Understanding What Patients Want In A Medicine

By Dr. Thomas Hein is Senior Vice President Commercial and Regulatory Affairs at HERMES PHARMA

People expect options in most areas of their lives, so why should their medication be any different?

Until recently, drug development focused primarily on the practicalities: efficacy, safety and stability. Other than slight differences in the size, texture or color of a tablet or capsule, patients had very little in the way of alternatives. Of course, patients have always had preferences when it comes to their medication, they just haven’t been presented with a sufficient number of options. This failure on the part of the pharmaceutical industry to recognize individual preferences has led to reduced adherence to treatment regimens in some cases. A US national survey showed that 40% of people experienced difficulties swallowing tablets and capsules – 4% of whom discontinued their therapy. A more recent survey of 2,000 people across the US and Germany, conducted by HERMES PHARMA and the SPIEGEL INSTITUT Mannheim, demonstrated that over 50% of people found it difficult to swallow tablets or capsules, and as many as 8% stopped taking their medication. Both surveys identified the size of the tablet or capsule as a major issue for many people, while the HERMES PHARMA survey highlighted additional concerns like taste, odor, packaging and convenience.