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I was delighted with my freelance living. My “Portfolio Career” of seven different careers kept me busy and making enough money to cover expenses. I enjoye

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

d everything I did so much that I felt like a success. That was until the woman who prepared my taxes pointed out that on paper, I had not made a profit. With all

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

of the different careers, I spend most of what I earn on business expenses. It was time for me to make a profit -- and not by reducing my expenses, but by increa

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

sing my fees. In this article, I address the area of fees for free agents, independent professionals and freelancers.

Even if we love what we do, we need to e

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

arn a living. To get ahead -- and not to have the IRS think that what I was doing was a “hobby” -- I needed to re-evaluate my fee structure. As Dana Cassell w

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

ites in her excellent book, How to Set Your Fees as a Freelancer or Independent Consultant, “One of the most important questions you'll face as a freelance

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

r or consultant is how much to charge for your work. Too high, and you could price yourself out of business; too low, and you'll be cheating yourself. This clearl

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

y requires some thought.”

You are worth more than you think you are! These are the words my tax preparer said, and I am sure that it is probably true of

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

many free agents, independent professionals and freelancers. We don’t consider our background experience, our education and the time we have taken to get to our l

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

evel of expertise. We are afraid that when we tell a prospective client what we charge, they will gasp and run the other way. Some will, but I have found that man

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

feel that, “you get what you pay for.” If we price our services too low, we may be downgrading our credibility. Many freelancers I know who have started charging

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

more than before have found that they are hired even more often after the fee hike.

There are many different ways to figure how to set our fees. Approach

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

es vary from hourly rates, project rates, and one time fees (for example: for a workshop, presentation, special report, e-book, or tele-seminar). If you have seve

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

ral different careers as I do, you may set different levels for the different types of jobs. For example, I can charge quite a bit more for my web design and deve

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

lopment than for the fitness classes I teach and the storytelling programs I do. In this case, I must consider the “going rate.” Unfortunately, as a speaker I can

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

charge more than double what I do as a storyteller -- this is due to perception and the type of client.

Be strong enough to turn down a job even when you nee

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

d the money. We’ve all been there. Times are tough, and we aren’t sure where the next paycheck is coming from. We are offered a job that will be long on hours

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

, but short on pay. I know how hard it is to say, “No.” It is not a good idea to compromise yourself or your fees in times of panic. If we are patient and believe

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

that the work will come (and, of course, we are constantly marketing ourselves so potential clients know about us and what great stuff we do), it will. Note:

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

I can say from experience that this is true and has worked for me.

So, reconsider your fees. Charge what you are worth. And have a happy tax preparer

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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