard to swallowMobile apps offer pharmaceutical companies a wealth of information and open avenues to targeted, two-waymarketing, so why aren’t more companies taking advantage?15 Á12-15_Layout 1 08/02/2017 16:17 Page 1MARKETINGThe last decadehas seen a shift inthe online sphere,with theunprecedented riseof social mediahelping to realisethe internet’spossibilities12-15_Layout 1 08/02/2017 16:17 Page 2MARKETING14Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net12-15_Layout 1 08/02/2017 16:17 Page 3Pharma Business International 15www.pbiforum.netMARKETINGbe a hit with consumers, though appscreated specifically by pharmaceuticalcompanies are strangely absent fromconsumer’s mobile phones and tablets.Apple recently highlighted the 24 mostpopular healthcare apps available in itsonline store, and just one was from apharma company – Myriad Genetic’sMyRA app. As described by Myriad,the app “serves as a resource thatprovides a comprehensive overviewon clinical information associatedwith Myriad’s myRisk hereditarycancer test”. Rather than a variety of apps frompharmaceutical companies, themedical subsection of the App storeinstead revealed the most popular appsto be self-diagnostic, pregnancy, sleep,prescriptions, sex and marijuana related.Even as little as three years ago therewas a crop of medical apps from theworld’s biggest pharmaceuticalcompanies – from Sanofi andAstraZeneca to Roche, Merck and Pfizer,to name but a few – all releasing apps.The majority were focussed on a simpletopic, such as clinical trials, weight lossand medicine adherence. However, manyhad already been successfully released inmore popular forms before, and indeedafter. Some of these apps have fadedinto obscurity already, with others laggingon. Of course, it would be unfair to tar allof them with the same brush, but giventhe dearth of pharma companies inApple’s top 24, it’s all a bit lacklustre.And yet pharmaceutical companies areforward thinking by their very nature,especially when it has come to digitalcommunication technology.The pharmaceutical industry was anearly adopter of social media, with some(but crucially not all) of the biggestcompanies quickly establishingthemselves on Facebook, Twitter andlater Instagram. Here they were engagingwith patients and consumers as well aseach other, breaking what hastraditionally been a one way dialogue.The pharmaceutical industry has reliedon direct-to-consumer advertising,hesitant of social media, and who canblame them? In an arena where saying ordoing the wrong thing can go viral andbe taken out of context, it can spellreputational damage to a company andits suppliers. Although some of thesecompanies still avoid social media,others are building relationships withconsumers and patient groups;improving brand visibility, managementand reputation. As the industry is stillengulfed in price gouging controversy,this is one way to change popularopinion and shake up this new formingstatus quo. Engaging with patients isrisky, especially in what is an open andvisible online space, but the popularity ofself-diagnostic apps, and the healthconversations taking place online provethat patients, consumers and users turnto social media for support and advice.For a pharmaceutical company toinsert themselves into thatconversation is a powerful statementindeed. The same technology that isheralding the rise in personalisedmedicine is also the same that is beingutilised for targeted and effectiveadvertising. The internet has given wayto digital marketing, an entire branch ofadvertising targeting consumers throughnew media. This is the way forward forthe pharmaceutical industry, as direct-to-consumer advertising is moribund.Consumers don’t just want a two-waydialogue, they expect it; they want to beinvolved and have a choice. Mobileapplications and a strong social mediapresence are tools which the industrymust explore not only to ensure theirmarketing targets consumers, but thatthey foster a relationship and are seen toput people and profits on an even keel. 12-15_Layout 1 08/02/2017 16:17 Page 4PROCUREMENT16Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.netWith one press conference, US President DonaldTrump sent the pharmaceutical industry spiralling. TheNASDAQ Biotech Index fell 3.5 per cent in responseand pharmaceutics didn’t fare much better. His tiradebegan with a mission statement, of getting “our drugindustry coming back”, though it was his accusationthat the industry was “getting away with murder” that,for many, was cause for concern. The conferencecaught pubic and industry attention, playing to thefinancial zeitgeist that has plagued big pharma over thelast few years. Even Bernie Sanders – who lost theDemocratic presidential nomination to Hilary Clinton –who has opposed Trump on almost every other point,agreed with the President’s comments. Trump’s attack seemed at once critical of pharmagiants shifting their tax domiciles overseas, the relianceon manufacturing plants outside of the US, as wellexorbitant drug prices. In the same conference, heproposed replacing US health insurance programmes,such as Medicare and Medicaid, with competitivebidding and direct price negotiations as a mean ofsaving “billions of dollars”. Currently, these insuranceprogrammes are prohibited by law to negotiate drugpricing. Healthcare was one of the touchstones of thepresidential campaign, on both sides of the politicaldivide, with Trump appealing to voters with his promiseThe pharmaceutical industry is facing an uncertainfuture with US President Trump taking aim at bigpharma’s drug prices, and proposing a competitivebidding system to replace the Affordable Care Act. 18 ÁBidding war16-19_Layout 1 08/02/2017 16:18 Page 1Pharma Business International 17www.pbiforum.netPROCUREMENT16-19_Layout 1 08/02/2017 16:18 Page 2PROCUREMENT18Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.netto revoke the controversial AffordableCare Act (or Obama care). Throughoutthe election, the debate seemed lessabout healthcare than its operators, withthe rhetoric focussed on thepharmaceutical industry and the priceincreases that were coming to thesurface. With Democratic candidateHillary Clinton declaring outright war onbig pharma, or at least the drug pricingcontroversy that had punctuated thecampaign trail, big pharma felt safer inRepublican hands, under a leader who, itwas assumed, would be less hostile. Inthe immediate aftermath of Trump’svictory, pharma stocks surged in Europe,with the Stoxx 600 healthcare index up3.5 per cent. With his recent mediaaddress, it’s doubtless that big pharma isquestioning its position under the Trumpadministration. Among Trump’s campaign promiseswas the repeal of Obamacare. Weeks inthe White House and he has alreadypulled an ad campaign promoting sign-ups for healthcare plans under theAffordable Care Act before openenrolment closed; this being despite thenumber of online advertisementsattesting to the same information.Though many of his supporterssided against Obamacare, arecent poll found that publicsupport actually roseimmediately after Trumpbecame president. The publicdivide that followed thecampaign until its shockresult continues still, andwith his stance against topdrug companies, Trumphas also ushered inindustrial divides. At the time of thepress conference,Abbvie’s ChiefExecutive RichardGonzalez announced atthe annual JP MorganHealthcare Conference in San Franciscothat the company would keep all drugprice increases this year under 10 percent. It has become the third globaldrugmaker to publically make that pledgeafter Allergan and Novo Nordisk madesimilar announcements. Abbvie’s rheumatoid arthritis treatment,Humira, is the world’s biggest sellingdrug. Despite the single-price increases,Mr Gonzales expects global sales ofHumira to top $18 billion by 2020 – upfrom around $14 billion in 2015. Trump recently met with thechief executives of anumber of topdrugmakers,includingNovartis AG, Merck & Co, Johnson &Johnson and Eli Lily, as well as the headof the Pharmaceutical Research andManufacturers of America. He called onthe pharmaceutical industry to boosttheir US production as well as lower theirprices – a proposition which invites afundamental shift of the system. So what does all this mean forprocurement? Trump is proposing a more“American” pharmaceutical industry, one16-19_Layout 1 08/02/2017 16:18 Page 3Pharma Business International 19www.pbiforum.netPROCUREMENTwhich manufactures medicines in the US,relies less on imports and avoidsrelocating their legal headquarters to so-called tax havens. This comes on top ofhis plans to usher in a bidding system,closer what is used in Europe.Combined, the US pharmaceuticalindustry is faced with a cross roads,with one path leading to acomplete paradigm shift. Itcould very well mean afairer system for patients and those inneed, with excessive price hikesbecoming less commonplace. Thoughit’s still too early to really appreciate theextent a Trump administration will haveon the industry, there are early warningsigns for better and for worse. Trump is proposing a more Americanpharmaceutical industry, one whichmanufacturers medicines in the US,relies less on imports and avoidsrelocating their legal headquarters toso-called tax havens16-19_Layout 1 08/02/2017 16:18 Page 4Next >