Hurdles upon hurdles: How to launch a pharma product during Covid-19
Pat Forsythe of Eisai discusses the pros and cons of launching a product during a pandemic (700 words, 4 minutes)
NPC Healthbiz Weekly is presented to you in cooperation with Peak Pharma Solutions
Launching a new product in the middle of Covid-19 is a daunting task, but while there are obvious challenges, veteran pharma exec Pat Forsythe suggests there are positives to the process.
Forsythe, the General Manager at Esai, gave a presentation on the positive and negative aspects of a product launch in the middle of a pandemic during the recent 14th National Pharmaceutical Congress.
Data presented by Forsythe showed new prescriptions are down 20 per cent, and prescription switches are down between 17 to 28 per cent during the pandemic.
“Imagine now you are launching a new product, and you are trying to create new prescriptions, you are trying to create switches from other drugs in a category. All these things are down during Covid-19, so there are some great difficulties,” Forsythe (photo below) acknowledged.
Another challenge is conducting sales tactics during a product launch in the middle of a pandemic. Traditionally, sales strategies during a product launch include reach, frequency and repetition. Forsythe notes that frequency and repetition are how adults learn and remember things. He adds sales tactics such as lunch-and-learns, among other strategies, are also difficult to carry out during the pandemic.
“Frequency and repetition are much harder to do in a virtual world; there's only so much access you can get through a Zoom call,” Forsythe explained. “It is not the same as face-to-face. Something any company is going to have to consider strongly is, ‘How are we going to do this?’ and still change behaviour which takes time, repetition and output for that behaviour change.”
While some sales tactics have become more difficult to implement during the pandemic, marketing strategies such as email campaigns, webinars, and social media campaigns are still easy to carry out during Covid-19, said Forsythe.
“Although we can speed some of these strategies up and do them a little easier during Covid-19, sometimes there is only so much [virtual interaction] people can take,” Forsythe said. “We are hearing a lot about Zoom fatigue and things like that.”
Forsythe is confident that a post-Covid world will see the return of some face-to-face interactions. He suggests physicians are among those who will return to the pre-Covid normal.
However, virtual strategies implemented during the pandemic are here to stay for the foreseeable future.
“Trust me, there will be people who return to normal,” he said. “But there's also going to be a lot of virtual as well. I think the key message here is that it's going to be a virtual world.”
He added it will be important for Pharma to improve virtual tactics since they will remain prevalent even in the new normal post-Covid.
The takeaway: Forsythe’s message to his industry colleagues is that if pharma wants to have access to customers, it will have to meet customer needs in the future. He added it is time for pharma to add value for customers.
“I know that we all try to add value to our customers, but customers don't always see pharma as adding value,” Forsythe said. “We need to make sure that customers say, ‘pharma adds value’ through training, education, through connecting with different healthcare professionals who have unique ideas and want to share them with their colleagues on improving the patient journey.”
Forsythe suggests that only by adding value to the health care professional’s goal of improving their patients’ lives will pharma retain the access it had pre-Covid.
Further reading: The folks at McKinsey & Company have a list of tips and strategies in their article ‘Ready for Launch: Reshaping Pharma’s Strategy in the Next Normal.’ Story here.
YOUR HEALTHBIZ WEEK 02/16/21
According to a Reuters report, Galapagos and its partner Gilead Sciences announced they would discontinue late-stage trials testing their experimental treatment ziritaxestat for patients with pulmonary fibrosis. An independent data committee concluded that the drug’s benefit-risk profile no longer supported continuing the studies. This is the second setback for the partners after Gilead’s decision not to pursue a U.S. approval for filgotinib, an experimental rheumatoid arthritis treatment.
A court battle over PCSK9 antibodies between Amgen and Sanofi and Regeneron has come to an end. Amgen lost its bid to uphold patent claims for its cholesterol drug, Repatha, against the rival drug Praluent, developed by Sanofi and Regeneron. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a 2019 decision from a lower federal court that invalidated Amgen’s asserted patent claims for PCSK9 (proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9) antibodies.
Josh Smiley, terminated by Eli Lilly terminated for inappropriate communications with employees, will weather more than just a blow to his reputation. The former CEO is also giving up $24 million in cash and equity payments. (All currency figures cited here are US dollars.) According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Smiley will forego $1 million of his cash bonus for 2020, as well as approximately $3 million in shareholder value awards that due from the past three years. Smiley is also giving up all of his other current and future awards as a result of his termination. Those financial awards, including the future earnings, are worth about $24 million.
Roche’s arthritis drug tocilizumab reduces the risk of death among patients hospitalized with severe Covid-19 and shortens the time to recovery, reducing the need for mechanical ventilation, results of a large trial showed. According to a Reuters report, the drugmaker is hoping the findings from the RECOVERY trial, which has been testing a range of potential treatments for COVID-19 since March 2020, will help clear up confusion about the potential benefits of tocilizumab for Covid-19 patients after previous mixed trial results.
NATIONAL PHARMA CONGRESS SPRING WEBINAR
As announced during the National Pharma Congress Winter Webinar, plans are in the works for a spring webinar scheduled for Wednesday, April 7, 2021. Be sure to subscribe to the NPC HealthBiz Weekly for updates on the winter meeting.
CANADIAN HEALTHCARE MARKETING HALL OF FAME
The Canadian Healthcare Marketing Hall of Fame awards were established in 2002 to honour healthcare marketers who have contributed to our avocation and are an inspiration to others.
More than 100 honourees have been selected during the past 18 years. In the selection committee's view, they stand for a representative cross-section of the qualities that make our business unique and fulfilling. Each week, NPC Healthbiz Weekly will acknowledge one past Hall of Fame Honouree.
2012 Inductee
Dominique Gilbert
Pfizer Canada
Montreal
Editor’s note: Dominique joined HLS Therapeutics in 2019, where he serves as the company’s Director of Market Access.
An economics degree and a broad range of experience in the pharmaceutical industry have prepared Dominique Gilbert, Senior Director, Market Access and Health Outcomes, Lundbeck Canada Inc., to fulfill his current role effectively. “I have solid sales and marketing experience, which is helpful in market access, and I have worked with people who know the clinical data,” explains Dominique, who has held his current title since 2005 and is also a member of the Canadian Management Team.
It is in Dominique’s nature to seek challenges: a francophone native of Chicoutimi, Que., he chose to study at York University in Toronto to immerse himself in an English-language environment and become bilingual.
After earning his Honours BA in economics, Dominique’s first experience in the pharmaceutical world was at Burroughs Wellcome Inc. He held several positions, including sales representative for primary care products and later for specialty products. He gained experience in the primary care and hospital spheres at Burroughs Wellcome Inc.
In Montreal, he sought a new challenge and became Product Manager at Lundbeck Canada Inc., a new subsidiary in the Lundbeck family, in 1995. Dominique likens the experience to being at a startup and developing all aspects of the business from scratch.
When he assumed the position of Marketing Manager at the Canadian subsidiary in 1997, Dominique became key in the launch and promotion of Celexa® (citalopram), a product that already had several strong competitors in the marketplace.
“Our objective was to get it approved and launched in Canada,” recalls Dominique, who notes the company grew quickly, developing a sales force to promote Celexa. “For a company our size, we had our work cut out for us.”
Celexa became one of the top three prescribed antidepressants nationally and a market leader in many provinces, notes Dominique.
“We were all very proud of what we were able to accomplish in such a challenging environment at the time,” declares Dominique.
Another big antidepressant launch followed with Cipralex® (escitalopram). Lundbeck Canada Inc. faced a more significant test with this launch, compared to Celexa, since the reimbursement environment changed with the introduction of the Common Drug Review process coupled with the genericization of antidepressant products. It was no longer sufficient to show the effectiveness of a drug if it was going to be prescribed, explains Dominique.
Lundbeck Canada Inc. responded to a more austere environment by building a market access and health outcomes team led by Dominique. This team of professionals provides the clinical evidence and pharmacoeconomic arguments to support the listing of medication on provincial formularies and its reimbursement by third-party payers.
“Payers are looking for efficacy data and value,” explains Dominique. “They want to know if the outcome is superior to what they are already paying for. In response, we endeavour to provide them with the best demonstration of value for money available to us so that they can make a proper assessment.”
New challenges are on the horizon for Dominique and his team as Lundbeck prepares to launch several new oncology products.
NEXT WEEK
The 02/23 edition of NPC Healthbiz Weekly will feature David Renwick, Vice President and General Manager at Emergent BioSolutions, on maintaining attention and awareness on the opioid crisis during Covid-19. It’s easy to get your no-charge subscription and have the issue sent to your phone or inbox each Tuesday at 6:00 a.m. sharp.
Stay safe, stay sure, and stay on your game. We’ll see you again next Tuesday.