Strategic Planning and Managing Help

¶ … strategic planning and managing help the pharmaceutical industry?

Q1.What goals and objectives arise from a SWOT analysis of the pharmaceutical industry?

Strengths: The pharmaceutical industry sells vitally necessary products. Many individuals are dependent upon insulin, heart medication, and other treatments to be able to function normally. Also, because of the wide number of diseases for which there are no cures, there is clear future 'demand' for further treatment with as-yet undeveloped medications.

Weaknesses: When drug patents expire and medications 'go generic,' people often select the less costly generics or are pressured to do so by their insurance companies. This cuts into the profits of the drug companies, who incur considerable initial expenses to develop such drugs. Some of the illnesses for which there is the greatest need and demand for effective treatment, such as dengue fever and AIDS, afflict the poorest regions of the world in disproportionate numbers, and sufferers are unable to afford or obtain even the medical treatments that currently exist for these complaints.

Opportunities: Pharmacological treatment for many conditions, such as depression, is now more readily accepted than ever before. There is an expanding need for medical treatments amongst the rapidly aging population of the affluent Western world. The obesity crisis has also created a greater need for pharmacological treatments of diabetes, heart disease, and other complaints related to excess weight.

Threats: There has been government, regulatory push-back against drug advertising targeting lay consumers. A number of cases where respected drug firms deemphasized the side effects of common medications (such as some anti-psychotics like Zyprexa and the painkiller Vioxx) and over-emphasized the efficacies of others (such as antidepressants) have been highly-publicized.

Goals: Restore the public trust in the industry. Continue to develop new medications for untreated illnesses.

Objectives: Extend aid to the developing world to circumvent criticism at home that companies are only treating 'non-illnesses' or over-treating Americans in general without improving human health.

Q 2. Does the pharmaceutical industry need any change? If not, what supporting arguments can you develop for that conclusion? If change is needed, what sort of change would you suggest and why?

Changes are needed in the pharmaceutical industry from an ethical point-of-view. There is a strong financial incentive to encourage consumers to 'over-consume' drugs. While clearly some patients benefit from taking antidepressants, statins, and even antipsychotics, these drugs have become treatments of first rather than last resort for many people, because of the direct-to-consumer marketing of medications. Behavioral therapy and lifestyle changes, given the side effects of many drugs, might be a better way to treat milder forms of depression, high cholesterol, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD).

Drug companies have a financial incentive in encouraging patients to seek out 'more' treatment for illnesses that disproportionately affect individuals with good health insurance. Additionally, drug companies have an incentive to constantly create and generate interest in new drugs, as patents for existing drugs have a limited shelf life -- although these drugs may not be designed for individuals with the greatest critical health needs. There will always be an ethical problem in the need balance profit-making with treating the neediest and sickest patients, as people who are chronically ill are not always best able to pay for care. Government support of drug research at pharmaceutical companies is one partial solution to this problem.