As trainee physicians return to work, pharmaceutical companies are busy reorganizing their sales and marketing strategies.

Responses vary, ranging from accelerating sales efforts for in-hospital prescription items focused on tertiary hospitals to developing customized strategies based on each hospital's resident return status.

With the return of medical residents expected to increase demand for hospital-based treatments and surgeries, pharmaceutical companies are planning strategies different from last year.

For instance, Company B plans to efficiently allocate budgets and support field sales, focusing on items primarily used in tertiary hospitals, including anticancer drugs, IV fluids, antibiotics, and antiemetics, in keeping with the residents' return.

“The pattern of resident returns varies by hospital. Therefore, we will develop sales strategies tailored to each hospital's situation and actively provide supporting tools like marketing messages and materials,” a company official said.

Company H is also preparing countermeasures centered on its core anticancer drug lineup, including anticancer injections. However, it did not disclose specific strategies.

Company I also plans to continue sales focused on antibiotics, surgical medical devices, and certain treatments for chronic diseases. Company D is similarly monitoring the resident return situation while preparing tailored strategies, but has not disclosed concrete plans.

Company G, which specializes in blood products, has been relatively less affected by the physician-government conflict. This is because products like albumin and immunoglobulin are considered essential medicines, resulting in minimal fluctuations in hospital demand. “We are continuing our market response focused on essential products, regardless of whether residents return,” the company said.

Company K is establishing field-specific strategies by tracking resident return rates in real-time at each hospital. It is implementing a dual strategy: intensively supplying basic and nutritional IV solutions to tertiary general hospitals while pursuing new cases in neighborhood clinics. For anticancer drug sales, it plans to continue aggressive marketing based on clinical data and efficacy. “Since the resident return rate varies by hospital, a uniform strategy is meaningless,” a company official said. “We will swiftly update field information to maintain responses tailored to each hospital's characteristics.”

Last year, when medical residents’ departures occurred, a temporary impact on basic IV solution sales was seen due to reduced surgeries and inpatient admissions at tertiary hospitals. However, this decline was offset by increased demand in the secondary hospital market as patients shifted to these facilities. Notably, strengthened marketing of nutritional IV solutions drove overall IV solution sales up 6.7 percent from 114.5 billion won ($82.2 million) in 2023 to 122.1 billion won in 2024.

“While demand for some products remains steady regardless of whether they return to the market, items like anticancer drugs and IV solutions, which are affected by the number of surgeries and hospitalized patients, require strategic responses,” an industry executive said. “From now on, strengthening products focused on tertiary hospitals and tailored sales approaches will become the main focus for pharmaceutical companies.”