Integrated Life Cycle
Patient Access Solutions
that Maximize Brand ROI
August 2013
Bob Hastings
Vice President of Marketing
Contact:
Mark Droke
Senior Vice President,
Business Development
[email protected]
919-415-3341
trialcard.com
Integrated Life Cycle Patient Access Solutions
that Maximize Brand ROI
Pharmaceutical brand marketers are facing a paradigm shift in the way they market patient access
solutions. As they navigate through the dynamics of a regionalized market, shrinking budgets and the
challenges of tactical implementation, they require a consultative relationship with vendor providers.
Can the pharmaceutical marketer really rely on one (1) vendor to deliver customized, innovative
solutions over the life of their brand?
What is Life-Cycle Marketing?
The life-cycle of a pharmaceutical brand ranges from a detailed pre-launch stage and transitions through
launch, growth, maturity and a patent expiration. Because of a relatively short time window for
pharmaceutical brands to recoup the high-cost of research and development, it is imperative for brand
teams to employ specific marketing strategies during the entire life-cycle of the brand to drive market
share and recover their expenditures.
The concept of product life-cycle marketing is a series of marketing strategies used by many pharmaceutical
companies set in place to maximize brand performance over the course of its life-cycle. Specifically, the
life-cycle refers to the commercial management of a product with respect to brand goals, strategies,
tactics, costs and overall return on investment (ROI). Life-cycle marketing integrates people, data and
business systems to provide a product information backbone for companies and their extended brand
enterprise. The internal and external variables associated with brand promotion changes over time. In
order to maximize ROI the employment of strategies and tactics must follow suit. The challenge to effectively
implement a life-cycle strategy lies in the fact that traditional marketing strategies are segmented by
brand life-cycle, inherent changes to personnel and changes to corporate revenue needs. Subsequently,
today’s brand is required to deliver year over year results while navigating a non-integrated life cycle.
Over its life cycle, the traditional brand is managed by an average of 20 brand managers, has been
asked to deliver 15 different goals and has 25 different sets of budget. This does not consider the
impact associated with multiple changes in corporate and therapeutic leadership. In light of this, we
have to ask ourselves where anchor tenants for brand success reside.
Pharmaceutical Brand Partnership with
Patient Access Providers
You’re probably asking yourself if you read the previous heading correctly…. A patient access vendor
is the answer to the brand’s lifecycle needs? Yes, if the vendor has the insight and perspective into
the brands needs as well as the innovative muscle to supply a pipeline of solutions throughout a
brands lifecycle.
Patient access is no longer a one size fits all challenge. The ideal patient access partner must have an
in-depth level of experience in providing innovative solutions that span across the life-cycle of the brand.
They must also have a culture where the client needs are a corporate focal point. Consider the breadth
and depth of experience a patient access provider has in working with 200+ brands and 300+ programs
over the span of 12 years and you will quickly conclude that the patient access provider is, in fact a
perfect lifecycle partner.
Consider brand needs and goals for the 3 phases of its lifecycle, launch (= trial), growth (= loyalty), and
maturity (= loyalty and preparation for LOE). Further, innovative problem solving must answer the needs
of the prescriber / point of care, the pharmacist / point of sale and the patient / access to prescribed
therapy. Overlay the challenges associated with a wide diversity of managed care formulary coverage,
prior authorization, adherence and compliance and year on year achievement of forecast and it sets up
a need for a consistent contributor who successfully navigates challenges and provides solutions.
Equally important is a patient access solution provider who can partner with the brand team to provide
a robust offering of data and analytical services. These may include the ability to conduct regional co-pay
analyses, ROI studies, MD targeting, price elasticity and persistence reports. A comprehensive suite of
analytical solutions coupled with highly-experienced patient access professionals will deliver significant
results for the pharmaceutical brand for the life of the product.
Partnering With the Pharmaceutical Brand Manager
The brand manager – vendor relationship must take the shape of a full scale partnership. Consider the
fact that Brand managers are charged with initiating trial (launch), generating loyalty (maturity) and
ultimately creating pull-through after the prescription is written which ultimately drives market share
and revenue growth. Overlay the number of changes in brand personnel and you see a non-integrated
and or incongruent development of brand strategies and tactical execution. Unless the provider is fully
engaged as a problem solving partner, there is likelihood that tactical support will be short lived and
deliver low results and even lower ROI. Utilizing a vendor / brand consultative approach incorporates a
client – provider philosophy which includes considerable knowledge of the pharmaceutical brand
marketing strategy, brand goals (launch – maturity), marketplace, product pricing, positioning and
competitors within the marketplace. Patient access providers along with brand managers will benefit
by regularly meeting, planning and consulting to discuss strategic initiatives designed to drive market
share, improve patient access to their brands and provide a positive return on investment.
Thereby, a typical pharmaceutical brand manager
is interested in solution providers who:
• Offer comprehensive, innovative, time tested, product and service packages
• Functions as a subject matter expert within their own business space
• Assist in solving secondary problems directly related to the product
or service being purchased
• Are creative, forward thinking and continuously develop new and
innovative ideas year after year
• Maintain the brand managers budget
• Understand the pharmaceutical industries’ corporate guidelines
and the ability to pass medical, legal, regulatory scrutiny
• Maintain an targeted ROI for the duration of the strategy
Integrated Life Cycle Patient Access Solutions
that Maximize Brand ROI
Strategies for the Different Stages of the Product Life-Cycle
The product life-cycle of a typical pharmaceutical product is somewhat similar to other consumer products
in the marketplace. However, as illustrated in Figure 1 below, the addition of a pre-launch phase assists
the pharmacy access provider to offer valuable information and strategies to the client prior to launch.
Pre-Launch Phase
Once a commercial marketing team is assembled prior to approval, strategy meetings take place to
identify the market prior to launch. Included in those pre-launch strategy sessions are insight into
best practices designed to address managed care access, competitive positioning, pricing, physician
and patient behavioral change. These life-cycle marketing strategies also include an effort to maintain medication adherence for the patient.
The patient access provider’s value is represented in the insight, perspective and overall experience
across comparable markets, brands and therapeutic areas. Thereby, the best opportunity to develop
a life-cycle solution strategy is to partner with the pharmaceutical launch team prior to their brand
receiving their label from the FDA. This partnering opportunity can occur as early as 6-12 months
prior to the launch of the brand. This long runway allows the patient access provider to partner with
the pharmaceutical brand team as a strategic subject matter expert in the area of patient access
management for the duration of the products life-cycle. By partnering with customers in the early
stage of the product approval process, pharmacy access providers can design a comprehensive
life-cycle plan to assist physicians and patients in gaining access to medications.
Additionally, the pre-launch phase allows
the patient access provider to:
• Share best practices
• Review pharmacy solutions from similar products
• Identify the patient base
• Evaluate socio-economic factors
• Weigh geographic segmentation
• Assess competitors
• Project return on investment
About TrialCard Incorporated
TrialCard Incorporated provides a comprehensive portfolio of Marketing
for Patient Access, Prescription Abandonment, HUB/Reimbursement,
Analytics, and Customer Experience Management.
Since opening its doors in 2001, TrialCard has been awarded nine
patents related to the processing and marketing of patient access
programs. TrialCard is the largest provider of patient access programs
in the industry, processing over $1 billion in patient benefits per year
to help brand manufacturers achieve their goals with prescribers,
patients, and pharmacists.
For more information on TrialCard, please visit www.trialcard.com.
Contact:
Mark Droke
Senior Vice President, Business Development
[email protected]
919-415-3341
trialcard.com