Digg It - Internet and Businesses Online

Back in the ancient days of 1994 when Mark Andreesen and his band of hardy programmers were inventing a ground-breaking product/application/way of life called a browser, a dedicated group of entrepreneurs started publi

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

shing Netsurfer Digest a modern day "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" for the web. I subscribed to this wonderful newsletter and reference guide back in those heady days of yesteryear and have been a loyal subscriber 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

d advocate since then. Sadly on this past Sunday I received notice that Netsurfer was moving to a paid subscription only model and would no longer be able to continue publishing their three primary newsletters by utili

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

ing inserted ads as their sole source of revenue.

Netsurfer became the proverbial canary in the coalmine that succumbed to the hazardous winds blowing across the online advertising market. They simply couldn't build a

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

sustainable business model via ad inserts, even by delivering a million impressions a month to an upscale, well educated, target rich demographic group. This denouement has broad implications to many who are dependent

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

Combination pro

n advertising supported business models. If this wonderful award winning publication with excellent graphics, topical information delivered in snappy "let's get to the point" journalism can't make it then it's time to

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

atten down the hatches - the rough ride is still underway for online advertising.

What's worse in my opinion is the founders of Netsurfer Communications said they were throwing in the towel and moving to a paid subscr

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

ption model because they didn't want to be a part of the intrusive (my words paraphrasing a bit) online ad technology that has become so "annoying." You have to give them significant karma points for this brave stance,

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

especially when you contrast it to the "greed is great" news that's been hitting us all via the Enron debacle - thank God for real entrepreneurs who are putting their ethics ahead of their revenue stream, there may be

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

ome hope in the business community after all.

So, what does this mean to the broader community? It means it's getting increasingly difficult to make a buck/euro selling advertising without selling your soul to the dev

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

l by deploying increasing invasive (does anyone really like pop ups?) technology that may irritate the hell out of your customers. Ad rates are plummeting, even the once mighty Yahoo is struggling to make revenue and t

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

Following aspects would a

eir sales reps even return calls now, which is definitely au contraire to their I'm too busy to talk with customers .com glory days.

You couldn't read a Fast Company or a Business 2.0 the last two years without readin

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

some slick article by another reporter breathlessly telling us how the Wall Street Journal (Dow Jones) was pioneering the concept of building a viable online content subscription revenue model. This is hogwash, if we

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

ll had the type of branded content, excellent editors and the sterling reputation of one of the top five newspapers published in the world then this model would work for thousands of unique content publishers. But, mos

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

do not even have the subscriber base and branded content of a Netsurfer Digest - stay tuned to see if this model works for the Netsurfer folks (I hope so); but don't hold your breath, I don't think they will be orderi

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

g their $1,500. Herman Miller chairs right and left like the folks at Webvan and Quokka Sports - VC bucks don't come around like they used to, but that's another article.

I don't have any silver bullets for those who

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

re headed down the track of trying to sell advertising supported newsletters and/or shift to a subscription model. The obvious advice is this may work, but you better have other revenue sources that leverage your demog

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

aphics. And, if you don't have mutually reinforcing revenue streams, then take a hard look at your business and modify accordingly. The greatest shift in online advertising is via opt-in e-mail marketing - we all want

.

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

o receive information that is timely, informative and presented in a compelling manner. So, find a business model that lets you narrowcast products and services to a community of people who want to receive content (con

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

act) from your company - good luck to all and by the way, signup for Netsurfer's paid subscription newsletter - I did, we all have to vote with our visa cards once in a while to keep the karmic balance on an even plane

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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Small business people rely on customer feedback to gage their customer service and they figure out what works and does not work as they help these customers. Sometimes customers will be upset and not say anything and perhaps you do not know why. You feel something is not quite right and you cannot pin point it. But you can engage them in meaningful conversation, which can help you get them to talk about it.

When you mention the subject of offshore outsourcing, there are many different reactions to it. While there are horror stories that could be told, let's look at the issue from a common sense perspective. With so many going offshore, you might be able to gain advantages in an unexpected way.

How to get the answer to any question you have by making the most of the internet.

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