Pharmaceutical Technologist - May 2008 - (Page 18)

Is pharma’s future mobile? The implementation of technology in the pharmaceutical industry has grown exponentially during the past 10 years, but the market has yet to recognize the opportunities that lie in the palm of its hand through one of the most popular consumer technologies — the mobile phone. Guillaume Peersman from Dialogue Communications. harmaceutical companies have not yet realized that mobile phone technology can be used to raise brand awareness, streamline operations, interact with customers and increase customer satisfaction. Technology is at the forefront of developments in the pharmaceutical industry, and many landmark technological advances have been made during the past few decades. However, when it comes to marketing and customer care, simple technology that is right under our noses is often overlooked. In Europe, pharmaceutical companies have barely scraped the surface of mobile technology. During the past few years, sales staff, doctors and hospital workers have started to use devices such as personal digital assistants and smartphones for data capture, filing reports, quick answers to clinical questions and keeping track of patient information. In North America, approximately 60% of physicians are using mobile computing solutions at the point of care to view referential materials, access clinical patient data and solve existing workflow inefficiencies. The majority of their access is for professional use, such as online journals, searching literature databases, accessing clinical trial information, and searching for P prescription drug information. By comparison, almost one in three European physicians have handheld mobile devices, and the majority are using them for advanced professional activities, such as scheduling, drug reference, clinical notes and reading articles online. As devices evolve, the opportunity to use them at the point of care will increase.1 And it’s not just these products that have yet to be used to their full potential; the generic mobile phone could hold the key to improving marketing strategies within the industry, as well as in customer care. The mobile phone provides new opportunities for personalized messaging and return on investment measurement. The mobile market boom At the end of 2006 in the UK alone, the Office for National Statistics reported that 80% of households owned a mobile phone.2 During the same year, 143 million handsets were sold in the US.3 By 2009, it is predicted that the mobile market in Europe, the Middle East and Africa will have a combined worth of €231 billion.4 The sectors of the mobile market most applicable to the pharmaceutical industry are messaging and 18 MAY 2008 PHARMACEUTICAL TECHNOLOGIST Image: Dialogue Communications

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Pharmaceutical Technologist - May 2008

Pharmaceutical Technologist - May 2008 Contents Industry Highlights Morpheus Market Watch Pharma’s Need for Integrated Safety Is Pharma’s Future Mobile? Facing the CRO Behemoths Q&A

Pharmaceutical Technologist - May 2008

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