Estrategia de promoción en la industria de medicamentos a base de cannabis para médicos en Colombia

Abstract

Esta tesis surge porque el mercado de cannabis medicinal a nivel mundial está en crecimiento y Colombia se ha convertido en potencia mundial del cannabis medicinal, tras su regulación en el 2016. Sin embargo, hace falta información sobre el nivel de conocimiento de los médicos sobre el uso de medicamentos a base de cannabis, su percepción sobre éstos e interés en prescribirlos, qué información requerirían para conocer estos medicamentos, los canales por los cuales la buscan y el canal promocional preferido para recibir esta información. El objetivo de la tesis es obtener esta información del público objetivo (médicos) y de los demás actores involucrados en el proceso de compra (pacientes, gobierno y comercializadores) para así definir una estrategia que puedan utilizar empresas farmacéuticas para promocionar medicamentos a base de cannabis con médicos especialistas en Colombia. Se realizó una metodología con un componente cuantitativo y cualitativo. Primero, se realizó un análisis bibliométrico para identificar la cantidad de artículos científicos relacionados con el mercadeo del cannabis medicinal y la industria farmacéutica. Posteriormente, se realizaron entrevistas a profundidad semiestructuradas, uno a uno, con los diferentes actores: médicos especialistas, pacientes, gobierno, EPS y empresas comercializadoras de medicamentos a base de cannabis.

This thesis arises because the medical cannabis market is growing in the world and Colombia has become a global power, after its regulation in 2016. Nevertheless, it is necessary to have information about the level of knowledge of physicians about the use of these medicines, their perception and interest to prescribe them, what information they would need to know these medicines, the channels they use to look for this information and the preferred channel to be informed about medical cannabis. The objective of the thesis is to obtain this information from the target public (physicians) and the other actors involved in the purchasing process (patients, government and marketers) in order to define a strategy that pharmaceutical companies can use to promote cannabis-based medicines with specialist doctors in Colombia. A methodology with a quantitative and qualitative component was carried out. First, a bibliometric analysis was performed to identify the number of scientific articles related to marketing of medical cannabis and the pharmaceutical industry. Subsequently, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted, one by one, with the different actors: specialist doctors, patients, government, EPS and cannabis-based drug marketing companies. Finally, from the in-depth analysis of the information, it is concluded that it is necessary to educate the actors and it is designed a promotional strategy of cannabis-based medicines that defines the target audience, objective, communication, channel and promotional mix, budget and measurement of results.