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Although it seems less common these days, there are still a fair number of us public relations practitioners who enter the business by crossing over from the journalist’s side of the notebook.

When yo

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

u make that transition, you become something of an oracle. Colleagues and clients expect you to be the walking, talking answer to the Rubik’s cube puzzle of how to gain the attention of the media. If

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

only it were that simple!

Landing media placements is at least as much about art as it is science.

But it’s also about you and who you are as a PR person. What did I learn in two decades of writing

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

and editing for newspapers, magazines and news services?

First of all, a PR pro doesn’t need a journalistic pedigree to succeed with journalists.

But you do have to possess something else: knowledge of

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

what journalists really want from PR people. I’m not talking about what journalists want from your story – that’s another subject.

I’m talking about you. Do you know what journalists want from you,

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

Combination pro

s the individual who’s e-mailing, faxing, calling and (too often, I fear) pestering them?

Here’s my short list of attributes that will get you a hearing from journalists (and that’s all you want – y

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

our story will sink or float on its own merits):

1. Honest brokers

Journalists know PR people have something to promote – a company, a product, a point of view. That’s not the issue.

It’s whether the

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

journalist trusts that the story is coming from someone who won’t waste their time – someone who has invested the effort to understand them, their organization, their boss, and whether the story might

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

interest the audience the journalist serves.

Trust is fundamental – but it’s also earned. Becoming an honest broker requires more than one conversation with a journalist. It requires enough dialog

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

e that a relationship and a history of honest dealings can be established.

2. Facilitators

Face it, journalists don’t want to talk to PR people – at least not on the record, and not as newsmakers.

G

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

od PR practitioners know they’re not newsmakers. They recognize that their role is to make stories happen, not be part of them. So good PR pros focus on being matchmakers, putting journalists togethe

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

Following aspects would a

r with the sources who make stories come alive.

For the PR pro, as well as the journalist, it’s all about the story. It’s not about you, or the institutional challenges you face in making the story h

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

ppen. It’s about making the story real. And that leads me to what journalists really, really want from PR practitioners (and what we should strive to be):

3. Advocates for communication

No journali

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

st wants to deal with a PR person who’s primarily unavailable, and when he or she is available, has a vocabulary limited to phrases such as “no comment.”

All other things being equal (including workin

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

for an organization or a leader who doesn’t communicate) journalists still give the benefit of the doubt to a PR person whom they know to be an advocate of communication.

That doesn’t mean someone wh

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

’s going to speak at inappropriate times about subjects that aren’t in the best interests of their organization. It means someone who understands deadlines, editors, the competition and the other pr

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

essures that journalists face while trying to do their jobs.

It means someone who understands that the best interests of their organization always include good relationships with the news media, the t

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

usted purveyors of independent information for the customers, employees, investors and other audiences that the PR pro wants to reach.

In the end, that’s what all of media relations is really about: A g

.

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

ood journalist and a good PR pro want to serve their audiences first.

It’s not always possible for journalists and PR pros to achieve that objective from their respective viewpoints in every interacti

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

n. But over the course of time, in a relationship of trust, respect and understanding, honest brokers who facilitate the story and advocate for communication will succeed in landing media placements

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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It seems that the radio may have seen the last of its days. It is trying to come back with the introduction of digital radio being available in some countries, but it seems that it may be too little too late.

Alice Seba offers an answer that will not only help generate more leads but also maximize your income.

Attn: business, non-profit, government agency and association managers: Are you doing something really significant about those important outside audience behaviors that MOST affect the department, group, division or subsidiary unit you manage?

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