The pharmaceutical meeting market has three key trends, according to a survey by Cutting Edge Information, Durham, N.C., a research and consulting organization specializing in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries:
(1) Planners expect budgets to remain stable or increase for 2008, and much of that spending will be outsourced.
(2) Companies are applying stricter policies due to the regulatory environment.
(3) Companies have overwhelmingly shifted to a centralized meeting planning structure.
“Almost all companies polled, 96%, have meeting planning departments, with 82% of them utilizing a centralized meeting planning structure,†the study found.
Procurement’s increased involvement in meetings, as well as the critical need for compliance with regulations, are two main reasons for the shift to the centralized structure, said Elio Evangelista, research team leader at Cutting Edge Information.
While the majority of meetings departments report to marketing, the landscape is shifting as meetings departments also report to other parts of the company.
Along with the shift to centralization, there is a move to outsourcing, with 91% of all companies surveyed outsourcing at least some aspect of meeting planning.
The study was done in collaboration with Medical Meetings magazine and the Center for Business Intelligence.
Report by David Wilkening
