Within the rapidly changing, highly competitive biotechnology industry, strategic PR pros must initiate strategic programs early enough to ensure that product outcomes match investor and medical community expectations.
They must also find and target the right influencers that will help companies position their products within the crowded biotechnology and pharmaceutical arena.
The new-product-approval process has been expedited due, in large part, to exciting scientific and research progress, improved regulatory processes and constructive patient advocacy group involvement. However, faster approvals mean less time for companies to maximize product launches.
Since sales performance of six to 12 months post-launch is generally considered critical to long-term product success, significant groundwork - particularly with the category thought leaders - must be done 18 to 24 months prior to launch or a company may never catch up.
A Disciplined Plan for Success
The earlier a company puts a disciplined process in place, the more buy-in it can achieve among key constituencies. Upon completion of successful Phase II trials, PR professionals and biotechnology companies must initiate and establish credible relationships with physician thought leaders, professional organizations, and advocacy groups.
These audiences are key communicators for any company and are essential to enriching a potential new product's claim structure. They also are vital to extending a product's lifecycle and increasing a brand's ROI. The right cadre of outside spokespeople can help ensure accurate, effective mass media coverage.
Consumer advocacy groups also are thought leaders. Advocates are typically viewed by government officials, the medical community and consumers as powerful healthcare resources. When advocates are kept informed throughout the stages of product development, they can help recruit clinical trial participants, actively communicate with the company and its physician thought leaders and ultimately maximize product adoption.
Once a thought leader/advocacy effort has been implemented, targeted scientific dissemination of clinical and pharmaco-economic data should begin.
Communicating this information via PR avenues helps align key stakeholders around important scientific messages, which boosts the product's awareness in the scientific community, the media and the public.
Spheres of Influence
It is important to increase a company's thought leader pool beyond the investigators.
Through a "spheres of influence" process, biotech companies can identify and profile individuals who will be crucial to the drug's perception among supporters and critics.
This process identifies which influencers serve on editorial boards of national and regional journals, as well as those affiliated with prominent research centers.
It identifies physicians who are department chairs, speak at national and regional meetings on given topics, and serve on HMO and government reimbursement boards.
Most importantly, it identifies what other people think about your product and what communication challenges you can expect to achieve.
Spheres of in-fluence also provide a close analysis of an important indivi-dual's professional background, activities, associations and areas of special or personal interest. This information helps:
- develop product positioning;
- identify concerns and challenges likely to be raised;
- build on areas of personal interest that could create a platform for brand support;
- reach physicians with key messages;
- cultivate new spokespeople and/or relationships; and
- identify issues that can be advanced through a publication strategy.
Once this analysis is done, follow-up with short- and long-term PR efforts.
Compressed approval times and diminished market exclusivity means getting it right... the first time.
PR professionals can help biotechnology companies do that by starting programs early in a product's life, reaching the right influencers in the marketplace and by thoroughly understanding the unique pressures in this volatile industry.
Ilyssa Levins is chairman and CEO of GCI Healthcare, a global full-service healthcare agency in New York. She is responsible for global new business development, new ventures and acquisitions and worldwide marketing.
She can be reached at 212/886-3500.
Her co-author for this column is Paul Laland, SVP and director of GCI Healthcare.