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Recently, I was invited to participate in a focus group for women regarding casual restaurants. The panel consisted of eight other young women who frequented casual restaurants enough to be informed on the subject to be able to properly provide information regardi

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

ng them.

The focus group started off well enough - the panel conductor introduced herself, and asked us to do the same. She did this to simply create a better group dynamic, not for record collection purposes. She then proceeded to ask us to write down our top fi

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

Examples of combination products may in

ve casual restaurants on a piece of paper. Once done, as a group we compiled a listing of these restaurants. There was a lot of overlap, especially with the big popular chain restaurants. The more obscure restaurants were crossed off from the list, and the conduct

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

or asked us to focus in on three particularly trendy restaurants. The women in the group then freely began voicing their opinions to the conductor on these selected restaurants. When a crossed off restaurant made its way back into the discussion, the conductor gen

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

tly guided the group back to the discussion of the top three restaurants. This is where things got interesting.

One of the women in the group could not understand why the discussion could not involve the restaurants crossed from the list. After becoming defensive

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

Combination pro

about her favorite restaurant (which happened to be crossed off), she began questioning the panel conductor and demanded to know what the "real" purpose behind the focus group was. Another woman, who interestingly enough, knew the woman who was at this point irat

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

e, joined in. The panel conductor tactfully answered some of their questions until she realized the women had no interest in listening to what she had to say. She then stopped answering questions and asked the women to leave.

At first the women refused, but at th

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

e mention of receiving their focus group participation payment in full, started to get up and leave. Before leaving the room, the woman who started the argument asked the survey conductor if the whole point behind the focus group was to answer questions about one

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

particular restaurant chain, because they were the ones who hired the research company to conduct the focus group. The conductor, exasperated with the time that had been already wasted and the obvious nature of the question, loudly proclaimed "But of course!"

Onc

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

e the women who had been removed from the focus group completely left (although not before voicing their dissatisfaction to the receptionist), the rest of us remaining told the survey conductor she handled the situation well. Throughout the entirety of the event,

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

he rest of us focus participants simply sat and listened...

The situation was rather a disappointing one. Out of the nine women who showed up, only seven of us were left - most of us confused about what had just transpired. The survey conductor was left frazzled

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

Following aspects would a

and upset and I'm sure the restaurant chain that hired the market research company was also disappointed.

So, what is the point of me telling you this story?

This story is simply a classic example of how a little bit of ignorance can turn a well-intention

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

ed assignment into a needless disagreement. Had the women who were kicked out realized the purpose behind the focus group, and appreciated that the point of a focus group is to literally "focus" on something, they likely would not have caused such a disturbance. F

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

ocus groups are not about manipulating panelists - it's about asking questions at the right time, in the correct sequence, sometimes by use of "lead ins". Market researchers companies are professionals at this, as they know when and how to ask questions to receive

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

the type of response they are looking for. As this is their expertise, major corporations hire them to conduct exactly this type of research.

Remember that with survey taking and focus group participation, you are getting paid for your opinions; your opinions on

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

a specified topic that is. It's great that we all have thoughts about products, services, people, places, and things, but the company who has hired the market research firm to conduct the survey is only interested in having panelists answer the questions they nee

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

d answered - this is why they are willing to pay for this type of valuable information.

Focus group participation and survey taking can be fun and interesting. You quickly discover what your likes and dislikes are, and it's neat to have somebody not only listen,

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

but also pay you for what you have to say. If there is a survey or focus group you feel you would not enjoy participating in - don't! This is why surveys and focus groups are voluntary to participate in. Keep in mind (literally) that you can always save your opini

.

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

ons for topics you would be more interested in answering questions about.

You may also wonder about the sequence of questions in a survey or focus group. Just consider that question sequence serves a purpose, one that may not always be obvious to you as the parti

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

cipant. If you answer questions truthfully and with effort, you will realize you are taking part in a larger system that directly allows you to influence the goods and services of the future.

Make a difference, and have fun while you're at it. Happy survey taking

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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How important it is to be able to spot a client you want to AVOID from a mile away? Let’s be honest, you only want “A” clients, right? Well, here’s my personal list of surefire signs that someone’s not going to be a great client for me.

Once you get the call for the interview, the next thing that you have to do is prepare for it. Following are a 5 steps for a successful interview: (1) do your research, (2) know your contact, (3) practice your responses, (4) dress the part, and (5) get organized. You can never over-prepare for an interview!

If a human soul buys into an idea like a faith or religion with a passion, with total commitment, the bounds of what we are collectively capable are quite simply astounding. The last fifteen years of change, downsizing and restructuring have left many employees feeling weary and demoralized. The right way forward is to re-inspire them with the fervour like the great religions.

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