Pharma Marketing for Newbie UX Designers, Part 1: Intro
A 4-part series sharing my experience as a UX designer in the world of pharma marketing
Do you find yourself designing…
- interactions to explain how a drug works in the human body?
- with a stunning 3D antibody graphic to catch physicians’ attention?
- in a small area because the safety information takes 1/3 of the screen?
Welcome to Pharmaceutical Marketing!
When I started the job, I thought I would be working on innovative technology for physicians like what I’ve seen on Grey’s Anatomy. Turns out the innovative products are not the thing I design. The innovative products are the drugs, and what I design are the materials to help drug companies to sell the drugs. Maybe I should have finished Breaking Bad.
For the past 6 years, I worked as a UX designer at a digital agency for pharma marketing. I’ve never thought I would be working on projects like this when I decided to pursue a UX design career. After stumbling and learning a lot throughout the journey, I want to share my experience to help more people.
Structure of This Series
I’ll start with a brief background of pharma marketing and the high-level rules from the FDA. The goal is to establish an understanding of WHY this field exists, and a peek into the FDA’s rules on this most-regulated industry.
Then I’ll introduce the three unique roles you’ll meet when working in pharma marketing: the marketing manager, the sales reps, and the regulatory experts. This will be separated into 3 parts for easier reading.
This is the knowledge I wish I knew at the beginning of the job. This is not meant to serve as guidelines or best practices. It’s meant for anyone who is new to this field and wants to learn the background, process, and people in this journey. If that’s you, read on!
Why Pharmaceutical Companies Invest in Marketing
Developing a new drug takes lots of resources, investments, and time. On average, it takes at least ten years for a new medicine to complete the journey from initial discovery to the marketplace, with clinical trials alone taking six to seven years on average. The average cost to research and develop each successful drug is estimated to be $2.6 billion.
It’s no surprise that after the pharma company gets a new drug on the market, they will want to sell it as best as it can to make a profit, like any for-profit business. They can’t continue research and develop more treatment options if they are not making money from the products they have launched.
Drug Advertising Rules in the US
To promote and sell a product, marketing teams develop marketing materials like advertisements you see on TV or web banners. When it comes to consumer drug advertising, it is not common globally. The United States and New Zealand are the only two countries in the world where direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs is legal. Direct-to-consumer drug advertising is where pharma companies present drug information to the general public through lay media.
In the US, the FDA has the authority to approve pharmaceutical products for marketing as a result of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. In 1962, Congress granted the FDA authority to regulate prescription drug labeling and advertising. This means pharma companies in the US can market to physicians and consumers as long as it’s aligned with the rules from the FDA. FDA does not review all the drug ads but any ad that doesn’t follow the rules risks huge fines. (I won’t get into the consequences here.)
The FDA requires ads to follow certain criteria:
- not be false or misleading
- present a “fair balance” of information describing both the risks and benefits of a drug
- include facts that are “material” to the product’s advertised uses
- include a “brief summary” of every risk described in the product’s labeling
The FDA also categorizes advertisements into several types depending on the purpose. Different advertisements require different amounts of benefit and risk information. These are the categories and links to the FDA website.
- Product Claim Advertisements
- Reminder Advertisement
- Help-Seeking Advertisements
- Other Product Claim Promotional Materials
Most detailed regulations from the FDA are on the traditional media, print ads, and broadcast ads (TV and radio). Nowadays, we work on more digital mediums like websites or iPad-based sales content. The regulations become fuzzy when, unlike the standard size for a magazine, the browser size changes all the time. This is why making a drug website requires many rounds of reviews with the regulatory experts, so we can ensure it’s designed within compliance.
References: [How Is Consumer Drug Advertising Regulated in the United States?] [Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising] [Dangers and Opportunities of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising] [DTCA for PTCA — Crossing the Line in Consumer Health Education?] [FDA: Basics of Drug Ads]
Meet the Client Teams
Working on pharma marketing projects involve many people from different functions. These are the three common roles you would meet from the client-side. Read each article to learn more about them!
