Digg It - Business

Sources of Finance

How to get money into any business is a problem as old as the hills, so don’t feel that your situation is unusual. There are four main ways of achieving this:

1. Don’t overloo

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

k the obvious!

There are things you can do with what you’ve got that will bring money in to the business.

• Is your marketing up to scratch? Re-examine how you bring customers into your business. Run a test bef

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

re you commit too much money to it. There are a hundred different ways of generating new business, so don’t think that you are applying them all at the moment.

• Are you collecting in your debts quickly? Even a small imp

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

rovement in your debt collection can be a source of funds for your business.

• Are you extracting maximum benefit from your suppliers? Could you extend credit with them?

• Could you reduce stock levels? Could deliveries

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

be closer to “just in time”?

• Are you sitting on under utilised assets? Do you have a freehold or machinery that you could sell and leaseback?

So look at the obvious things before you start looking elsewhere.

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

. Banks and other financial institutions

When you’re thinking of approaching banks and financial institutions remember:

• Have a decent plan to show them what you are trying to do

• They want your business. Th

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

ey have sales targets just like you. If you can put up a decent plan they will fight to get your business.

• Don’t leave it too late to approach these institutions. There are various different sources of funds from banks

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

• Overdrafts: Never forget that this is a major source of revenue for a bank, and they want your business. Make sure your bank manager knows what’s going on and they will be a lot more co-operative.

• Lease finance: Thi

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

s enables you to match the costs of buying the asset with the income you generate. However, do read the terms carefully and shop around. Focus at what happens at the end of the lease as there are many options here.

• Fac

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

oring: Asset based debts can easily be assigned to a third party. This means they put you in finds immediately and collect the debt for you.

• Invoice finance: This is the same thing as factoring, except the customer doe

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

not need to know. This can be very flexible and do whatever you need.

• Loans: Again, presented in the right way, this can be an excellent source of finance, particularly as interest rates are so low at the moment. The

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

small firms’ loan guarantee scheme may also be helpful in some situations.

3. The Government

Believe it or not, the government wants to help you grow. There are over 1,500 different types of grants avai

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

able, and it is sensible to seek expert advice in teasing out what may be available. Main types are:

• People based: These tend to be support with training – such as the modern apprenticeship scheme for 18-25 year olds.

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

• Knowledge based: Various grants are available for research and development.

• Location based: The further you are from London the more likely grants are available. Again, this requires specialist help.

4. Ext

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

rnal investors

Do not assume that just because you have a good idea others will catch on quickly. Dealing with external investors is all in the presentation. You need something snappy to catch their interest and

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

then well presented detail to hold their interest. Typically investors can break into three categories

• Business Angels: These are people who have made money who would like to use that money to back others. They will ty

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

pically invest from a few thousand pounds up to about a million. No hard and fast rules and they can be difficult to find, let alone close a deal with.

• Venture Capital Funds: These are interested in investments of at l

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

ast ?500,000, and often a lot more.

• Other Companies: Another company may well be interested in investing in your company – perhaps with a view to outright purchase in a few years time.

All of these options will want t

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

o have a share in your company, and with that comes a loss of control.

Be prepared to discuss this early on in any conversation.

…and you must plan

To improve your chances of success in gaining additio

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

al sources of finance you must have something in writing. Often the very act of writing something down will help clarify a course of action. It will also help to explain your thoughts to others in a rapid and coherent way

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.diggit.org.ua/article/19761/diggit-Sources-of-Funding.html">Sources of Funding</a>

BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.diggit.org.ua/article/19761/diggit-Sources-of-Funding.html]Sources of Funding[/url]

How much experience do you really have? Many people work in a profession, scientific domain or industry for 30-35 years and feel they are experienced and consider themselves at the top of their fields and take that number of years and apply it to their credentials and strengths. I have only been in business 27 years, yet I am in my very early forties now.

Throughout your career, you need a bit of motivation. This article gives you essential tips on how to successfully motivate yourself and draw on resources you didn't even know existed.

Is your high school student unsure of his or her career choices? If so, a career as an automobile mechanic might be right up their road. Please read why this field has evolved to the point where it is both secure and lucrative for the right person.

Tags

Links

Digg It - Sources of Funding

Related Articles: