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In 20 years I’ve seen a lot of marketing—some that worked well and some that didn’t. I’ve distilled 20 years of seeing what worked and boiled it down to these 29 tips about using news releases (often called press re

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

leases from the days when newspapers and magazines were people’s main sources of news). Here’s what I’m sharing with you:

The 4 reasons you should be using news releases regularly

The 7 elements of a good

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

Examples of combination products may in

news release

The 9 types of topics that tend to get picked up

The 5 groups of people you must send your release to

The 4 OTHER things you should do with it

The 4 reasons to

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

use news releases regularly

Once is not enough—in more ways than one. Name recognition is almost never built by a single document, no matter how exciting or noteworthy the topic; it must b

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

e regular and ongoing. Choose a frequency you can live with—once or twice a month is ideal.

Publicity – any name recognition is good; favorably written recognition is excellent!
Credibility – people

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

Combination pro

tend to believe you’re good if they read that you’re doing good things, and especially if you’re doing them with other well-known names

Trust – your prospects and customers develop a feeling of comfort and t

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

rust when they see you visible in the marketplace—it confirms the intelligence of their decision to do business with you

Generate fresh content for your marketing campaigns—direct mail, website, etc.—and rem

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

ind yourself how good you are!

The 7 essential elements of a good press release

Contact
Headline, sub-headline
City of origin, date
nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically
>
The news hook
The benefit(s) to audience
The quotes (one high exec from your company and from the other organization involved–whether customer, vendor, government agency, or whatever)
Th

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

e Plug Newsworthy topics come in 9 categories

inventions - new processes
improvements - dramatic changes in materials/processes

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

new clients - new projects

work you are doing with associations/other high-profile types

promotions of staff

new hires for significant positions in the company

new partnerships with 3

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

Following aspects would a

rd party vendors

pro bono work for high-profile organizations

any activity that involves you or someone else making money, making new connections (partnerships), making progress

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod
trong> The 5 groups you should send your release to

The press – target publications and/or other media
Prospects – purchased or, preferably, homegrown lists
Customers
<
cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin
li>Vendor partners
Professional associations/networking groups

The 4 OTHER things you can do with your news release

Immediately post the press release on your website. Pl
tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen
ace a link from the home page to your "press room." If you do your own website, this is cost-free. If you hire outside help, it is still simple and inexpensive.
If you should by chance also get a story publ
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
shed, you may make some machine copies of the article (if you're allowed) and include them in your snail mailing. N.B. Just make sure you're not violating copyrights. Many publications require you to pay reprint fee
ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust
s.
N.B. There are no restrictions on making copies of your own news releases! Make copies of the news release and put them in the information kits you hand out or send to visitors and prospects. Inc
y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products
lude a copy in that month’s invoices.
Post the press release (or any published story) prominently in selected spots in your office--wherever employees and visitors will see it.
If you are doing a pr
.

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
omotional or newsletter mailing to prospects, include a reference (and a link) to the news release. If the release has been posted on any publication websites such as Yahoo, you may choose to make the link to that l
elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip
ocation. Use your press release for all of the above whether you get an item published or not.

Call us if you’d like to get personal coaching on your press release—or if you’d like us to write one for you

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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Digg It - 29 Things You Need to Know about News Releases

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