It is fair to say that, economically, a pharmaceutical company's bottom line requires it to sell products competitively, but a larger viewer should also be taken. The company occupies a key position, from a marketing perspective, between the government and other regulators and ultimately the patient. There is a complex understanding and relationship between all the main players and pharmaceutical consultants help to emphasise these individual roles, as they disseminate information to help oil all the moving parts of this complex machine.

Pharmaceutical companies must conform to strict FDA regulations, best use practices and study scientific benchmarks to provide products and services for ongoing use. The importance of marketing in this environment should never be underestimated. The physician or pharmacist has to juggle a lot of information, much of it based on older science, together with the wants and needs of the patient and budgetary restrictions applied by insurance companies or individual positions.

The direct communication between health care professionals and the pharmaceutical companies through various marketing channels ultimately dictates the efficient delivery of products and services to the end-user, the patient. There is a lot at stake as the patient's ability to lead a healthy and productive life can be affected by the quality and standard of the marketing trail. It’s crucial to remember that these forms of marketing represent a two way street. In addition to the company's communication with the professional about the benefits and risks associated, the science behind the introduction of the products and ways for dissemination and consumption, the professional also communicates back to the company with feedback, real-time findings and data.

The fact that pharma consulting can provide cutting-edge information about conditions and treatments, spotlighting certain illnesses which may not have received much attention, should not be underestimated. We still have many conditions without a cure and pharmaceutical company research can often go a long way to bridging that gap, if not even enabling cutting-edge treatment for patients. There is no guarantee that such amazing products may even find their way into the hands of the sufferer. As such, marketing is pivotal in helping to relay this information from the manufacture, through the professional to the end-user.

As more and more information is revealed through scientific study, product creation and government rubber-stamping, more of a spotlight is turned on the need for treatment of chronic diseases. For example, certain side effects or by-products of a critical element may not have been apparent, or the link between illness and cure revealed, unless and until adequate marketing channels are open between the researchers, producers, professionals and patients.

Generally, pharmaceutical consulting firms are highly skilled at developing communication between vital parties and educating all players. Their experience, knowledge and enthusiasm can really help to turn the wheels of the marketing machine, continuously engaging all key players and producing incredible results in such a competitive environment.

Alan Gillies is the Director of L2L Consulting, an elite pharmaceutical consultancy firm which specialises in Strategy Development and Implementation Excellence for prestigious multi-national organisations.

The healthcare system represents an extremely complex dynamic and due to its size can be a primary driver of a country's economic engine. There are many different incentives and restrictions governing the use of an individual pharmaceutical product and many different agendas along the way. Before a solution to the patient's problem may be presented, it has to face a complex path from the scientist at one end to the sufferer at the other. In the dissemination of information, pharmaceutical consultants help to ensure that all those who have an input into the decision-making process are fully aware of all the repercussions.

A pharmaceutical company is far more than just a manufacturer of health products and solutions. The pharmaceutical consulting firm helps the company understand how it needs to educate the consumer. Pharmaceutical companies regularly operate on the sharp end of discovery and their revelations may be truly ground-breaking. If they have not paid sufficient attention to marketing, all the exploratory work may fail as the path through the regulators to the professionals may seem unclear. Marketing also insists that the product features and benefits are correctly communicated to the financiers, principally the insurance companies, who seem to have an ever-increasing role in the dissemination of care.

While regulators will ultimately determine if a pharmaceutical product may be made available and will confirm the associated claims, the pharmaceutical company must be able to market itself, its reputation and its products within the ultra-competitive and distracted healthcare industry. There are a lot of vested interests to take into account and some of these interests may promote older or generic medications, sometimes to the general detriment of the patient. Pharmaceutical companies must create a position within such a difficult marketplace, in order to push science and discovery and their own significant position forward.

It is unfortunate that the ultimate care of the patient is very often not the ultimate goal of certain vested interests. In popular opinion, healthcare reform is always controversial and the pharmaceutical company would do well to accurately and forcefully communicate its position. The physician takes input from many different sources before he or she makes the decision as to final care, including experience, peer input, education and training, patient history, formularies, techniques and benchmarks - all play their role. If you consider that nine out of ten most frequently prescribed drugs are generics, it should be clear that far from being in a position of dominance, pharmaceutical companies must make every effort to ensure that their marketing messages are heard. In most cases, pharma consulting firms are used to this difficult environment and can certainly help to open channels and engage practices.

Many of the most striking advances in the dissemination of medicine in recent years have been a result of work by pharmaceutical companies. Previous generations would surely marvel at some of the cures available today. Much emphasis must be put on marketing “the word” to ensure that our health care continues to improve.

Alan Gillies is the CEO of L2L Consulting, a cutting-edge pharma consultancy firm which specialises in optimising productivity and performance within international companies by applying tailored organisational strategies.