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What does a coronavirus vaccine mean for the medical sales industry?
When news of the first coronavirus vaccine broke, the Chairman and CEO of Pfizer announced, “Today is a great day for science and humanity”. Pfizer joined forces with BioNTech to deliver the first-ever mRNA vaccine which has been lauded as groundbreaking, revolutionary and a landmark.Initial reports showed the vaccine to have a 90% efficacy rate but soon after, biotechnology company - Moderna - announced their own vaccine with a boosted efficacy rate of 94.5%. So the race to distribute a coronavirus vaccine is well and truly ramping up and each day a new candidate could overtake the current frontrunner, but what does all this mean for the medical sales industry?
The growing vaccine market
The wider pharmaceutical market has long been known for its lucrative investment options but the outbreak of Covid-19 has exposed a growing vaccine market. Though the first case of human coronavirus was reported in the 1960s, it was six decades before Covid-19 began to dominate headlines around the world and became a standard topic of discussion even around the dinner table. As the global population has been on tenterhooks waiting for a vaccine, analysts have projected that the Covid-19 vaccine market has swelled to an annual value of $10 billion. But how will this impact the medical sales industry? Though it’s early days, more money flowing within Pharma can only mean good things for the medical sales job market.Jobs are beginning to recover
While it’s true that few industries will have navigated the coronavirus pandemic and come out unscathed, there is the opportunity for many to come back even stronger and the vaccine signals the beginning of this transition. Following the announcement of a vaccine, the global stock market hit an all-time high and so the attention now shifts to the job market. Just days before the news broke, the number of jobs advertised increased by 16% week-on-week. Though, the early signs of recovery aren’t to be enjoyed by every industry, for those working in a ‘business as usual’ job – like many in the medical sales industry - the vaccine marks the beginning of the road.Shift to remote working
It’s too early to know for sure the extent of the impact of coronavirus, but what can be claimed without a doubt is that the pandemic has left its stamp on the world. It’s become increasingly apparent that medical sales professionals will need to demonstrate an ability to communicate effectively in the virtual space. Because, although a coronavirus vaccine will precede a relaxing of restrictions and a steady return to the office, video conferencing isn’t going anywhere. Virtual meetings mean that everyone can join in, there’s the added flexibility of time and location, and with widespread immunisation not likely for some time, they are the best option to keep people safe.The shift to remote working may have been a challenge for professionals in the various job roles within medical sales, particularly because it’s an industry dependent on making connections with people and establishing relationships, but there has been an unexpected benefit. With communication now reserved for the digital space, distance is no longer a barrier. Medical sales representatives can now engage with healthcare professionals that it would have otherwise been geographically impossible to. And, figures show that consumers are surprisingly receptive, with 70% preferring digital interactions and the greater effectiveness that it affords.
Your medical sales career
The outbreak of coronavirus has moved the medical sales industry closer to the precipice of change and the announcement of a vaccine, with many more treatments soon to follow, has accelerated this further. As technology continues to make many inroads into the pharma industry the digital transformation is opening up the roles of those in medical sales. All this change and advancement means there could not be a more exciting time to make a career change and we want to help you. View our medical communications jobs or use our filters to browse alternative job categories.Find out more about life at IQVIA
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Did you know IQVIA has
1,900+ epidemiologists
and real world insight experts
Did you know IQVIA cares about
Health and Wellbeing
for all its employees
Did you know IQVIA has
56+ petabytes of unique data
including 1.2B+ non-identified patient records
Did you know IQVIA has
Excellent work-life balance
and is committed to this kind of culture
Did you know IQVIA has
Countless development opportunities
for personal and professional growth
Did you know IQVIA has
4,600 data scientists
including statisticians and analytics developers
Did you know IQVIA has
1,900+ epidemiologists
and real world insight experts
Did you know IQVIA has
86,000+ employees
from clinicians to data scientists each transforming healthcare in 100+ countries
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IQVIA has been behind my development to become a MSL. The contracts that I have worked on have allowed me to push clinical projects with a recent opportunity to manage a pilot scheme integrating e-detailing into an established field based team. The result was an increase in sales.
A quick note to say thank you for your time this morning discussing my future career options. As you know I was feeling very conflicted about the right decision. Discussing the role with you gave me chance to clarify what is important to me.
Since joining IQVIA I have had unrivalled support and development from my manager to enable me to aspire to move into secondary care. I feel like my career is strongly supported by my manager in order to maximise my potential.
Once again I cannot thank you enough for not only approaching me with this opportunity but also for all the support you’ve given me along the way!
Just following on from the amazing news I got yesterday I wanted to say a really special thank you for all the help and support you have provided throughout the entire recruitment process.
A quick note to say thank you for your time this morning discussing my future career options. As you know I was feeling very conflicted about the right decision. Discussing the role with you gave me chance to clarify what is important to me.
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