Here’s why collaborations between drug firms and hospitals are booming in Singapore

It strengthens businesses indirectly, analysts say.

Aiming to stretch their business models beyond the products they sell, pharmaceutical companies are thinking out of the box as they collaborate with more hospitals, hoping to attain a closer connection to patients.

According to a report by BMI Research, these partnerships offer multinationals an opportunity to understand patient needs and create new avenues of revenue.

“These collaborations focus on developing creative support programmes, offering educational material, as opposed to marketing material, to patients and enabling patient access to drugs,” the report said.

However, the report adds that such collaborations may not be exclusively positive, as these may lead to hospitals prescribing more of their partner firms’ medicines, which may inadvertently raise the cost of medications.

The report explains that this stresses the need for proper governance and mitigations to ensure these partnerships equate to a healthier healthcare environment.