International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to explore the degree to which the drug industry is changing from a product orientation to a more strategic category captain management (CCM) approach.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on secondary research sources.

Findings – The paper shows that the drug industry is starting to move toward a more strategic approach to partner with downstream customers as opposed to a sales-oriented approach.

Practical implications – The paper suggests that there is another fundamental way to compete for the drug industry, more as partners than just suppliers.

Social implications – There are significant social implications. The drug industry has been battered for serious faults regarding regulatory issues. The industry has come under scrutiny for questionable marketing conduct. By providing more than just physical product and hard sell tactics, CCM can serve as an alternative model for the drug industry to compete.

Originality/value – The paper is unique in that timing is ripe for this kind of analysis. To the best of the author's knowledge, there is no research to date on the issue of substantial ways that the pharmaceutical industry can change its business model.