The pharma industry must become more digital-savvy: OP Singh, Cadila

Looking at the magnitude of the coronavirus pandemic and its spread across the world, it is almost certain by now that post-coronavirus, the industry will have to plan their future to face the new normal. But one of the industries that has really worked hard during the pandemic is the healthcare industry. Many of them operated during the pandemic by taking all precautionary measures to serve the public under difficult circumstances. Many doctors who had paused their practice to follow social distancing are now slowly coming back by following the rules laid down by the Indian Medical Council.

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We will see some significant change in this industry as we head to a new normal. Doctors who have now started practicing are leveraging digital technology. Telemedicine and consultation over phone and online have already started with many medical practitioners.  As in the case of the rest of the industry, it will be a long while before normalcy is restored in the pharma industry, but some of the companies are moving at lightning speed and adapting to the news norms by using digital technology and planning well. Some of the pharma brands are deeply involved with developing the Covid vaccine while the others are also busy innovating their new drugs during this time and also meeting the general demands of the patients.

To understand how pharma companies are coping with new challenges and looking at the future, Adgully spoke to O.P. Singh, President - Sales & Marketing, Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

We all have to live with the COVID for some time. So, one needs to find new and innovative ways to engage with doctors. What brand strategy are you deploying to stay connected with your key stakeholders like doctors and chemists?

Faster adoption of change is the key to success. We are seeing an unforeseen shift in the mind-set of the global community. The healthcare practitioners and consumers are keen on consuming information through digital platforms. The product marketing team, the sales force, and the customers – everyone wants to move to digital platforms. The sales force wants to explore more opportunities for engaging the customers and the customers are really receptive when they are reached online.

The pharmaceutical industry is an industry that has always been focused more on the traditional methods to reach the customer, but now we must become digital-savvy. This pandemic has provided an opportunity to all the pharma organisations to switch to digital for their activities. With our steps focussed towards digitalisation, we want to accelerate the digital revolution in the organisation and lead the way in the industry when it comes to digital marketing. Our teams are now exploring more avenues for increased knowledge exchange to connect with customers.

One of the biggest shifts would be how we engage the customers moving forward. Marketing of products in pharma has mostly been science-based, but with movement towards digital, the teams would now have to blend science with storytelling. The power of digital is immense and the current environment will require us to embrace this.

The field force now cannot visit doctors. So how are you encountering this challenge to ensure that your brand is top of mind with the doctors?

Only the smart brands will become the most recalled brands in the coming era. Brands that adapt to the changing environment can stay committed to their business goal and survive in the market. Currently, there are two primary aspects that we have been focusing on, one engaging healthcare providers through the process of knowledge exchange and second, focus on bringing together the doctor community in order to fight the pandemic. In today’s world, the dissemination of information has become easier. Since it has no limitation whatsoever, knowledge sharing has become a powerful tool. With the help of this tool, we are engaging the doctors virtually. Doctors, as a community, thrive on peer-to-peer learning. Since the pandemic, this learning has taken a backseat as doctors are fighting the virus on the front or operating from homes. We started by focusing on ensuring that the community-building activities continue. We wanted to give them this opportunity again by facilitating the knowledge exchange virtually.

One of the other ethos that we live by is providing innovative healthcare solutions to all. And even during the pandemic, we continued innovating and kept bringing out new products. We started with the digital launch of Sepsivac, an innovation in the management of Sepsis which significantly reduces the mortality rate and reduces the hospital stay. Sepsivac, builds innate immunity, has also shown promising results in the fight against COVID-19. We also launched 4 biosimilars in the last 2 months and have done all the launches virtually. We invited doctors and other professionals to be a part of these launches to help them understand what innovations we are bringing with this product. This encourages conversation between the doctors and the brand.

Will tele-consultation be the new norm? Do you think this will work for patients?  Will it also bring down the prescription numbers?

Yes, yes and yes. Due to the pandemic, the number of tele-consultations has risen. It is easier for the patients to consult their doctors online, rather than putting their lives at risk. This works exceptionally well in places where the doctors are not available readily. This is especially true in speciality cases where neurologists, gastroenterologists, oncologists are required, but they can only be found in bigger cities. Tele-consultation gives a chance to the residents in remote areas to get access to quality consultation. Virtual clinics are a newer concept that is taking shape in this pandemic. Virtually, doctors can meet with their patients, book appointments and write a prescription. This eliminates the necessity of meeting up with the doctor increasing the risk of spreading infections. This is one step further to tele consultation.

Training and drawing strategy for each quarter with your field force is now hampered. How are you engaged with your field force so that they are updated on a regular basis?

During this period of lockdown, our core focus was the scaling up of our knowledge exchange. We ensured our field force could develop themselves into professionals of tomorrow. In the past 2 months, we conducted more than 50 sessions by engaging 30+ trainers and providing 100+ hours of training through video conferencing.

Through this, we have ensured that all our products in 2020 got launched digitally – right from Sepsivac to our latest range of biosimilar products. We have also ensured that our teams are geared up for the future. Our teams have adopted various channels of communication to reach our customers. They used various digital marketing channels to connect with our customers. This was an initiative to strengthen the skills of our salesforce in the digital space so as to upskill them and prepare them for the dynamic future. This way we ensured the field force could stay connected to the organisation and we could help them in their personal development.

Has the supply chain situation improved? How are you managing to reach your products to the end customer?

Being a part of the essential services, we have always been functional. However, the safety of our employees is the biggest concern for us. So we started working in multiple shifts, be it corporate office or the plant while following social distancing and other safety precautions. Hence we were able to manage the supply of all our products. Additionally, the govt. of India had always permitted transportation of essential items such as medicines across state borders. This again didn’t act as a barrier to our products to reach on time to the customers.

The next challenge was to ensure that the doctors were aware of the availability of the products so that their patients don’t suffer. To enable this, our field force was constantly in touch with them and the chemists/ stockists to ensure there is no shortage and everyone has access to the required medicines. We are essentially in the business of serving the country. When the need for the medicines increased, how could we reduce the supply? We increased the touchpoints to engage with our doctors by collaborating with medical apps that helped these doctors reach their patients virtually. We helped around 50,000 doctors set up their clinics virtually enabling them to continue consulting their patients.

We will not see the medical conferences and Doctor meets happening for some time. So, what are the alternative pharma brands are looking at to bridge that gap and communicate to the medical world?

The world has always adapted itself to the changing environment. When the country was undergoing demonetisation, the businesses were struggling. However, they adapted and turned to digital payments which provided additional business opportunities to digital payment portals. So even if one route closes, the business world adapts and finds a way around. Similarly, in this pandemic, the pharma world is struggling with various business operations but we are, albeit slowly, but definitely moving towards digitalisation.

Since the COVID-19, we are seeing a large number of conferences going virtual. With the use of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies, the conferences give you an almost live experience where one can network with colleagues, display their brands and attend sessions. This all can be done from the comforts of your home! Virtual conferences also give the opportunity to attend international conferences which otherwise they couldn’t have attended. Doctors and experts from around the world can now come together virtually and discuss on a bigger platform. One of our very own innovation conclave, Iamicon, is going digital this year. We plan to reach around 1,000 doctors across 150 cities through this conclave. With experts from across the country, it will truly be one of its kind conclaves to be held digitally.

Doctors have been interested in the innovations happening in the healthcare world so that they can help their patients better. With Sepsivac showing promising results in developing innate immunity in patients, doctors have been in talks with our teams to understand how the drug works against the cytokine storms. Innovative products and newer technologies capture the interest of doctors and hence communicating with them become easier.

Will digital be your new mantra? What strategy is being planned to leverage digital both with doctors and your end customers?

The pharma industry falls under the category of ‘late majority’ when it comes to adaptation to technology. The pharma industry is still finding its ground in digital marketing. The onset of the pandemic has fast-forwarded this journey to make digital initiatives more mainstream. Digital is the way forward for any industry as it gives newer platforms to connect with customers and end consumers. We have already started leveraging the digital platforms by conducting learning and development sessions for all our employees. The doctors are being provided with platforms to participate in knowledge exchange with experts and other digital initiatives are being implemented by our marketing teams to increase the conversations between doctors and our field force.

For our end consumers, we are have been focusing on knowledge sharing and transparency. At Cadila, we strongly believe in the ethos of care. Be it for our end consumers or our employees, we ensure that the care continues. Our strategy focuses on sharing more human and innovations of Cadila such as Sepsivac, Rabeloc, Polycap, etc. through different digital platforms about what we are doing currently. This increases the conversation among our stakeholders. Being a pharmaceutical organization it is important for us that our customers and our consumers trust us. Being an organisation that has been in the industry since 1951, for us the trust of our customers comes first. We have been focussed on quality and affordable medicines. And this trust can only be developed through increased conversations in the new normal.