How a PIM System Helps Pharma Companies Grow Sales

The absence of a product information management system in the early stages of a company's life is normal.

Information about a small assortment sold through just a couple of sales channels is easy to maintain manually.

However, as the number of SKUs grows and processes scale, the old approach can lead to chaos in product information. In turn, this negatively affects the company's business performance.

If all this information is stored in different sources and systems, managing it becomes difficult.

You will have to make the same changes several times, spend time searching for the right tables and files, and make sure different sources do not contradict one another...

Implementing a PIM system enables a manufacturer or distributor of medicines or equipment to maintain consistent and reliable information across every touchpoint and sales channel.

This became especially relevant for CIS manufacturers and pharmaceutical distributors after the law allowing online sales of over-the-counter medicines was adopted in 2020 and preparations began for an experiment involving the sale of prescription medicines.

The lack of a unified product information system gives the green light to situations where the same mistakes and/or unreliable data are copied by other market participants, because there is no mechanism to verify the information. For example, on several aggregators, customers may be offered a medicine whose description lists an incorrect shelf life - due to one mistake copied multiple times without checking the information.

Such an error affects three metrics at once: it creates a risk to customer life and health; it damages reputation (which means lower sales and possibly the termination of distributor contracts); and market regulators impose fines for inaccurate information.

Another area where a manufacturer may face problems without centralized product information management is marketing. For example, a manufacturer launches a campaign for a medicine with updated packaging and a revised consumer description.

But by that time, the sales team has not yet had time to send photos of the new packaging to distributors, or if they have, the distributors have not yet updated them on their websites or placed the new packaging in pharmacy displays.

This happens because the data in new files from the manufacturer has to be compared manually with the information on the platform, and product cards have to be updated by hand. As a result, the medicine description and photos in ads and on pharmacy websites may differ, which misleads customers and may prompt them to abandon the purchase and choose a comparable product from another manufacturer that seems straightforward.

A PIM system can help avoid cases like this: with properly configured integration, data can flow not only from the manufacturer but also from regulatory systems.

Connecting information systems to such a repository or implementing a public catalog service enables distributors to receive data on all changes promptly, without human-factor barriers.

Consumers need access to complete and reliable information about a medicine.

Characteristics such as dosage or indications for use can be updated or expanded as new research appears. For example, in 2023

The CIS Ministry of Health approved adding a new indication to the instructions for use of Deltiba® (delamanid) for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis.

The therapy was officially recognized as safe not only for adults but also for the pediatric patient group weighing strictly between 30 and 50 kg. Accordingly, all product descriptions on online platforms must be updated promptly to match the change and ensure accurate information for consumers.

Once the changes take effect, they are reflected in regulatory sources:

State Register of Medicines (GRLS);

To avoid negative consequences, these changes must be communicated quickly to all distributors and the product specifications updated accordingly.

If we're talking about a large pharma manufacturer with an extensive distribution network, doing this manually is slow and difficult. This is where a PIM system comes in again.

By synchronizing such a system with regulatory sources on one side and information consumers on the other, it becomes easy to control the accuracy, completeness, and availability of product information.

A PIM system can be synchronized with market regulators' information systems directly through an API or an ESB layer.

Returning to the Deltiba® example: as soon as the medicine's indications change, the updated data export will happen automatically.

But even if there is no integration and the information is delivered in XLS or CSV, PIM makes that no problem.

You can generate the updated file in just a couple of clicks.

This helps avoid situations involving improper use of the medicine by consumers.

A PIM system not only helps align product descriptions with regulatory requirements and present them correctly to consumers. In the system, you can create a controlled business process for working with product information.

The process makes it possible to define: which role (content manager, production manager, or B2B sales manager) creates the product card in the system; who validates new information in the system; how changes to data are approved; what happens if there is not enough information (who gets notified, what the sequence of actions is); how and when new regulatory documents/certificates should be added; and how to remove a product from the assortment.

For each of these tasks, you can configure a clear workflow, success and failure conditions, using PIM system features.

This will make it faster to refine product lines and move on to automating related business processes (for example, within supply chains).

If a company operates in international markets, a PIM system makes it easy to manage product information translations into different languages - you can quickly update information and keep it current in every language.

At the same time, modern PIM systems are not limited to simple integration of a translation tool via API or activation of a built-in microservice.

Translation features are becoming increasingly smart; for example, PIM systems provide translation memory.

Translation memory is a growing database that contains a set of previously translated text segments. This is especially important in the pharmaceutical industry: if you have already determined exactly how a phrase using specialized terms should be translated, you do not risk seeing incorrect wording in later translations.

Translation memory can work for one or multiple language pairs.

Product content (photos, descriptions, and product parameters) related to medicines has a complex structure and specific requirements.

A DAM service integrated into the PIM system helps streamline work with digital assets.

It will handle the following tasks.

Files can be linked to a specific product card and tagged.

This greatly simplifies and speeds up the search for needed assets and ensures their integrity.

Reduced risks related to asset expiration.

If the patent or registration certificate is about to expire, the DAM system will send a notification.

If the patent and/or registration certificate has been updated, it is enough to upload the revised file to PIM + DAM - through integrations, it will be sent to all distributors.

This significantly speeds up document updates across all channels and avoids putting sales on hold during the update.

Access management. A DAM system lets you control access to digital assets.

You can define who is allowed to view, edit, or upload files.

To do this, you need to define roles and assign each one its own access level.

This will increase the security and confidentiality of information.

This saves time and resources on routine manual operations and improves employee efficiency.

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most tightly regulated.

Even the smallest error in a pharma company's product data can lead to government fines and harm consumer health. A PIM system centralizes product data and enables pharmaceutical company employees to quickly find and update each product card (composition, indications, instructions for use, side effects).

Implementing a PIM system enables pharma companies to maintain reliable information across every touchpoint and sales channel.

This makes it possible to avoid copying errors from one platform to another and run marketing campaigns more effectively.

By integrating a PIM system with regulatory sources and information consumers, it becomes easy to ensure control over the accuracy, completeness, and availability of product information.

Detailed centralized product information enables manufacturers to refine product lines and more quickly automate other business processes within supply chains.

If a company operates in international markets, a PIM system makes it easy to manage product information translations into different languages, including with AI-powered features that improve translation accuracy.

A strong analytics module in a PIM system can reduce the time needed to collect data for analysis and support strategic business decision-making. A DAM service integrated with PIM enables access control for digital assets, faster and more efficient search, automation of some manual operations, and reduced risks related to digital asset expiration.