How big is the medical writing industry? Why it matters

Area of Science:

• Medical Communications
• Pharmaceutical Industry
• Scientific Publishing

Background:

• Medical writing is crucial for pharmaceutical companies to influence scientific literature and support marketing efforts.
• Publication planning, often managed by medical education and communication companies (MECCs), shapes prescriber knowledge and sales claims.
• Understanding the landscape of entities providing medical writing services is essential for transparency in scientific communication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate the number of medical education and communication companies (MECCs) and comparable entities involved in English-language medical writing.
• To identify the key players and their contribution to the medical science literature.
• To provide a quantitative overview of the medical writing service sector.

Main Methods:

• Data collection from Web of Science, LinkedIn, and web searches (Google, DuckDuckGo).
• Analysis of papers mentioning medical writing assistance to identify supporting firms.
• Cross-referencing and deduplication of company data from multiple sources.

Main Results:

• Identified 1148 medical education and communication companies (MECCs) and comparable entities providing medical writing services.
• Over 50% of papers acknowledging medical writing support were sponsored by just ten pharmaceutical companies.
• The majority of remaining papers were sponsored by other pharmaceutical, device, and biotechnology firms.

Conclusions:

• A significant number of entities provide medical writing services, impacting the medical literature.
• A concentrated group of pharmaceutical companies heavily utilizes medical writing support.
• The study acknowledges potential undercounting due to reliance on transparency and English-language publications.