Advice You - Business

Internal Customer’ is a phrase often heard in business. Usually this refers to one department (the internal cus

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

tomer) receiving work from another department (the internal supplier).

But this phrase has become widespread a

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

Examples of combination products may in

d is now applied to branch offices, field officers, repair centers, distributors, night shifts, contract worker

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

s, parking lot attendants, bosses, employees, job applicants and even retirees.

Motorola has more than one tho

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

sand service agents in China repairing and upgrading consumers’ mobile phones. Motorola provides spare parts to

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

Combination pro

the service agents, making the agents ‘internal customers’ of Motorola. But Motorola pays labor fees charged b

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

the service agents under maintenance contracts. So Motorola is also an internal customer of the agents. This c

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

ould be confusing.

It gets worse when more than two parties are involved, or when people say ‘The Customer is

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

ing’ and then argue over who should be treated more ‘royally’!

I think the phrase itself is out-of-date and pr

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

oblematic. Rather than one side taking the ‘customer’ position and casting the other as ‘supplier’, both partie

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

could – and should – embrace to become ‘Internal Service Partners’ working together to delight the ‘external c

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

Following aspects would a

ustomer’.

After all, good ideas and extra effort should come from both sides in any working relationship. Both

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

‘internal customers’ should be committed to creating a positive outcome for their shared ‘external customer’ do

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

wn the line.

Within our departments, companies and organizations we are customers and providers to each other.

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

We are, in truth, service partners.

Key Learning Point

The phrase ‘internal customer’ can lead to awkward at

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

titudes and inappropriate expectations. Replace it with ‘internal service partners’.

Action Steps

Get togethe

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

with those you depend on at work and those who depend on you. Create a shared declaration of service partnersh

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

ip for working effectively together, including listening to each other’s concerns, being open to new ideas, sha

.

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

ing insights and new approaches, and making suggestions for improvement.

Keep your service partnership focused

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

on the customer that really counts – the one that makes a choice every day about where to bring their business

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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Advice You - Ban the Internal Customer

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