[Ip-health] "Launching Pharmaceutical Megabrands: Best Practices in Marketing Blockbusters"

[Mike Palmedo]

The full text of this meant-for-industry report costs A LOT of money,
though the 10 page summary is free (after filling out an online order
form) here: http://www3.best-in-class.com/rr295.htm

A big part of the trick to launching a Megabrand seems to be to have
your marketing team involved in R&D decisions...
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Launching Pharmaceutical Megabrands: Best Practices in Marketing
Blockbusters
(Executive Summary)

BenchmarkingReports.com,
a service of Best Practices LLP.

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KEY FINDINGS -

DEVELOP A STRONG PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN R&D AND MARKETING TO BALANCE
THERAPEUTIC INNOVATION WITH A COMMERCIAL FOCUS

Benchmark partners emphasize the challenge of aligning clinical
discovery and development with evolving market
needs to create real value for both the company and patients. This
growing imperative requires pharmaceutical
companies to break down the walls that have traditionally separated R&D
from marketing, and instead form a
partnership that leverages the strengths of both talented medical
researchers and skillful marketers. According to
this study, companies that consistently launch blockbuster drugs foster
a culture that actively supports productive
medical and marketing collaborations. Marketing staff and research
scientists at these companies coordinate their
efforts as early as the pre-clinical phase. By developing and sharing
clear goals and accountability, they create a
transparent decision-making process. They communicate frequently to
identify new market opportunities,
evaluate competitive positioning and address product development issues.
This ongoing collaboration bridges the
gap between breakthrough scientific discoveries and commercial
potential, enabling top-performing companies to
target and develop compounds with a high market demand and clear
competitive edge, leading to rapid sales
uptake.
* *
COORDINATE CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAMS, STRUCTURES AND PROCESSES TO OPTIMIZE
A NEW PRODUCT=92S SPEED TO MARKET PENETRATION
* *
Top-performing companies extend the partnership between R&D and
marketing throughout the entire
organization. Increasingly, they employ cross-functional teams to
enhance both the efficiency and effectiveness of
the development and launch process for new drugs. Cross-functional
teamwork allows benchmark partners to
compress development cycle-time, increasing a product=92s speed to market
through close coordination of efforts
and earlier resolution of downstream problems (e.g. regulatory approval,
manufacturing capacity, sales force
support). It is also valuable to develop a well-rounded product launch
strategy by leveraging the knowledge and
capabilities of diverse teams (market research, competitive
intelligence, medical affairs, disease management,
finance, strategic planning, public relations, etc.).

Despite these benefits, making cross-functional teams work often
presents a major challenge. Best-in-class
companies take a multi-pronged approach to managing and coordinating
cross-functional teams. They carefully
select the right mix of experience, skills and personalities to promote
a dynamic exchange of varied perspectives.
They recruit team leaders who demonstrate strong project management and
interpersonal skills as well as technical
expertise. While managing phase-to-phase transition seamlessly through
early planning and retention of core team
members, they also time the involvement of different functional areas
based on the specific needs of each
development phase. Additionally, best-in-class companies deploy robust
technologies that enable rapid
information sharing. They increase the ease and frequency of
face-to-face communication through co-location and
regular meetings. Critical to the success of a cross-functional approach
is senior management=92s commitment and
support. Executives at the highest level play an important role by
transcending organizational boundaries and
rallying around shared corporate objectives and strategies. They also
create an incentive system that rewards and
recognizes collaborative innovation.

EMPLOY BROAD-BASED MARKET RESEARCH BEGINNING IN THE PRE-CLINICAL PHASE
TO DRIVE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT, POSITIONING AND MARKET ACCEPTANCE

Market research has always been a cornerstone of market sizing and
forecasting. Increasingly, market research is
also becoming an integral part of ensuring that clinical development is
anchored in market needs. According to
this study, top-performing benchmark partners conduct a wide spectrum of
market research from pre-clinical to
post-launch. At each development phase, market research provides
critical market data and insights that drive
informed decisions ranging from the target product profile to clinical
trial design, competitive positioning to
branding and Phase IV studies. Most notably, best-in-class companies are
increasingly employing consumer
market research tools to help them understand patient attitudes,
behaviors and perspectives. Patient-focused
market research often uncovers areas that could potentially affect a
drug=92s position in the market. For example,
some patients may suffer symptoms for years without ever seeking
treatment. Others may receive the wrong
diagnosis or treatment. Still others may fail to comply with the
treatment their doctor prescribes. When top
companies incorporate these research findings into their development
process, they can create new drugs with
more patient-friendly dosage regimens and delivery systems, or increase
value perception by bundling a new
product with powerful diagnostic tools and educational programs.

MANAGE ALL THOUGHT LEADER SEGMENTS TO SHAPE COMMERCIALLY FOCUSED
PRODUCTS AND ENSURE OPTIMAL MARKET IMPACT

Benchmark partners stress the importance of managing thought leader
development as an integrated, multi-phased
process. They describe a new era in which the most sophisticated thought
leader management systems segment
key influencers and involve each group in different activities during
the evolving stages of drug development.
Most companies prioritize thought leaders by hierarchy of impact (global
vs. continent or country unit). Some
now distinguish research-focused thought leaders from patient-focused
thought leaders, involving both in the
development process to ensure diverse perspectives. A few benchmark
companies already engage non-physician
thought leaders (such as representatives from payers and patient
advocacy groups) in the new product development
and launch process. Companies seek to tailor their efforts, activities
and relationship investments to match the
value of each thought leader segment and to reflect the roles of each
segment at different points in time. Such an
integrated approach ensures that companies optimize their resources and
effectively build relationships with the
most influential thought leaders who can help shape clinical
development, market positioning, brand development
and market acceptance.

ALIGN MARKETING RESOURCES TO PROVIDE EARLY, ONGOING AND CONSISTENT
SUPPORT THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND LAUNCH CYCLE

All benchmark partners recognize the need to commit sufficient and
consistent marketing resources for a highpotential
product throughout all phases of the product development process.
According to this study, companies
that launch blockbusters share a set of common characteristics in their
marketing investment patterns. First, they
begin to allocate marketing resources for a new compound as early as the
pre-clinical phase. Although the
marketing spend during early phases is relatively low (less than $8
million on average between pre-clinical and
Phase II), marketing staff does conduct crucial market research that
helps identify unmet medical needs, market
opportunities and competitive issues =96 key components that drive early
market assessment and product profile
development. Secondly, top performers spend gradually and selectively on
high impact pre-marketing activities to
create awareness, demand and preferences for their new products. These
companies understand that rapid sales
uptake is a consequence of cumulative marketing investment over several
years rather than extravagant spending
in a single year. They also believe what matters most is not how much
money companies spend on marketing, but
how well they spend it. Carefully targeting those activities with the
highest impact on a new drug=92s success in the
market, best-in-class marketers invest heavily in thought leader and
advocacy group development, medical
publications, health outcomes studies, pricing studies, and sampling at
the time of product launch. Finally, top
performers have developed a rigorous resource allocation process that
enables them to identify early winners and
prioritize resources accordingly.

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