Pharmaceutical consulting firms have been in extistence for long in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Their benefit is undeniable, yet there are many in the industry who still don’t know how to best take advantage of them. Defining the focus of attention of these consultants and the array of services they can provide is a crucial matter to understand the activity and the benefits they can bring to the pharmaceutical industry.

Interim resources are external resources that a company uses to bring experienced pharmaceutical consulting experts that can assist them with their business needs. These can have a strategic focus, from short term projects, as in a thorough analysis of a certain therapeutic area for long term marketing strategies, to forming a part of the marketing group during commercialization of a given drug.

Interim marketing can help a company in several situations:

  • when the company is losing productivity due to a transition period, re-gaining that lost productivity should be one of the first objectives..
  • when assistance is needed, especially during commercialization, Pharmaceutical consulting can be life-saving. This can be a good option when there is no need or will to hire more head-count which will be required on a long term basis.
  • when starting up, when help is critical to expand while getting all the staff working in the company.
  • when expanding or when launching an important product.
  • when there is a need to speed up a particular process.
  • when an expert with solid background is needed to guide a large project.
  • when the company needs to meet a tight deadline and needs a job done quickly and correctly.

These situations can be further put intp perspective with the following examples:

  • A small biotechnology company, one year before launching a new product, turned to a pharmaceutical consulting firm to help them with the commercialization of the product.
  • A pharmaceutical company hired a consulting group to commercialize a product in the third phase of the clinical stage; the product did not meet the necessary regulations, but due to the fact an outside group was hired, no internal staff had to be fired And approval was gained.
  • A major company assured the commercialization of a new drug in the market during the merger with another pharmaceutical company by using outside pharmaceutical consulting solutions.

Besides marketing solutions and assessments during the commercialization period, pharmaceutical consulting groups can help a company meet regulations and standards in all processes. Consultants are also qualified to help in different areas, such as FDA and EU audits, compliance assessments regarding GLP, GMP, GXP, quality control and assurance, motivating staff, recruiting services, medical device support, CMC support and more. A complete strategy can involve assessment during research and development, bulk product manufacturing and commercialization of products. It is therefore very important to go with a serious, responsible consulting group to get the best out of the experience.