Market opportunity for off-label prescription drug
Matthijs Groeneveld on his internship at Roche, July 2007
“While studying Biology, I focused on cellular and biomedical courses and became experienced in laboratory practice. Trying to broaden my vision beyond Biology, I followed courses in Science Based Business (SBB) as part of my Master of Science programme in Biology at Leiden University. This offered me the opportunity to complement my research orientation with knowledge of business.
A significant part of the SBB- programme is an internship. I did this internship at Roche Netherlands, from November 2006 until February 2007. Roche Netherlands BV is part of Roche, a large research-driven healthcare company with its headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. Roche’s business is focussed on two healthcare areas: diagnostics and pharmaceuticals. The Roche Group’s pharmaceuticals division has brought many highly effective drugs onto the market. Roche is for example world’s leading supplier of prescription drugs for cancer treatment. Nowadays the Roche group still has got a very strong development portfolio.
Roche Netherlands BV in Woerden is part of Roche’s pharmaceutical division. It deals with sales and services to serve the needs of customers and other interested parties in the Netherlands. Different departments within the company are each responsible for one or multiple products in a certain medical specialty During this internship I worked for one of these departments.
I have evaluated the off-label use, sales and prescriptions of a particular drug. This product of Roche belongs to a class of drugs which has got, for a specific indication, the classification ‘general accepted medical indication’. This is described by the Commissie Farmaceutische Hulp (CFH) in the Farmacotherapeutisch Kompas, which is one of the most important reference books about drugs in the Netherlands. One of my main goals was to develop a clear vision about prescription and marketing of this product for this particular indication. What is allowed and what is not? What are the legal restrictions in off-label use? What happens in practice; in this specific case, but also with off-label prescription of (biological) drugs in general? What are the alternative treatments and what are the main arguments to choose for a particular treatment or to prescribe a certain drug?
I have gained more in-depth knowledge of different aspects of this subject by reading existing literature. I analysed patients’ records from a general hospital where Roche’s product is used for this medical indication. And above all, I have spoken to many people who are involved in work that has something to do with these topics. This has lead to an improved insight in this subject. I was able to inform our product team about this medical specialty and about legal restrictions of off-label use of drugs. In the end I was able to come up with some concrete recommendations. These recommendations can be used by Roche Netherlands to change the policy concerning the use of this product for this medical indication.
This internship enabled me to form a better picture of the pharmaceutical industry and its position in healthcare, a field I consider as an interesting one to work in. I was delighted to notice that with limited specific background knowledge, but with some good analytical skills, I was able to make some significant contribution to the department. I managed to settle in rather quickly. I also managed to strongly improve my communication skills, another gratifying attainment.
In conclusion I am highly satisfied about the development and outcome of this internship at Roche. Thanks to good supervision I was able to complete all I wanted. This internship, in combination with the theoretical part of the SBB-programme, has given me decent fundamental knowledge of business related themes. This is a valuable complement to my science related studies. The SBB programme, including the internship, has increased my enthusiasm for a career in the pharmaceutical industry or other science related business.”
Find more information on SBB internships and more SBB internship experiences on our website.
