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Agent's Question:

Is it better to send real estate farming postcards by first class mail or bulk mail?

Brandon's Answer:
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
m>

There are two major differences between Standard (bulk) mail and First Class mail. First of all, there's the speed factor. The U.S. Po
; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in
stal Service states that Standard mail usually arrives within 3 to 15 business days, while First Class mail averages 1 to 3 business days.
lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

Another big difference is that First Class mail offers a return service, while Standard mail does not. Let's say you send 1,000 postcard
here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe
, but 150 of them have bad addresses. With First Class mail, you would know this because the bad ones would be returned to you (at no extr
d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro
a cost). The post office will also try to forward the postcard if the recipient has moved.

But if you sent those 1,000 postcards by Stand
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
ard mail, you wouldn't know about the bad addresses because Standard mail doesn't return to sender. In all likelihood the 150 postcards wi
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
h bad addresses would wind up in the trash.

A Postcard Revelation
I once knew a broker whose agents had been mailing their fa
nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically
rming postcards by Standard mail. The office later switched to First Class mail for faster delivery, and they were shocked by the number o
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
f returned postcards.

"We never got returns like this before," the broker said to me. "So why now?"

In truth, their deliverable rates pr
ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi
bably didn't change much. They just didn't know about the bad addresses before because Standard mail doesn't get returned. So they assumed
ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a
all the postcards were reaching their destinations. Switching to First Class was an eye-opener.

Which Class of Mail is Right For You?
dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

So which class of mail should you use? Well, that depends. If it's important for you to know about your undeliverable postcards
cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin
, First Class is your option. If speed is a factor, again, First Class is your choice. But if you're on a budget, I recommend using Standa
tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen
d mail.

Undeliverable Postcards are Common
Here's something to remember when you send out your farming postcards. Even with t
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
he most current mailing list possible, some of your postcards will be undeliverable. My research and experience shows that the average und
ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust
eliverable rate for direct mail is about 8%. So no matter what you do, you're going to have some postcards that either come back to you or
y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products
wind up in the trash. There is no such thing as a 100% deliverable postcard mailing.

With that said, you should try to maximize your deli
.

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
verable rate by using fresh data. By using a reputable list provider, you can easily keep undeliverable mail below the 10% mark.

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip
ght 2006, Brandon Cornett. You may republish this article if you leave the hyperlinks active, and also retain the author's note and byline

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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