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Dhulugade, Ajay Sopan (2025) Digital Therapeutics in India’s Pharmaceutical Industry. Masters thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.
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Abstract
This study investigates the influence of Digital Therapeutics (DTx) on sales and marketing approaches and practices in the context of India's pharmaceutical industry. Because DTx is still in its rising stage in India, the study investigated how pharmaceutical companies, DTx developers, and pharmacists are developing their practices, to move to a healthcare system leverages digital accounts in DTx. Using a qualitative approach, seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with marketers from the largest pharmaceutical companies in India, digital health developers, and pharmacists.
Thematic analysis identified six major themes: marketing strategies evolving to focus on the patient, the importance of trust, working as a bundled DTx with traditional medications, users engaging when DTx is personalized, the emergence of pharmacists as supporters of DTx & the urban-rural divide of adoption. A major barrier, regulatory ambiguity was discussed as limiting marketing campaigns and patient trust. While pharmacists were believed to be important mediators of DTx, barriers still exist for them to drive marketing efforts, primarily lack of training and no clear communication or helpful resources.
This finding underscores the need to clarify regulations, to provide notice to those who will be involved in the DTx implementation process, and for products that will facilitate and be respectful of culturally appropriate scaling of DTx across India. For example, despite the fact the CDSCO has provided some draft guidance around Software as a Medical Device (SaMD), none specifies approvals or labelling requirements that are unique to DTx. Thus, companies that are introducing, say, a diabetes management app in Hindi and Marathi, still have to rely on generic claims that “supports health” i.e., just label it as a support not therapeutic. These limitations limit the company's ability to market a product effectively and also limits trust for the patient especially when products are aimed at illiterate or semi-urban/rural populations that have additional language and cultural needs. Limitations to the study, such as small sample size and qualitative study limits, restricts the scope and leads therefore to recommendations indicating that an evaluation that includes a mix of methods with more cultural representatives in future studies is justified.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Masters) |
|---|---|
| Supervisors: | Name Email Coughlan, Barry UNSPECIFIED |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Digital Therapeutics (DTx); Pharmaceutical Marketing; Healthcare Innovation; Regulatory Challenges; Consumer Trust; Patient Engagement; Digital Health; Personalisation; Bundling Strategy; Urban-Rural Divide; Data Privacy; Competitive Dynamics; HealthTech; Behaviour Change; Digital Empathy; India’s Pharmaceutical Industry; Digital Therapeutics Adoption; Healthcare Policy; DTx Marketing Strategies; Qualitative Research; Thematic Analysis |
| Subjects: | R Medicine > RS Pharmacy and materia medica R Medicine > Healthcare Industry H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > Marketing |
| Divisions: | School of Business (- 2025) > Master of Science in Management |
| Depositing User: | Ciara O'Brien |
| Date Deposited: | 09 Jan 2026 11:12 |
| Last Modified: | 09 Jan 2026 11:12 |
| URI: | https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/9076 |
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