品牌學名藥在台灣之行銷策略探討 - 以S品牌為例

Abstract

跨國藥廠以研發、銷售專利藥為核心能力，但近年來由於陸續面臨專利到期之壓力，加上政府積極調降醫療成本，許多跨國藥廠開始考慮尋找合作對象，生產品牌學名藥 (或授權學名藥) 以做因應。S品牌為跨國製藥集團下的學名藥部門，是第一個進入台灣市場的品牌學名藥廠商。本研究根據文獻探討與資料庫分析，評估S品牌在台灣之4P組合優勢。結果顯示，台灣醫療機構普遍重視學名藥品質，S品牌藥物製程已獲得國際標準PIC/S GMP認證，有利其在台灣發展。由於S品牌耕耘跨國市場，具備規模經濟並享有成本優勢，有利於價格競爭，但須另外考慮貿易成本與藥證申請障礙。文獻與實證皆指出，於專利到期前提早取得藥證，可享推廣之先進者優勢。S品牌專注於經營醫院通路，本土藥廠則以診所通路為主，對於主要在醫院使用之藥品種類，S品牌能展現通路優勢，惟醫院有時偏好使用原廠藥，學名藥進入較不易。目前S品牌在台灣尚未普遍銷售母公司產品之學名藥，因此未能評估此方式是否具競爭優勢。健保局決定在2014年7月對給付超過15年之專利到期藥品，實施和PIC/S GMP學名藥同價格之政策，品牌學名藥此時可作為跨國藥廠延續專利到期產品生命週期的有效策略之一。

Transnational pharmaceutical firms focus on the R&D and promotion of branded drugs as core competency. However, facing increasing challenges from upcoming loss of exclusivity (LOE) on blockbuster drugs as well as aggressive healthcare cost containment measures, many transnational pharmaceutical firms develop their own generic subsidiaries or partner with low-cost pharmaceutical companies to introduce branded generics (or authorized generics). S brand, the generic pharmaceuticals division of a transnational pharmaceutical firm, was the first branded generic company in Taiwan. Based on article researches and data analysis, this study assesses the competitive advantages of S brand in 4P mix. The results show that medical institutions in Taiwan generally concern about the quality of generic, which is in favor of PIC/S GMP-certified manufacturers, such as S brand. Producing and marketing large quantities of generic enables transnational S brand to generate economies of scale or cost advantage over competitors. However, the barriers to trading and licensing should be considered. According to theory and empirical evidence, generic permitted as soon as the original drug goes off-patent gains first-mover advantage in promotion. S brand focuses on hospital channel, while clinic channel is favored by local pharmaceutical industries, it is efficient for S brand to promote generic primarily used in hospitals. In some cases, hospital channel is difficult for generic entry due to brand loyalty to original drug. Currently, S brand rarely promotes the authorized generic version of parent company’s drugs in Taiwan; therefore, we cannot evaluate the competitive advantage of that. Taiwan's National Health Insurance has decided to unify the prices of PIC/S GMP-certified generic and original drug reimbursed over 15 years in July 2014. Brand generic might be an effective strategy for transnational pharmaceutical firms to extend the product life cycle of patent-off drugs.