1. Switch dynamics: a practical approach to switching
medicines for self care (Book review)
The Pharmaceutical Journal7 MAY 2013
All you ever wanted to know about reclassification
‘Switch dynamics: a practical approach to switching medicines for self care’, by Anna Maxwell.
Pp 160. Price £39. Weybridge: Fizz Marketing Ltd; 2013. ISBN 978 0 9575372 0 0
This book is a guide to the reclassification of medicines from prescription only to
non-prescription access in pharmacies or supermarkets. It is aimed towards pharmaceutical
company employees and other stakeholders engaged in the process of medicines reclassification
or making assessments of whether a switch is feasible. This book has been designed to be read in
under an hour. Consequently the text is concise, and the book is well laid out and easy to follow.
Anna Maxwell’s use of lay language and opinion make the book candid, accessible and readable.
She begins by making a convincing case for the switching of medicines, considering the patient,
the pharmacist, pharmaceutical companies and the NHS. A mixture of case studies and practical
advice follows. The reader is also introduced to the different types of switch, some regulatory
considerations and the different models of switch strategy. Case studies should prove interesting
to pharmacists who have seen past switches succeed or fail, and Maxwell critically analyses them
for underlying causes of success or failure.
She also provides some insights into how pharmacists can make or break a switch and how
cultural changes have affected product transitions. Practical advice, for example, how to set up a
core team, how to manage a switch, how to screen a molecule and how to carry out risk-benefit
analyses, should prove useful to those engaged in the switch process. Ultimately, for companies
interested in expanding their portfolio to the self-medication market, this book should prove to be
a useful starting point and should be required reading.
Emma McConnell works as a medical writer with a medical communications agency

2. Citation: The Pharmaceutical Journal, Vol. 290, p534 | DOI: 10.1211/PJ.2013.11120955
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