Medical information service inquiry profiles in a public pharmaceutical industry: a comprehensive analysis

Introduction:The Medical Information (MI) service in pharmaceutical industries plays a critical role in providing accurate scientific data on products to healthcare professionals (HCP) and the customer service department (SAC).Integrated with the Medical Affairs Department, MI processes inquiries from SAC, including clinical questions.At Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz, the MI service contributes to transparency and patient safety by disseminating reliable information on immunobiologicals, mitigating misinformation, and supporting optimal use of medicines and vaccines within the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS).Objectives: This study aimed to analyze MI service request records from 01/01/2023 to 31/01/2025, characterizing their profile.Methodology: Data were extracted from the Internal Inquiry Management System and analyzed across multiple variables with a mixed method approach: product category, specific product, inquiry type, client type, involved sectors, bibliographic references, and primary topics addressed.Results: Out of 190 inquiries received, 61% concerned vaccines, with COVID-19 vaccine (36%) and Yellow Fever vaccine (23%) predominating.Biopharmaceuticals comprised 37% of inquiries, with Somatropine (34%) and Trastuzumab (24%) being most frequent.Citizen-initiated inquiries were predominant, while HCP represented only 6% of total requests.The Pharmacovigilance service supported 48% of MI inquiries.Most questions were requests for medical guidance regarding adverse events (43%), followed by ongoing research (6%), fake news (5%), formulation components (5%), storage and dilution (4%), product administration (4%), and overdosage (4%).Responses typically used an average of 2 references, with 10% requiring more than 5 sources. Conclusion:Analysis of MI inquiries revealed limited engagement of HCP with the public pharmaceutical industry's communication channels.The findings also suggest that patients struggle to access the multidisciplinary team within the SUS for clarification regarding their treatments or vaccinations, leading them to direct individual care questions to the industry instead.The insights from this analysis can guide institutional initiatives for more effective knowledge dissemination.