Advice You - Business

I have been in business for 16 years in a variety of industries - but what was common for all, was I would never let my staff mail out a letter unless it was on a company letterhead.

It didn't matter if that letter was to a prospective customer, to

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

pay an account, or to the Prime Minister, - any correspondence leaving our premises had to be on a letterhead and neatly presented.

So the question I pose - as a business owner would you/or do you, allow your staff to s

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

Examples of combination products may in

nd out company quotes, mail outs, or even general correspondence on a plain piece of paper - or not on company letterhead? I thought not... In today's fast paced world - email and computer generated correspondence is fast replac

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

ng the old, print, mail and post scenario common from yesteryear. Thus it comes to a great surprise that a number of small and medium sized businesses and their owners have not adapted their circumstances to suit the modern cyberspace world and conti

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

ue to allow their staff to send out plain paper mail - via email.

Yes - plain paper email - messages, correspondence, quotations, and letters without any company logos or references.

True Story My girlfriend was sourcing quotes rec

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

Combination pro

ntly, for some shutters at home.

She had asked 2 companies to quote - and they both came in approximately around $10 000.

She brought the two quotes home for us to both make the decision on who we would choose to install them. The first quote I loo

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

ed at was professionally presented on a company letterhead and came with some colour brochures of the shutters.

However, the second quote (the least expensive quote) was on a plain piece of paper with no logos or company description on it. At the bo

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

tom it simply said - Thanks Craig.

My immediate and gut reaction was to go with the more expensive, better and professionally presented quote - as the shutters were costing a small fortune, I wanted quality work and needed to deal with a reputable c

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

mpany.

I was later informed that the second cheaper quote had come via email.

That may have been the case - but how many people are judging you and your company on the initial presentation, like I did in my shutter purchase.

Worse still - how many

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

$10 000 jobs was this company losing because of the way they were presenting their quotes - via a plain email format?

Email has come a long way since its inception as a plain text form of correspondence. Today's email can be a combination of visuall

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

rich images and interactive elements, clickable links and interactive forms, which engage the receiver.Even the more exotic things can now be done in an Email, such as embedding sound or video data.

I pose another question?
ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a
>Do you or your staff currently have a signature file at the bottom of every email correspondence? If you are asking what is a signature file? - then I am assuming you don't. A signature file is the set of text that you atta
dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod
h to the end of all of your emails that identifies you, your company's products and services. A signature file generally contains the name of the person who is writing the mail, the business or company name, preferred means of contacting the person o
cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin
the company, and the information showing the benefits of contacting the person or the company.

Dynamic Emails however are the next generation of signature files. A dynamic email is principally a 21st century letterhead, incorporating the basics of
tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen
signature file into a fully interactive letterhead for your business.

Dynamic emails let you and your staff
send personalised and professional emails that are company standard and consistent
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
>have visually appealing messages that make your company stand out from your competitors.
incorporate interactive forms or clickable links to your website
keep your brand, service or product top of mind with your clients (become on-
ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust
ellers of your business)
load automatically for ease of use and control of company branding
give you an electronic letterhead for every email message you and your staff send.
Consistency and standardisation is the key when
y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products
you and your staff are communicating your message to the outside world. You could probably build a dynamic email or letterhead for yourself by putting a few logos or images on an email in a html format. Chances are though that either you will make th
.

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
resulting file way too large and it will take forever to download on the other end (upsetting the end user) - or the look and design of your email will not look the same on the other end (due to different email applications). As well there is a good
elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip
chance of your email getting picked up by the SPAM filter. There are a number of techniques a professional will use in ensuring that your companys' dynamic emails are consistent modern day letterheads.

Is it time you invest in some online stationary

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 - The Letterhead of the 21st Century

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