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New Drug Entry into a Flat Market: An International Pharmaceutical Company

The Situation

Development strategies in ethical pharmaceuticals commonly take decades. The high levels of investment to bring a new drug to the market mean that marketing strategies must be founded on excellent marketing intelligence. Our client, an established international pharmaceutical company, wanted to capitalize on its strong industry positioning and launch a product into a therapy area - hypertension - a totally new area for Our client, and a market which was at the time experiencing extremely slow growth.

Vital to the success of our client's new venture was the comparison of hypertension in five European countries - Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK. The knowledge gained would allow a positive, informed strategic marketing plan to be put into place to launch the new brand across Europe. Our client research study needed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the prescribing dynamics and decision-making processes of the hypertension market across Europe, as well as:

1. Determine the extent to which patient type influences the decision to prescribe a specific drug class

2. Understand the hypertension market in terms of awareness and usage of different brands by GPs and hospital specialists

3. Quantify and prioritize the reasons why doctor initiate specific anti-hypertensive

4. Explore doctors' reactions to a potential new brand and to identify its advantages and disadvantages compared to current brands

The Process

Our client (Europe) commissioned a two-stage program comprising qualitative and quantitative research. In order to acquire the benchmarks necessary for the quantitative element, our client chose Wability™ for its multi-client hypertension study.

The Result

As hypertension is a very common condition, physicians prescribe a large number of anti-hypertensives. The Wability study determined the factors behind the physician's reasons for choice of class and brand of anti-hypertensive, including the severity and type of symptoms of the patient, as well as the cost of the product. In most of the markets analyzed, even the leading brands have a

relatively small market share of initiations, as physicians have a large number of brands in their repertoire. Competition between brands is therefore extremely tough and fractional increases in market share are aggressively sought after.

Reasons for Choice

The key drivers of choice in the hypertension market were analyzed in all five countries and were grouped together in the following categories:

1. Patient type

2. Simple dosing/mono-therapy

3. Familiarity

4. Side effect profile

5. Perceived severity of hypertension

Key differences in the physician's motivation for brand selection were identified from country to country, and physicians had varying perceptions of the same brands across Europe. As a result, a pan-European launch strategy would require detailed and creative marketing Corporate heritage, so often a significant factor in ethical pharmaceutical marketing, was also important in the hypertension market. Since our client was not well known in the cardiovascular arena in Europe, it was possible that this issue could slow the uptake of its potential new brand.

European Diversity

Wability found that brand differentiation varied markedly across countries. Amlor, the leading brand in France, one of the newer calcium antagonists, had been heavily promoted and had established a solid positioning in the market.

In Germany, physicians tended to distinguish between brands to a greater extent than the more traditional, conservative UK doctors where two older and cheaper generic brands dominated. The marketing strategy for any new brand would therefore need to address these international differences.

1. Cardio-protective

2. Feel comfortable prescribing

3. Simple dosage regime

4. Reduces risk of M.I.

5. Suitable for Concomitant H.F

6. Recommended by consultants

7. Suitable for diabetics

8. Lowers diastolic B.P.

9. Offers long-term control

10. Improves quality of life

11. Suitable for young hypertensives

12. Suitable for asthmatics

13. Suitable for angina

14. Cost competitive

15. Gently lowers B.P.

his list shows that doctors in the UK had a very different view of the brand from the rest of the market.

Room for Improvement

The Wability study identified the improvements physicians said they would most like to see made to their favorite brands. This information highlighted potential areas where our client brand might build specific unique selling points in each country. Matching the potential strengths of the brand with the perceived unmet needs of the physician provided important clues for a successful brand launch platform. Also, good promotion of a new brand's strengths which are aligned with the key reasons for choice, are likely to give the brand greater differentiation in the marketplace, thereby contributing to increased market share. Identifying gaps in a crowded marketplace The Wability study showed that the market for ethical anti-hypertensives was very crowded. Strong competitive pressures existed within all classes. However, it was felt that our client's potential new brand possessed some very useful attributes to make it successful. These attributes were clearly identified and analyzed in the study. Findings and recommendations were reported back to our client. The company subsequently incorporated these findings into its marketing and clinical development plans.

Wability Pharmaceutical Project Synopsis

1. Led strategy project team in the development of a product launch sales strategy which coordinated customer driven market opportunities, face-to face sales call activity and existing relationships with physicians into new business opportunities.
    

2. Develop effective and coordinated sales strategies through the development and implementation of strategic leadership programs, providing the field sales force with a sense of ownership and accountability. This program resulted in an eight percent increase in sales one year after implementation.
    

3. Construct a Sales Force revitalization strategy for a client whose major product line emphasis had gone unchanged for more than five years.
    

4. Perform an analysis of prescription volume and market share dynamics from both Direct and Indirect Sales. This analysis led the organization to better understand their Market Share Dynamics and their Rx achievement by prescribers and sales force.
    

5. Led project teams in developing customized sales training programs for both new and existing products for several pharmaceutical and biotechnology sales organizations
    

6. Develop and assists with rollout for key launch activities as well as product launch promotions and post launch sales and marketing activities for a major pharmaceutical company.
    

7. Assist a major pharmaceutical company in compiling market research and integrating it into the development of an overall marketing strategy.
    

8. Develop a well-documented compensation bonus and compensation plan for a new drug. This plan was presented at a launch meeting in order to spur enthusiasm within the field sales force.
    

9. Led a project team to analyze and reconfigure call frequency patterns to optimize contact with top per-scribers.
    

10. Organize medical symposia for thought leaders including the development of training programs to help sharpen communications skills of thought leaders.
     

11. Plan and implement a large variety of Medical Education Events. One such event was aimed at addressing patient compliance issues for a drug, which required daily self-injection.
     

12. Develop a sales training program for Formulary Opportunity Management for a global pharmaceutical company.
     

13. Develop and assist a major pharmaceutical organization with rollout for key launch activities as well as product launch promotions and post launch sales and marketing activities.