Integrated Life Cycle Patient Access Solutions that Maximize Brand ROI

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1 Integrated Life Cycle Patient Access Solutions that Maximize Brand ROI August, 2013 Bob Hastings Vice President of Marketing

2 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.

3 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.

4 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 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 prelaunch 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.

5 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. By partnering with the brand launch team early in the product lifecycle, the patient access provider has the capability of providing appropriate solution offerings to create awareness, trial and usage of the new medication. There are very specific needs and challenges for the patient to gain access to the pharmaceutical product at this critical early stage of launch. These strategic components reside at the point of care, point of sale, and patient access solutions. Additionally, it s critically important for these patient access tactics to align around the brand objective during that stage of the life cycle. Strategies and tactics must center around the goal of the brand. For example, at launch if the brand goal is trial, it s critically important for the point of sale solution to complement the point of care solution. If not, we see the current obstacle for success Rx switching and / or abandonment. Product Launch Phase Brand Introduction to the Marketplace: By partnering with the client in the beginning stages of the product life-cycle, the patient access partner gains invaluable perspective and insight into the brand goals, strategies and tactics but most importantly has a line of sight into the cadence of the company, brand and what has worked (or what needed to be changed). Effectively, the partner has positioned themselves as a subject matter expert to the brand. Hence, the transition into the next phase of the brand lifecycle is smooth, strategic and focused. Consider the value that a patient access partner delivers to a brand if there is a performance based incentive aligned to the brand vendor relationship. Further, consider the impact this relationship will have on innovative problem solving, customer service and overall accountability to brand goals.

6 Figure 1. Product Lifecycle Product Sales Pre-Launch Launch Growth Maturity Patient Expiry Post-Launch Product Growth Phase In transitioning brand strategies and tactics from the launch phase (trial) to the growth phase (adoption), it s critically important to have tactical alignment. For large brands that are moving tactical decisions to Centers of Excellence or small brands who are dealing with headcount limitations, the vendor / partner relationship can navigate effective and efficient transitions in tactical execution. Isn t it more effective for the brand transitioning from launch to growth phase to leverage the knowledge of their access partner to align launch tactics (co pay, trial voucher, prior auth, point of sale) with growth tactics (adjusting value Co-pay, adherence, point of sale). Fine-tuned targeting opportunities should be employed regarding adherence and persistence of patients continuation on therapy. As public awareness of the medication increases sales, current tactics may also need to be adjusted to maintain product accessibility. In support of ROI as well as focused tactical execution, an argument can made for pre and post implementation analytics. For many years, there has been a surprisingly low level of activity related to the demonstration of the return on investment of patient access programs, voucher programs, and the like. To some degree, this was probably because the answer seemed axiomatic: Of course these programs generate ROI because more prescriptions are being written. On its face, this is correct, but is it the right question? In order to evaluate a promotional tactic, we must consider a set of related, but distinct measures including spillover prescribing (also known as the halo effect ) and its opposite, cannibalization; the velocity of the uptake of redemptions, the effectiveness of the offer, and the change in patient persistency. And of course, none of these measures is particularly easy to assess without having a sophisticated analytic structure in place. Thereby, utilizing behavioral analytics to evaluate patient access tactics that includes customized ad hoc reporting, patient out of pocket price sensitivities and prescriber behavior will assist in maintaining patient loyalty, adherence, retention, pull-through as driving market share with a positive ROI is the goal of every brand

7 Loyalty Product Maturity Phase As illustrated in Figure 1, the products that transition beyond the launch and growth stages tend to spend longest period of time in the maturity phase. Sales grow at a decreasing rate and eventually stabilize. Brand teams attempt to differentiate products when the market becomes crowded. At this stage, it is imperative that pharmacy access solution providers collaborate with their brand teams utilizing a consultative approach to identify solutions to maintain ROI. Utilizing customized analyses to assist with strategic decisions is critical at this important stage of the product lifecycle. Additionally, pharmacy access solutions become more micro-targeted in an effort to expand into areas of the market that weren t explored in the growth phase. Patent Expiry Phase Prior to the patent expiration phase of the brands life-cycle, it is important for pharmacy access providers and the brand team to collaborate on developing strategic and tactical plans for transitioning the product through this phase. At this point in the product life-cycle there may be a downturn in product sales approaching patent expiration. In addition, more innovative, competitive products may be introduced and prescribing habits may have changed. There may be intense competition from competitors along with pricing pressure from generics. Thereby, Loss of Exclusivity strategies designed to flatten the patent cliff by focusing on patient brand adherence solutions can provide dividends in the post-patent phase of the product life-cycle. Limitations It is important for marketing managers to understand the limitations of the life-cycle model. It is difficult for marketing management to gauge accurately where a product is on its life cycle. A rise in sales may not necessarily show evidence of growth. Conversely, a fall in sales does not typify a decline in growth. Because of these limitations, strict adherence to a life-cycle marketing model can lead a company to misleading objectives and strategy decisions. In reality very few products follow such a prescriptive cycle. The length of each stage varies enormously and brand strategy decisions can change at any stage. However, with an deep understanding of the clients life-cycle profile, a pharmacy access solution provider can launch the right life-cycle marketing programs to reach out and expand value across your entire customer base.

8 Marketing Customer Success The single common denominator for all of traditional and value-added pharmacy access solution strategies is customer success. The added value and the differentiating power of each strategy lie in its goal of reaching beyond the traditional definition of the core business of Co-pay programs. Conclusion: As mentioned earlier, the benefits of a comprehensive pharmacy access solution program includes increased sales through patient adherence, reduced cost, and improved patient access to medications. By considering a complete pharmacy access solution package, pharmaceutical brand teams can take advantage of the synergistic integration of the individual solutions and increased buying efficiencies while decreasing costs, all of which adds up to a higher value proposition for the brand. The TrialCard Integrated Life-Cycle System Over the past 12 years, TrialCard has been the unsurpassed leader in innovative pharmacy access solutions. Our first to market programs include The TrialCard Integrated Life-Cycle System combining a customized package of solutions to assist pharmaceutical brand teams achieve its goals from Launch to Loss of Exclusivity. The TrialCard Integrated Life-Cycle System offers the synergistic benefits of the system s core range of pharmacy access elements combined with our highly-customized brand performance solutions such as strategic intelligence, data analytics and ROI analysis.

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11 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 manufactures achieve their goals with prescribers, patients, and pharmacists. For more information on TrialCard, please visit