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It begins with an idea. Then come the hours of hammering out form, function, and features. We pour our hearts and souls into the act of creation, driven by the new-spun inspiration of fresh ideas. And then...

We write a stale

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

product definition document, create a list of bullets in a few PowerPoint slides, and try to sell that to those whose job it is, most often, to say NO.

What were we thinking?

I'll tell you what we were thinking: We were put

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

Examples of combination products may in

ting the left-brain spin on a right-brain problem. You want to sell your idea, you have to put the eyebrows on it. You have to make it real for the world outside your own vision. You have to take the emotion and excitement you

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

feel and, somehow, impart that to your investors, partners, employees, and customers.

Fortunately for you there is a tool that can deliver you from the hell of stale concept presentations.

It's called storytelling.

Stor

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

ytelling

Whether you know it or not, you have a storyteller living in your genes. We are a race of storytellers. It has been our primary mode of communicating since we first set eyes on one another and the spark of consci

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

Combination pro

ousness fired off.

When you want to convey the emotional impact of an event to someone else, what do you do? You don't lay out a cold bulleted list, do you? No. You tell a story about it. You tell people (a) what was going on

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

before the event occurred; (b) build up tension; and (c) describe what happened in terms of the sensations you experienced.

When you want to convey emotional impact, story is the only way to go. Remember all those Kodak Mome

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

nt ads? Odds are if you are over 30 you do. Why? Because they weren't selling film. They were selling the capture of good times, the emotions of happy memories.

Engineers, Listen Up

Selling the emotion is precisely wh

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

at you want to do. We are so tuned into the dryness of enumerating features that we forget no one buys lists of features. And here's a secret: They don't buy benefits, either.

What they buy is emotional satisfaction. I would

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

argue that every investment, every purchase decision is in the end based entirely on the feel of the thing.

We build up a lot of emotion when we're in the process of bringing new ideas to light. Why would we not then give oth

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

ers the opportunity to catch fire, too? I guarantee that if you do not ignite the imaginations of your investors, partners, employee, and customers, your idea will be stillborn.

The Basics of Storytelling

The universe

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

Following aspects would a

of product storytelling is too large to fit in short article. But here are three tips that will get you going and a couple of references that can help you along the way.

Know your audience. If you have not yet crea

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

ted an ideal customer profile, stop now and work on that profile until you have a vivid image of that person embedded in your mind.

No matter what your product idea is, there is an emotional appeal to it for your id

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

eal customer. To get to the emotional appeal, be sure you understand the problem-solving opportunity and the cost (financial/emotional/social) to the ideal customer.

Use your imagination. Write a paragraph from the p

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

oint of view of your ideal customer describing the emotional impact of using the product. And don't give me any of that, "Oh, I'm a terrible storyteller" stuff, either. Storytelling is your birthright. We all have the gift to

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

some degree. Let yourself go and put yourself firmly in the customer's shoes.

Once you've written that simple one-paragraph summary, take it to the next level and write a one-page scene featuring your ideal customer

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

using the product. Create a day in the life of your ideal customer showing him or her using your product and the effect its use has on solving the key problem.

Don't sterilize the emotion. In fact, overemphasize th

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

e emotional elements to be sure you capture it completely. You can refine it later.

Your Reward

Sure it takes some effort. But you'll be amazed at the effect such a story will have on those whose approval

.

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

you seek.

Storytelling is a tool that will help others see the unique value of your product the way your customers will see it. And, in the end, that's what sells both the idea and the product.

So...tell me a story...

F

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

or Further Reading...

Story, by Robert McKee
The Entrepreneur's Concept Assessment Toolbook, by Michael Knowles and David Leland
The Story Factor, by Annette Simmons

***

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

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