Medical Publications Departments Dedicate an Average of 50% of Budgets to Outsourced Services, Study Finds


RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC--(Marketwire - December 11, 2007) - On average, pharmaceutical companies spend 50% of their medical publications budgets on outsourced activities, according to a new study released by Cutting Edge Information. The report, available at http://www.PharmaPublicationStrategy.com, examines the medical publications activities at a wide range of companies in various therapeutic areas. For the companies surveyed, outsourced efforts contribute to market research, data analysis, manuscript and abstract writing, poster development -- and to a lesser degree -- editing and quality control.

Although the use of external vendors takes much of the burden off of in-house personnel, the practice also requires a clear establishment of goals at the outset of a project, so that company objectives will ultimately be met. To this end, the assignment of a competent liaison between in-house and third-party staff helps to ensure effective communication of company objectives. Some companies go so far as to train vendors on their standard operating procedures (SOPs) in order to keep publications activities running smoothly.

Senior research analyst Amanda Zuniga offers insight into executives' outsourcing motives: "The decision to outsource depends chiefly on a product's lifecycle stage. Early in the product lifecycle is typically a ramp-up period for medical publications -- as clinical trial results emerge, publication teams scramble to push them out to the medical community." Additionally, resource levels determine the breadth of medical publication outsourcing, according to Zuniga. Even if the desire to outsource is there, resource limitations may constrain companies from doing so.

"Pharmaceutical Medical Publications: Market Preparation & Strategic Support" (http://www.PharmaPublicationStrategy.com) was designed to explore pharmaceutical companies' medical publications structures, strategies and processes. The study delves into the resource support and funding that various medical publications departments and teams benefit from. In addition, through this report, readers will be exposed to some of the industry's best medical publications practices and should be better positioned to streamline their own strategies and processes by benchmarking their efforts against those of top-leading companies.

Download a free summary of "Pharmaceutical Medical Publications" or purchase the report at: http://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/pharmapublicationstrategy/PH104_Download.asp#body.

Contact Information: CONTACT: Amanda Zuniga 919-433-0210