Educating the Market to Support Successful Product Launches in Oncology

Aggressive market pressures challenge companies to rapidly deliver new products in the market and at the same time ensure markets are well informed about in-line product launches.

The oncology segment in particular is protocol-driven and involves a significant amount of decisions based on oncologists’ experience, journal reports and information from conferences. In addition, off-label prescribing is quite common with cancer therapies. Thus, it becomes extremely important for companies to find efficient and innovative ways to deliver accurate and beneficial educational materials to educate the oncology market.

Best Practices, LLC designed this study to explore the best practices in educating, informing and preparing the marketplace for new oncology products – through Physician, Patient, and Payer education and publications, advocacy and communication strategies. Specific topics covered in this report include:

• Identifying key education tactics for thought leaders, physicians, patients, and payers
• Assessing key market-education practices, including thought-leader services; Medical Education; scientific publications; patient advocacy and education; clinical trials and payer education
• Identifying key timing factors and education mix
• Describing critical market entry pitfalls and future trends

Study Snapshot

The benchmark class includes 34 executives and managers at 26 leading pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies.
This field research and benchmarking report probes an array of medical education and marketing practices conducted two to three years prior to launch that best inform and shape the marketplace.

The quantitative survey harvested current best practices and emerging trends in educating the marketplace to support successful product launches. In addition, deep-dive executive interviews were conducted with selected participants to provide qualitative insights and emerging trends.

Sample Key Findings

• Thought Leaders are cornerstones of success. Thought Leader insights range broadly from starting early to develop critical relationships, seeding Medical Science Liaison (MSL) resources early, committing to the therapeutic area to win influential investigators, employing segmentation to identify and manage top thought leaders, investigators and Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs), and managing the coordination of national and regional thought leaders across the value chain throughout development.

• Bio-pharmaceutical companies believe that advisory boards, strong product pipelines and scientific publications are the cornerstones for building credibility among investigators. More than half of survey participants– the greatest percentage – view publications as being very important.

Key Themes from Market Education Research 14
1. Develop integrated continuous thought leader strategies. 15
Identify and engage the physicians who shape therapeutic direction, guidelines and perspective to target relevant thought leaders. 18
Seed, cultivate and maintain relationships with Key Opinion Leaders who shape the market to enhance thought leader relationships and value management. 23
2. Manage clinical trials to win highly regarded investigators and thought leaders. 31
Utilize investigator-initiated studies to engage key investigators in developing the product’s full potential. 39
Take advantage of Early Access Programs to both help patients and expand physician experience. 42
3. Use data disclosures to inform the medical community of both progress and commitment. 43
4. Communicate clinical science through journals and congresses to position company as a thought leader. 46
Utilize scientific publications to link together productivity and insights. 51
5. Use multi-channel medical education to inform health care providers. 56
Balance the mix of CME, grants and tools to best utilize medical education. 58
6. Utilize patient education and advocacy group collaborations to inform patients. 61
7. Focus on cost and outcomes to enhance early payer education success. 68
8. Use Public Relations and new technologies in order to leverage reach to patients, physicians and payers. 73
Use new technologies for educating and informing patients. 87
9. Orchestrate medical education timing to reach the right constituencies at the right times. 90
10. Allocate market education mix to reflect therapeutic area needs and the competitive landscape. 98

Best Practices, Lessons Learned and Pitfalls to Consider 100

Future Trends and Issues 102

List of Charts & Exhibits

Table 1.1: Participating Companies 6
Table 1.2: Benchmark Participants’ Job Titles 7
Figure 1.1: One-Third of Participants Represent Oncology Views 8
Figure 1.2: Oncology/Immunology Segment 9
Table 1.3: Oncology Products Included Existing Products and New Market Entrants 9
Figure 1.3: Oncology Research Drew on Deep Experience 10
Figure 1.4: Launch Involvement: Oncology vs. Benchmark 11
Figure 2.1: 10 Steps to Excellence – Key Themes from Market Research Education 14
Figure 2.1.1: Start Early with Thought Leader Education and Services 15
Figure 2.1.2: Oncology Thought Leaders are Developed Significantly Earlier 16
Figure 2.1.3: Oncology Leaders Learn Through Protocol Development/Insight Sharing 17
Figure 2.1.4: Understand Thought Leader Segments that Pave Way to Successful Market Entry 19
Figure 2.1.5: KOL Segmentation and Behavior Drivers 20
Figure 2.1.6: Oncology thought Leader targeting Focuses on “Critical Few” 21
Figure 2.1.7: Oncology Teams “Seed and Grow” MSL Pre-Launch Coverage 22
Figure 2.1.8: Diabetes Targets Twice as Many Thought Leaders to Educate the Market 23
Figure 2.1.9: Manage Thought Leaders to Optimize Product Impact 24
Figure 2.1.10: Oncology Grows National Thought Leaders Then Extends Influence to Others 25
Figure 2.1.11: Oncology MSLs Engage National TLs Early and Grow Regional TLs Later 26
Figure 2.1.12: National Thought Leaders Drive Clinical Design, Trials and Communication 27
Figure 2.1.13: National Oncology TLs are Prime Drivers of Many Market Entry Activities 28
Figure 2.2.1: Companies Must Build Credibility Over Time 32
Figure 2.2.2: Investigators Study Company’s Long-Term Commitment to Therapeutic Area 33
Figure 2.2.3: Pharma Perceptions on What Positively Influences Investigators 34
Figure 2.2.4: Investigator Motivations Include Additional Factors 35
Figure 2.2.5: Investigator Segmentation Systems Help Taylor Outreach 36
Figure 2.2.6: Oncology Investigators-Initiated Studies Occur Across All Phases 39
Figure 2.2.7: Do Not Compromise Intellectual Property Rights with ISSs 41
Figure 2.3.1: Data Disclosure Flows Through the Full Development Cycle 43
Figure 2.3.3: Pipeline Disclosures Signal Strategy and Commitments 45
Figure 2.4.1: Oncology Publishing Strategies Rely on Key Congresses and Journals 47
Figure 2.4.2: Tie Publishing Strategies to Key Marketing Messages 48
Figure 2.4.3: Publication Strategy and Mix Reflect Therapeutic Differences 49
Figure 2.4.4: One Study = Five Publications 51
Figure 2.4.5: Oncology Publishing Productivity Lags and Leads Key Indicators 52
Figure 2.4.6: Publishing Trial Results is Vital to Oncology Drug Success 54
Figure 2.4.7: Abstracts Tied to Number of Medical Meetings 55
Figure 2.5.1: Benchmark Start Periods – MedEd Ramps Up in Phase II / Latter Phase III 56
Figure 2.5.2: Oncology Segment Education Begins Earlier Than Benchmark 57
Figure 2.5.3: CME Funding Shifting Away from MedEd Firms 58
Figure 2.5.4: Oncology Segment Actively Supports Accredited CME 59
Figure 2.5.5: Oncology Allocates Support for Non-Accredited MedEd Programs 60
Figure 2.6.1: Patient Education and Advocacy Most Often Start in Latter Phase III 61
Figure 2.6.2: Oncology Segment Educates Earlier Than Benchmark Class 62
Figure 2.6.3: Map the Advocacy Landscape to Know Where to Start 63
Figure 2.6.4: In Advocacy World, Big Groups Matter 65
Figure 2.6.5: Reimbursement and Patient Advocacy are Key to Oncology Success 66
Figure 2.7.1: Engage Payers Early and Maintain Relations Through Launch 69
Figure 2.7.2: Oncology Segment Initiates Payer Activities Earlier than Other Therapeutic Areas 71
Figure 2.7.3: Oncology Teams Value Payer Ad Boards and Price-Efficacy Sensitivity 72
Figure 2.8.1: Shaping the Market for Successful Entry of New Products; Rituxan 74
Figure 2.8.2: Strategy and Tactics Require Sound Execution 75
Figure 2.8.3: Introduce New Medical Ideas through Third-Party Expertise 76
Figure 2.8.4: Early PR Guides Patients to Trusted Third-Party Info Resources 77
Figure 2.8.5: Public Relations Can Create Buzz for New Treatment Paradigms 78
Figure 2.8.6: Engaging Patients Through Science and Pathos 79
Figure 2.8.7: Proactive Media Outreach Through Science/Human Interest Spur Public Interest 80
Figure 2.8.8: Understand the Formula for Bringing Non-Intuitive Mechanism of Action Medicines to Market 81
Figure 2.8.9: Using Experts, Media and Ed Events to Educate at Launch 82
Figure 2.8.10: Human Interest Positioning Touches Hearts 83
Figure 2.8.11: Employ PR to Reach Consumers Through Patient Advocacy Groups 84
Figure 2.8.12: Patient Advocacy Groups are Trusted Sources of Information 85
Figure 2.8.13: High-Impact PR Campaigns Relate the Medical Condition to the Consumer 86
Figure 2.8.14: Employ PR Tools to Help Patients Access Their Personal Risk 87
Figure 2.8.15: Online Patient Advocacy, Websites and Blogs Make Impact in Oncology 88
Figure 2.8.16: Oncology Groups Favor Online CME, Branded Sites for Reaching Physicians 89
Figure 2.9.1: Start Early with Thought Leader Education and Services 90
Figure 2.9.2: Oncology Thought Leaders are Developed Significantly Earlier 91
Figure 2.9.3: Benchmark Start Periods – MedEd Ramps Up in Phase II / Latter Phase III 92
Figure 2.9.4: Oncology Segment Education Begins Earlier Than Benchmark 93
Figure 2.9.5: Patient Education and Advocacy Most Often Start in Latter Phase III 94
Figure 2.9.6: Oncology Segment Educates Earlier Than Benchmark Class 95
Figure 2.9.7: Engage Payers Early and Maintain Relations Through Launch 96
Figure 2.9.8: Oncology Segment Initiates Payer Activities Earlier than Other Therapeutic Areas 97
Figure 2.10.1: Oncology Market Education Emphasizes Physicians and Payers 98
Figure 2.10.2: Oncology Targeting Sequences Specialists – PCPs – Nurses 99