Accurately positioning a treatment requires extensive pharma, healthcare and HCP market research
Providers of healthcare solutions have every interest to ensure that new solutions, once they have secured market access, are leveraged to their full potential.
Most specialised medicines require advanced technology and more expensive R&D (IQVIA 2024).
Of all treatments in the clinical study phase, only a limited proportion are approved for reimbursement (only 10% according to Sun et al. 2022).
Treatments for rare diseases and mutations have a limited target group.
Market Access in Pharma
Market access in pharma consist of much more than the commercial launch and HCP marketing. First, a product or treatment must go through strict research and testing to be approved for use and reimbursement. Only after the treatment has gained access to the pharma market, can the commercial launch take place.
Access to the Commercial Healthcare Market
Once treatments have been approved, they must be precisely positioned so that specialist HCPs can quickly apply them in situations where the treatment has clear patient benefits and competitive advantages. This is where pharma, healthcare and HCP market research comes in.
A successful launch requires a targeted commercial market access and communication strategy in three phases: pre-launch, launch, and post-launch. A thorough understanding of the pharma market, healthcare market, and the HCP market is necessary in order to accurately position the treatment, ensuring that it reaches the right audience. That understanding can only be gained through market research.
Generally, the three phases of a commercial pharma market access strategy consist of the following:
Pre-Launch
Focus on specialist drugs prescribed by doctors in a specific field, who actively seek information to make evidence-based decisions (Vakratsas and Wang, 2023). Therefore, it is crucial to facilitate specialists who gain experience through clinical studies and who share their experience with colleagues as key opinion leaders (KOLs). This can be done through presentations or scientific publications, which highlight both medical insights and organisational lessons learned (e.g. care planning, monitoring). Alongside specialists, the experience of patients is also important. Both sources help to define the unique characteristics of a new treatment, which form the backbone of the launch campaign.
Launch
In 2015, a German study revealed a remarkable shift in patient preferences regarding treatments: quality-of-life over longevity (Diederich and Salzmann). “Rather adding life to the years than adding years to the life.” At the same time, decision-making criteria and discourse among doctors are shifting from pure effectiveness to patient experience and quality of life. As a result, successful launches are primarily determined by patient-relevant communication. How do you express unique characteristics from the patient’s perspective?
Post-Launch
After the launch, it is important to confirm confidence in the new treatment by identifying information gaps and by adjusting rapidly. It is essential, for example, to create appropriate expectations regarding the method of administering a treatment and its monitoring. The same applies to anticipating and treating side effects.
Case Study
In our case study Lung Cancer – Insights into Medial Practice and Treatment Positioning, we showcase just how important market research is to successfully positioning a new treatment, both before and after the launch. It reveals the drivers and barriers experienced by HCPs and patients to continue, interrupt, or stop the treatment. With that information, improvements can be made to the marketing and communication strategy.
