Chapter 31 Pharmaceutical Sales Company
There are more than two disappointed patients like Song Yang.
They had been waiting for the launch of the domestic "Eltrombopag" with high expectations, but were disappointed with the final price.
But their disappointment can't save anything. Is it too expensive?
Eat it or not!
The price difference of 300 yuan has crushed the dignity of many patients, and reality has helped them make their choice.
Although there are still some patients complaining dissatisfiedly, their dissatisfaction and complaints do not even make a splash.
Beifeng Pharmaceutical's generic "Eltrombopag" was successfully rolled out in major hospitals and pharmacies across the country, and at this moment,
"Qingshan Avatrombopag" The first batch of subjects in the Phase III clinical trial also successfully completed the three-month clinical trial.
The good news is that after expanding the patient base in the third clinical phase, the treatment effect is still basically the same as that in the second clinical phase.
Not only does the drug response rate remain above 65%, but the platelet-increasing effect is still very significant. At the same time, there are no unknown side effects due to the expansion of the patient base.
Another good news is that it only took 46 days to recruit patients for the third clinical phase of the clinical trial, which means that in just 46 days, 700 clinical trials of "Qingshan Avatrombopag Tablets" for the third clinical phase will be completed. The data will be fully released. At that time, you can immediately submit the data to apply for clinical trial approval!
Zhang Yang was very confident that he could successfully pass the Phase III clinical trial, and immediately began to work hard on drug production.
Different from other ordinary commodities, because of the special nature of drugs, even if they pass clinical trials, they must obtain a "production license approval document" from the State Food and Drug Administration if they really want to be produced.
To put it simply, after a pharmaceutical company applies to produce a drug, the State Food and Drug Administration will send an expert team to the production workshop in person to conduct a comprehensive review.
The first is to see whether the production qualifications and factory environment meet the production requirements of the drug; the second is to see whether the production technology, processes, etc. can ensure the quality stability and safety of the drug.
At present, Qingshan Pharmaceutical does not have its own drug production workshop. Fortunately, Zhou Hai, one of the leaders of the "Grain Miao Project" of the Innovative Drug Support Center, mentioned this matter.
Zhang Yang was not polite and contacted Zhou Hai directly, hoping to help contact a pharmaceutical company that was qualified to produce "Qingshan Avatrombopag".
Zhou Hai is very efficient. About a week after receiving the call, he contacted a pharmaceutical company called Hehua Pharmaceutical in Chengdu.
Although the OEM price proposed by the other party was a bit expensive, Zhang Yang finally reached an OEM agreement with Hehua Pharmaceutical.
Zhang Yang handed over the next details to Liu Fei, who had just been dismissed from Beifeng Pharmaceutical, and his focus immediately shifted to another thing, which was also the last thing before the drug went on sale.
That is - signing a suitable pharmaceutical sales company.
Contrary to many people’s impressions, in China, pharmaceutical companies cannot sell drugs directly to patients, even if they are produced by themselves!
The normal process is that pharmaceutical companies sell drugs to pharmaceutical sales companies, and then the pharmaceutical sales companies sell them to hospitals, pharmacies and even individuals through various channels.
The purpose of this setting is to allow pharmaceutical companies to focus more on drug research and development and leave all sales to pharmaceutical sales companies;
Secondly, it is also to better supervise each box of medicines and achieve closed-loop tracking of medicines.
Now, before "Qingshan Avatrombopag" is launched, Zhang Yang also has to make his own choice and choose a cooperative pharmaceutical sales company.
In the office, Ren Xiaomin gently placed the prepared information on his desk.
"Zhang Yang, several large pharmaceutical sales companies have contacted me recently. They are all interested in our 'Qingshan Avatrombopag'."
"Two of them I have selected them for you. They have in-depth cooperation with many tertiary hospitals across the country, and the hospitals have relatively rich network resources... Overall, I think they are pretty good, you can focus on them.”
Zhang Yang hummed, then picked up the information and flipped through it quickly.
He read very quickly, turning to the end of more than 20 pages of information in just a few minutes. He seemed to be lacking in interest and was dealing with the matter a little hastily.
Ren Xiaomin on the side also noticed Zhang Yang's absent-mindedness. This was the first time he had seen such a state on Zhang Yang, and he suddenly felt strange:
"What's wrong? Zhang Yang."
“Brother Ren, do you think it is necessary for us to set up our own pharmaceutical sales company?”
"Ah?! Establish your own pharmaceutical sales company?" Ren Xiaomin was surprised by the sudden words. He had no idea why Zhang Yang would suddenly come up with this idea.
Of course, there are indeed very few pharmaceutical companies in China that have established their own pharmaceutical companies.
However, even for those large pharmaceutical companies, the scale of their own pharmaceutical sales companies is actually not large.
The reason is also very simple. The biggest core competitiveness of a pharmaceutical sales company is not how good the medicine is, but the hospital's sufficient network resources.
If a new drug wants to enter the hospital, it must first find the department director of the corresponding department. Once the department director has been arranged, the department director will send a "temporary purchase" (temporary purchase) note to the pharmacy department.
At this time, the pharmaceutical company needs to clear the relationship with the pharmacy department. Only with the approval of the pharmacy department can the medicine truly enter the hospital. This is the so-called "hospital admission fee."
So, pharmaceutical companies and pharmaceutical sales companies actually belong to two different tracks. Setting up a pharmaceutical sales company really doesn't make much sense to Qingshan Pharmaceutical, and it may even outweigh the gains and losses.
Ren Xiaomin shook his head and advised:
"Zhang Yang, although the conditions for establishing a pharmaceutical sales company are now relaxed, but if you really want to obtain a pharmaceutical sales license, you still have to build a complete Internal quality control system, we also need to find suitable warehouses and venues, which require recruiting professional personnel and investing a lot of money.”
"Of course, not to mention these hard conditions, currently we only have one product, 'Qingshan Avatrombopag Tablets'. If we set up a separate pharmaceutical sales company just for this drug, it would be a fuss and the gain would not be worth the loss."
Zhang Yang nodded slightly. Of course he was aware of these disadvantages, and because of this, he had been hesitating and weighing.
Why are domestic drugs generally expensive?
The reason is very simple,
Pharmaceutical sales companies need to make money, medical representatives also need to make money, regional distributors, and pharmacies all need to make money!
After going back and forth, even if the ex-factory price of pharmaceutical companies is very cheap, the retail price will eventually increase by 2-3 times.
It is acceptable to publicize the price increase of common drugs, but after experiencing so many things and seeing so many patients who cannot afford the medicines, he does not want his life-saving drugs to be expensive enough for ordinary patients to take them. An incredible situation.
He is not a saint, but rather than letting pharmaceutical companies eat their fill, it would be better to give profits to real patients.
And the most important thing is that he knows better than Ren Xiaomin that Qingshan Pharmaceutical will never have more than one drug in the future!
At present, "Qingshan Avatrombopag Tablets" are okay. If "ITG Human Recombinant Genetin", which can completely cure aplastic anemia, comes on the market, he doesn't know how much the pharmaceutical sales company will increase the price. !
so!
Sales channels must still be in your own hands!
Thinking of this, Zhang Yang already had the answer in his heart. He gently pushed away the information on the table and looked at Ren Xiaomin.
"Brother Ren, I have already thought about it. Let's do what I want and set up a Qingshan pharmaceutical sales company!"
"We don't need to sell other companies' drugs. We Just sell our medicines!”
"I'll bother you with the specific procedures. If you have any difficulties..."
Speaking of this, Zhang Yang thought of Zhou Hai from the "Innovative Drug Support Center".
"If you have any trouble, just contact Zhou Hai. They have taken so much profit from us, so it's time to do something!"
Seeing that Zhang Yang had made up his mind, Ren Xiaomin was still a little worried. Puzzled, but still nodded:
"Okay, I believe your decision, I will deal with this matter right away."
After saying that, he was about to leave, but as he stood up, he suddenly thought of another thing:
"By the way, Zhang Yang, now that everything is ready, you should also think carefully about drug pricing."
"Well, actually I have already thought about it!"
Zhang Yang smiled slightly and then slowly wrote a series of numbers in his notebook.
When Ren Xiaomin looked at it, his expression suddenly changed dramatically and he was in disbelief.
"Zhang Yang, the price is too..."
Zhang Yang smiled:
"Go and get busy, we will hold a press conference together then!"
(This chapter End)