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Dr. Andree K. Bates outlines what oncology marketers need to do to ensure commercial success

By Dr Andree Bates on Jan 25, 2012

The majority of pharmaceutical and biotech companies have one or more oncology products either launched or in their pipeline. Given that the global oncology market is large and continues to grow, this is not surprising. IMS predict that the oncology market will be at $80 billion in global sales this year.  IMS further predicts that the market will remain the top therapy area by share value through to 2020. Good news for companies with an oncology portfolio.

However, the market is now maturing and despite the fact that many of the products on the market (or entering the market) are transforming the prognosis of cancer patients (in terms of improved quality of life, delayed disease progression, helping prolong survival for patients), the commercial challenges are becoming more complex and difficult for marketers in this field.

Clearly, a significant challenge—and a relatively new one—is the fact that the market is becoming crowded. This is therefore creating a host of challenges in terms of

·      rising R&D costs as an R&D arms race grows momentum;

·      many molecules are being submitted for one type of niche cancer but then additional submissions are being made for label extensions for use in other higher incidence indications, which has implications for ensuring the company/brand team  have the right indication sequencing strategy for optimal success for the brand;

·      approval becoming more difficult as tougher criteria are applied;

·      payers having more choice and therefore seeking more control of cost, which will continue to become an issue of cost/benefit demonstration;

·      biosimilars expected to be launched in oncology in 2013;

·      physicians becoming more selective in their choice of drug so more time and money must be spent ensuring that your competitive driver advantages are known to them;

·      heavy competition means more sales and marketing resources required to promote the products;

·      heavy competition means that drugs are not growing as much as hoped and ROI is not as good as expected.

So, what do oncology marketers need to do to ensure success? Here are six top line thoughts.

1. Plan the indication launch sequencing carefully

Examine the possible indications, clinical end-points needed, product differentiation, competition analysis, and size of market in order to make the optimal decision. Instead of simply going for the biggest market, analyse the payers and unmet need perceptions carefully when determining which markets to focus on.

2. Get rapid approval

Every day wasted waiting for approval is costing the company significantly! In order to do this, one must ensure that the clinical end points are focused on the things that will lead to approval

You need to know what is driving the specific approvals in your oncology area and market. This does differ depending on payer perceptions around unmet needs in the relevant market segment and country. But in general, ‘prolonging overall survival’ endpoints will hold power in all markets (therapeutic and country). Other clinical endpoints, such as ‘prolonging progression-free survival’, ‘obtaining a patient response’ and ‘improving quality of life’, while important to the patient and their physician are less likely to hold sway when determining approval in many markets.

3. Ensure you are focused on the best segment for success

Some companies have found the use of biomarkers for segmentation of the responsive population is a winning strategy. This strategy means that the clinical endpoints will be stronger and a higher price could be commanded, although developing biomarkers can add significant costs, which need to be analyzed in terms of physicians use, who will pay for the cost of the biomarker, who will develop it and so on. (For more on biomarkers, see Biomarkers and oncology forecasting: How to hit a moving target; for more on health economics, see Health economics data and market access.)

4. Secure the most favourable market access conditions

Ensure you keep in mind factors such as changes to provision of health insurance, pharmaceutical pricing, reimbursement, cost containment, and health technology assessment.

5. Ensure your marketing is focused on the right physicians

Focus on physicians who are more likely to reap higher rewards by employing a strong targeting strategy rather than targeting every oncologist.

6. Analyze the impact of your promotional programs

In oncology, there are fewer sales and marketing drivers than in more promotionally sensitive markets. Typically in oncology, there are very few channels driving prescribing compared with other therapeutic areas. Ensure that your team is only putting money into those channels that will reap strong rewards financially for their brands.

Dr. Andree K. Bates, a regular contributor to eyeforpharma, is CEO of Eularis, which applies analytics to determine the sales impact of marketing programs.

For more Dr. Bates’ Talkback, see How to get more value from existing products, Sales force effectiveness in the Japanese market, Building brands and boosting sales with Twitter, How to mount an effective defense against generics, and How corporate social responsibility boosts business.

For more on oncology and market access, join the sector’s key players at Oncology Market Access USA on Feb 14-15 in Boston and Market Access Europe in May.

For exclusive business insights, download eyeforpharma's Pharma Emerging Markets Report 2011-12, Pharma Key Account Management Report 2011-12 and Pharma e-Marketing Strategy.

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