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For a brief time, I tried to sell life insurance. And, the operative word was 'tried' I can assure you. Although I thought I did a good job on the presentations and scripts pr

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

ovided by trainers, I did not make a single sale.

On the other hand, the veteran who trained me didn’t spend much time with presentations or scripts. He simply told stories a

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

Examples of combination products may in

out clients who spared their loved ones great pain by getting proper coverage. Just as importantly, he talked about the troubles suffered by people who did not have coverage.

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

And, he sold a lot.

Which takes us to the subject of purpose-driven story telling. I've bumped up against the idea of it as a strategic communication skill several times rece

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

tly, so maybe it's time to discuss it here.

For starters, let's distinguish between stories by talkers who believe the world wants to know what they think about everything un

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

Combination pro

er the sun, and stories told with the express purpose of advancing an objective. Let's call the latter 'strategic stories' (and you know what we call the other kind).

You can

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

use strategic stories to help your cause or project by figuring out, in advance, what you'll say and why you'll say it. In other words, before you make your speech or present

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

tion, identify the stories you'll use, and know why you'll use them.

Leaders frequently use stories to add emotion to their communication. Adding emotion allows listeners to

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

uy in with their hearts, as well as accept with their minds. One specific type of emotional charging evokes shared values or memories. For example, "I know you'll keep providi

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

ng great customer service because you all did such a great job when the product recall was announced. Do you remember how the calls started coming in right after the first ann

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

uncement?"

Stories can also be used to add context or background information, "I know you'd like to launch the new product line, but when I was at the industry conference a c

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

Following aspects would a

uple of weeks ago, I heard banks want to get into our business, which means...." Very often, information by itself has little meaning or impact without context. Stories buttre

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

ss our arguments by explaining the rationale we used, and not just the conclusions we reached.

You can use stories as a type of proof. My life insurance experience is a point

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

d example. The most effective stories, of course, talk about the good and bad things that happen to survivors after an unexpected death.

Sometimes, a story can be used for se

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

f-deprecation. By making fun of myself, I can further illustrate the point I'm trying to make. For example "Did I ever tell you about the time I spilled coffee on a client whi

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

le he was sitting at our boardroom table? As it turned out, it broke the ice between us and we ended up talking serious business. Now, I'm not suggesting you spill coffee on c

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

ients, too, but I would suggest that you look for ways to connect with them on a personal level."

Where can we find stories? The best ones come from our own experience, from

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

hings that happened to us and things we've done. But, don't overlook magazines, television, and other mass media. For example, you might warn against doing something by explai

.

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

ning what happened to characters in TV sitcoms when they did something similar. Remember, most sitcoms are morality plays in modern garb.

Which reminds me of the time when...

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

In summary, strategically-used stories can help us communicate more effectively by adding emotion or context, providing proof, or giving us a chance to poke fun at ourselves

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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