Role of Pharma Product Management Team

The Product Management Team in a pharmaceutical company is responsible for developing and implementing marketing plans for target audience. Every Company in the industry has, over time, developed its own Marketing Organization. In some firms, the department is organized by the Category, such as Prescription- Products Marketing and OTC Products Marketing. On the other hand, few pharmaceutical companies will divide the product management team by therapy area, such as Cardiovascular or Respiratory Product. There is third class type also. Maytime organization will take brand managers to drive the activities for the product. Hence, purpose for hiring product management team varies from one organization to another organization.

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Core Responsibility of Pharma PMT

But there is no denying of the fact that the Product Management Team is one of the core teams of the Marketing Department in a Pharmaceutical Company. Above all, Product Management team oversees the overall marketing plan for a specific product, is responsible for profits or losses generated by that product.

What is Pharma PMT?

PMT is the common abbreviation used in Pharmaceutical Management domain. They stands for Product Management Team. Conventionally they do brand management work.

Growth path in Pharma PMT

Usually the hierarchical structure of the Product Management Team in a Pharmaceutical Company begins at the lower end with Product Executives and then expands to senior team members comprising of Product Managers, Group Product Managers, Marketing Managers, Assistant General Manager-Marketing, General Manager-Marketing, V.P Marketing & Sales, President Marketing & Sales or Director Marketing & Sales. Based on the Product Portfolio and Current size of the Organization in terms of Revenue generation, the actual number of professionals working in various capacities differs.

Major Role of Pharma Product Management Team (PMT)

• The Major role of the Marketing Department and the Product Management Team is to enhance the top line and the bottom line by managing the Product line of the company. A robust Product pipeline comprising of established Brands in growing therapeutic segments and new Product launches are essential for steady business generation and growth of the Organization.

Key Note regarding pharma PMT job

Thus an appropriate amount of documentation for the planning, development and management of a product or product line is critical to the product teams success. Notice the word appropriate. It is important because it helps to capture the product goals; helps establish or clarify roles and responsibilities and serves as an archive for the product across the life cycle.

In a nut shell, the Product Management Team is expected to successfully launch New Products in the Market as well as play a crucial role in Marketing Strategy formulation and Strategy execution (through the field staff) leading to Brand Building and Brand consolidation.

Keeping all the above in perspective, the role of the Product Management Team becomes crucial for successful commercialization operations of the Organization.

Major Skills Required by Pharma Product Manager

Product Knowledge

PMT Skills

Management Skills

Sales Skills (added advantage

Job Description Pharma Product Manager

• Responsible for providing the sales team with the necessary technical expertise to enable them to sell the product. This involves printed and electronic promotional material, product training, and relevant clinical papers.
• Responsible for reviewing product data to ensure that the field force is kept up to date on new developments regarding the companies or competitors products.
• Act as point of first reference for all product related inquiries and work collaboratively with colleagues in Clinical Research and Regulatory to address any issues that may arise.
• Product Manager do close liaison with the field force. Hence, it helps to to assess the response to and suitability of current promotional material and to ensure that the printed promotional material is being used optimally.
• Design market research projects to assess customer attitudes to the current product range and new product introductions. Either conduct this research with in-house staff or manage an outside agency ie initial identification of suitable partner, definition of responsibilities, communication plan, divisions of responsibility, milestones, contract with company, review transcripts and reports, and recommend action plans from the research.
• Assist with the development of the annual marketing plan and for controlling advertising, promotion and sales aids in accordance with the annual marketing plan.
• Responsible for preparing product forecasts, and constantly monitoring inventory levels held at central and interstate warehouses including liaison with production (locally and globally) to ensure supply timelines.
• Liaise with the advertising agency regarding the product campaign including journal advertising, direct mail and conferences.

Career Prospects in PMT

Pharma Product Management-An action-packed world that is full of strategies, full of tactics, a world of intelligence, investigations, insights and much more. Product management, as a career option, is very actively sought after by pharmacy graduates today. A field that was not very well known to the average pharmacy graduate of yesteryears who primarily pursued jobs in either production, quality control (QC) or R&D, this field now holds great appeal too many youngsters. The tremendous growth in the pharmaceutical industry has created an increasing demand for trained professionals and the industry is reckoned as a fast growing sector of the Indian economy.

There are many career opportunities with pharma and allied industries for qualified professionals; the industry has opportunities that are range from sales executives to high-end specialists in the Research & Development.
The opportunities can also find the in areas like Sales & Marketing Management, Market Research, Drug Distribution Management, Brand/Product Management, Business Development, Medical Publication/Journalism and other plenty of opportunities.