Digg It - Business

When I watched John Stossell’s show on the comparison between Michael Jordan’s Air Jordan sneaker line and Stephon Marbury’s Starbury line, I quickly realized that g

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

reed in America is becoming more and more the rule rather than the exception. To wit, the shoe experts cut open the two brands of sneakers and found that there were

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

Examples of combination products may in

no essential differences—only price. That Marbury can sell his shoes for $15 while Jordan sells his for up to $175-200 per pair only shows that marketing hype is bi

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

g business and that some people are just never satisfied in ripping off the public.

The show piqued me in particular because both of my sons are big fans of Jordan’

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

sneakers and avid collectors. Both my boys work and buy most of their pairs but I can honestly say that I would rather see them putting that money away for other t

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

Combination pro

hings. But you try and convince them of that. Personally, I like the sneakers and think they are quite handsome in their design; however, $150 and better a pair, w

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

en they probably could be sold at a fraction of the cost! How much money do some profiteers have to make? And when you think of the poor kids in the ghetto who are

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

pressuring their parents into buying them a pair, you see the injustice in all this.

Moreover, this topic tends to further divide the social classes by highlightin

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

the differences between the “haves” and “have-nots.” For the kids living in suburban America, whose fathers earn six and seven-figure incomes, a twenty- to thirty-

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

thousand dollar yearly clothes budget, including a substantial allowance for Air Jordan sneakers does not amount to a hill of beans. But for the kid whose parents l

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

ve on thirty thousand dollars a year or less, a purchase of such sneakers could be a back-breaker.

Now I don’t want to hear the part about, “Well, this has been the

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

Following aspects would a

case throughout history and if poor people want more, then they should work harder or strive more to get their desires.” You and I both know that the situation is

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

lot more complicated than that. The point of this article is that life is challenging enough, particularly in the new millenium. Raising kids today (see some of m

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

y other articles on these topics) is going to be one of the hardest things a new parent will do (not that raising kids was ever easy). But given the paradigm shifts

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

in economies, social mores, respect issues among teens, and the like, having marketers, like those pushing the Air Jordan sneakers, lurking about certainly will not

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

make things any easier. (And by the way, these marketers know exactly what they’re doing. If you thought they didn’t then you really need to think again.)

Because

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

Marbury came from a background in which he could not always get the sneakers he wanted, he is showing great compassion and understanding in creating this line of sho

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

es. Moreover, he stands to make a handsome profit at it should this line really take off. He is doing a great service to kids and parents alike, particularly the o

.

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

es who aren’t swimming in Benjamin-imprinted C-notes. Now this is something we can all live with. That’s why I say, take a bow Stephon Marbury and boo Michael Jor

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

dan.

See more on Joe’s prolific writings at his Christian math site Math by Joe

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

What makes Wegmans so formidable? They learned their brand lessons well and are playing brand hardball. Borrowing on the specialty marketers like Whole Foods, Fresh Market and Bread & Circus, and the upscale brands of Four Seasons and Ritz Carleton, they recognized that brands that differentiated the customer enabled these brands to become destinations. They became a magnet for those seeking specialness, specialty, high quality foods, and experience - within a geographic area. When the shopper believed they were a more discriminating shopper (what we call a Brandface), these shoppers were willing to inconvenience themselves by traveling a greater distance to satiate that self-identifying need. They would also be willing to pay higher costs for that same self-identification.

We all hear anecdotal stories of horrible customer service. Sadly, many people have come to expect bad customer service as the norm today. If you are starting a business in today’s hyper competitive marketplace, you should realize this acceptance of poor customer service as a real sales opportunity.

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