CNPR EXAMINATION TEST 2025/2026 QUESTIONS WITH
ANSWERS RATED A+
✔✔Prescription drug spending is a smaller fraction of total healthcare costs than ever
before - ✔✔T
✔✔Expenditures for both prescription and nonprescription pharmaceuticals are
estimated to be less than 8% of the total healthcare costs in the US - ✔✔T
✔✔FDA - ✔✔Food and Drug Administration:
-regulates the introduction of new drugs and enforces the US drug laws
-pharmaceutical companies submit extensive data to the FDA, demonstrating safety
and effectiveness of new drugs before receiving approval for sale in the US
-if product is approved, the manufacturer must also receive FDA approval for its
marketing and how/what the pharmaceutical companies can say about their products
✔✔GMP - ✔✔Good Manufacturing Practices
✔✔To reduce the cost of drug development, the FDA streamlined the review process in
1992 - ✔✔T
✔✔The FDA approval time is shorter than in past years and the number of approved
drugs is rising - ✔✔T
✔✔Average review time for a new drug is 18 months in 2024 - ✔✔T
✔✔Restrictions on direct-to-consumers advertising (specifically TV advertising), have
been lifted -> this has led to more patients making specific requests for brand name
pharmaceuticals to their physicians - ✔✔T
✔✔DTC - ✔✔direct-to-customer
✔✔less limitation on discussions by sales reps concerning "off label" or unapproved use
of their products -> this allows pharmaceutical companies to expand the types of
patients or diseases their existing products can be prescribed to treat - ✔✔T
✔✔Marketing of prescription drugs categories - ✔✔1. Professional physician promotions
2. direct-to-consumer advertising
✔✔Physician promotions marketing - ✔✔primarily involve sales reps activity in drs
offices, hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies. also includes advertising in medical journals,
conferences, seminars, direct email
,✔✔Direct-to-consumers marketing - ✔✔patient-directed messages in TV, radio,
magazines, newspapers. the newest effective marketing technique
✔✔direct-to-consumers marketing growth factors - ✔✔1. the FDA easing regulations on
this type of advertising
2. patients wanting to be more involved in their healthcare decisions
3. the public's increasing medical and health literacy
4. physician's increasing willingness to consider and in many cases grant their patient's
requests for advertised drugs
✔✔Headquarters (geography) - ✔✔executive-level sales managers (directors, VP
sales) and support staff usually work here. NAMs who sell to large MCOs and PBMs
also work here. Product managers who are a part of the company's marketing
department orchestrate the overall strategy that representatives implement in the
marketplace
✔✔MCOs - ✔✔Managed Care Organizations
✔✔NAMs - ✔✔National account managers
✔✔Regions (geography) - ✔✔most sales organizations divide the country into 5 to 10
geographic regions, each supervised by a regional manager
✔✔RM - ✔✔regional manager
✔✔Districts (geography) - ✔✔each region features several districts and each district is
supervised by a district manager. ex. southwest region may be divided up into GA, AL,
North/central FL, south FL
✔✔DM - ✔✔district manager
✔✔Territories (geography) - ✔✔each district includes 8-12 territories. territories are
staffed by territory representatives (entry level position reps). Some reps cover a
territory by themselves others may be staffed by several reps with slightly different
responsibilities
ex. some may call on hospitals while others on drs offices or some reps may promote
different products within the same territory
✔✔Territory Representative (Professional Sales Representative) - ✔✔interact with
customers on a daily basis, regardless of how a company configures its territories each
team member is assigned approximately the same number of physicians to cover
✔✔Speciality, Hospital, and Niche Representatives - ✔✔sell exclusively to niche
markets, speciality reps are trained to sell to specific physician specialists like
cardiologists
, ✔✔District Manager (DM) - ✔✔territory reps report to the DM, DM's responsibility is to
coach/mentor territory reps and ensure reps are making required calls and are on track
to achieve sales goals, DMs conduct conferences with their territory reps, arrange
training workshops, observe in the field, DM is the primary point of contact with the rest
of the corporation
✔✔Regional Manager (RM) - ✔✔DM report to RMs, RMs set the strategy for a region
and monitor sales activity in each district under their supervision, healthcare delivery
systems are often regionalized meaning policies relating to physician prescribing and
prescription reimbursement vary across regions so RMs must be knowledgeable of their
specific region and develop appropriate sales/marketing strategies
✔✔National Account Manager (NAM) - ✔✔primary role is to negotiate product
purchasing contracts with major MCOs and giant PBMs.
✔✔market share (bonuses) - ✔✔most common way to measure bonuses
- pharmaceutical company determines how much of their product should sell, and
forecasts a percentage market share. you will receive bonuses if you obtain that
percentage in your market
✔✔actual sales (bonuses) - ✔✔reps are paid a bonus based on the total actual sales in
their respective territories
✔✔actual sales vs forecast sales (bonuses) - ✔✔based on past history of rep's
designated territory. companies will forecast and set goals for the amount of
prescriptions to be sold in a specific territory and if rep exceeds, they receive bonus
✔✔generally companies pay the rep 15-35 cents per mile on car expenses - ✔✔T
✔✔The reps primary responsibility is to call on physicians during office hours
(weekdays 9-5), complete reports, attend regional/national meetings - ✔✔T
✔✔the rep's expense account is used to offset entertainment expenses - ✔✔T
✔✔a lot of pharmaceutical companies are changing their bonus structure from market
share to volume-based growth - ✔✔T
✔✔Many pharmaceutical companies try to make the base salary 75% of compensation
with incentive pay accounting for the balance - ✔✔T
✔✔Between 2023 and 2024, the average bonus/comission rose from $53,000 to
$61,000 and the average total compensation rose 4% ($167,800 to $174,300) - ✔✔T
ANSWERS RATED A+
✔✔Prescription drug spending is a smaller fraction of total healthcare costs than ever
before - ✔✔T
✔✔Expenditures for both prescription and nonprescription pharmaceuticals are
estimated to be less than 8% of the total healthcare costs in the US - ✔✔T
✔✔FDA - ✔✔Food and Drug Administration:
-regulates the introduction of new drugs and enforces the US drug laws
-pharmaceutical companies submit extensive data to the FDA, demonstrating safety
and effectiveness of new drugs before receiving approval for sale in the US
-if product is approved, the manufacturer must also receive FDA approval for its
marketing and how/what the pharmaceutical companies can say about their products
✔✔GMP - ✔✔Good Manufacturing Practices
✔✔To reduce the cost of drug development, the FDA streamlined the review process in
1992 - ✔✔T
✔✔The FDA approval time is shorter than in past years and the number of approved
drugs is rising - ✔✔T
✔✔Average review time for a new drug is 18 months in 2024 - ✔✔T
✔✔Restrictions on direct-to-consumers advertising (specifically TV advertising), have
been lifted -> this has led to more patients making specific requests for brand name
pharmaceuticals to their physicians - ✔✔T
✔✔DTC - ✔✔direct-to-customer
✔✔less limitation on discussions by sales reps concerning "off label" or unapproved use
of their products -> this allows pharmaceutical companies to expand the types of
patients or diseases their existing products can be prescribed to treat - ✔✔T
✔✔Marketing of prescription drugs categories - ✔✔1. Professional physician promotions
2. direct-to-consumer advertising
✔✔Physician promotions marketing - ✔✔primarily involve sales reps activity in drs
offices, hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies. also includes advertising in medical journals,
conferences, seminars, direct email
,✔✔Direct-to-consumers marketing - ✔✔patient-directed messages in TV, radio,
magazines, newspapers. the newest effective marketing technique
✔✔direct-to-consumers marketing growth factors - ✔✔1. the FDA easing regulations on
this type of advertising
2. patients wanting to be more involved in their healthcare decisions
3. the public's increasing medical and health literacy
4. physician's increasing willingness to consider and in many cases grant their patient's
requests for advertised drugs
✔✔Headquarters (geography) - ✔✔executive-level sales managers (directors, VP
sales) and support staff usually work here. NAMs who sell to large MCOs and PBMs
also work here. Product managers who are a part of the company's marketing
department orchestrate the overall strategy that representatives implement in the
marketplace
✔✔MCOs - ✔✔Managed Care Organizations
✔✔NAMs - ✔✔National account managers
✔✔Regions (geography) - ✔✔most sales organizations divide the country into 5 to 10
geographic regions, each supervised by a regional manager
✔✔RM - ✔✔regional manager
✔✔Districts (geography) - ✔✔each region features several districts and each district is
supervised by a district manager. ex. southwest region may be divided up into GA, AL,
North/central FL, south FL
✔✔DM - ✔✔district manager
✔✔Territories (geography) - ✔✔each district includes 8-12 territories. territories are
staffed by territory representatives (entry level position reps). Some reps cover a
territory by themselves others may be staffed by several reps with slightly different
responsibilities
ex. some may call on hospitals while others on drs offices or some reps may promote
different products within the same territory
✔✔Territory Representative (Professional Sales Representative) - ✔✔interact with
customers on a daily basis, regardless of how a company configures its territories each
team member is assigned approximately the same number of physicians to cover
✔✔Speciality, Hospital, and Niche Representatives - ✔✔sell exclusively to niche
markets, speciality reps are trained to sell to specific physician specialists like
cardiologists
, ✔✔District Manager (DM) - ✔✔territory reps report to the DM, DM's responsibility is to
coach/mentor territory reps and ensure reps are making required calls and are on track
to achieve sales goals, DMs conduct conferences with their territory reps, arrange
training workshops, observe in the field, DM is the primary point of contact with the rest
of the corporation
✔✔Regional Manager (RM) - ✔✔DM report to RMs, RMs set the strategy for a region
and monitor sales activity in each district under their supervision, healthcare delivery
systems are often regionalized meaning policies relating to physician prescribing and
prescription reimbursement vary across regions so RMs must be knowledgeable of their
specific region and develop appropriate sales/marketing strategies
✔✔National Account Manager (NAM) - ✔✔primary role is to negotiate product
purchasing contracts with major MCOs and giant PBMs.
✔✔market share (bonuses) - ✔✔most common way to measure bonuses
- pharmaceutical company determines how much of their product should sell, and
forecasts a percentage market share. you will receive bonuses if you obtain that
percentage in your market
✔✔actual sales (bonuses) - ✔✔reps are paid a bonus based on the total actual sales in
their respective territories
✔✔actual sales vs forecast sales (bonuses) - ✔✔based on past history of rep's
designated territory. companies will forecast and set goals for the amount of
prescriptions to be sold in a specific territory and if rep exceeds, they receive bonus
✔✔generally companies pay the rep 15-35 cents per mile on car expenses - ✔✔T
✔✔The reps primary responsibility is to call on physicians during office hours
(weekdays 9-5), complete reports, attend regional/national meetings - ✔✔T
✔✔the rep's expense account is used to offset entertainment expenses - ✔✔T
✔✔a lot of pharmaceutical companies are changing their bonus structure from market
share to volume-based growth - ✔✔T
✔✔Many pharmaceutical companies try to make the base salary 75% of compensation
with incentive pay accounting for the balance - ✔✔T
✔✔Between 2023 and 2024, the average bonus/comission rose from $53,000 to
$61,000 and the average total compensation rose 4% ($167,800 to $174,300) - ✔✔T
