The Death of “Blockbuster” Products: Micro Launches and a Data-driven Approach to Marketing with Indraneel Mukherjee, Associate Partner at ZS Associates

In this episode of Pharma Launch Secrets, Bozidar is joined by Indraneel Mukherjee, an Associate Partner at ZS Associates.

He discusses the biggest changes facing pharma companies launching products in the US pre-COVID and post-COVID. They delved into the concept of "blockbuster products" and how this concept is growing obsolete. He also talks about how Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) play a crucial role in determining how to negotiate contracts with Pharma companies.

They also cover the marketing strategy that pharma companies should use for new product launches, as well as crucial considerations when presenting a drug with numerous follow-up drugs in coming years, or whether it's a portfolio with indications, expansions, and multiple additional products.

They cover:

[ 00:01:02 ] - Biggest changes for pharma companies launching a product in the US three-four years ago versus today. These changes fall into two main categories. Firstly, the acceleration of a trend already existing before COVID and micro launches of twenty to thirty per calendar year, with each product generating a maximum of USD 200 to 300 million, replacing the concept of "blockbuster products" that will yield USD five-ten billion in sales

[ 00:03:48 ] - Selling, General & Administrative cost (SG&A). According to industry analysts, "twenty to thirty billion dollars of SG&A is going to be shrunk from pharma pockets over the next ten years" as micro launches become mainstream

[ 00:05:28 ] - Access to doctors. This involves "commercial and medical field forces" visiting doctors' offices and talking with them. About Thirty-three percent of the access lost due to COVID has been regained

[ 00:05:47 ] - Digital access. Undoubtedly, the proliferation of digital channels has boosted traffic, but this does not necessarily imply an increase in impact because "what you do with digital is more significant than the frequency with which you approach customers with digital"

[ 00:08:45 ] - The approach to a great commercial launch strategy. Your commercialization and launch strategy is predicated on the answers to these questions; "Who are the patients? Why do they need the product? Who are the target doctors? When and where would they use the product, and is the product solving an unmet need in the patient journey, or is it a me-too?"

[ 00:11:00 ] - "The biggest struggle is to help pharma understand that it is not about their product"

[ 00:11:38 ] - For more launches to be successful, marketing teams must shift their focus from the product to the patient

[ 00:12:25 ] - Seven out of ten times, the discussion begins with the product, the Target Patient Population (TPP) for the product, and its value proposition. Then, stakeholders are introduced to sell the product

[ 00:14:28 ] - Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) play a crucial role in determining how to negotiate contracts with Pharma companies and the reimbursement landscape. The recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation to determine if PBMs are monopolizing healthcare in the US might change the equation for Pharma companies moving forward

[ 00:19:49 ] - "Commercial-medical collaboration needs to significantly increase in pharma; commercial-medical teams need to go to the customer universe and start to educate them about current treatment modalities and gaps in the treatment modalities, and begin to educate physicians on what can theoretically change and should happen much earlier; twenty-four to thirty months ahead, even when the asset is in phase three trial"

[ 00:22:01 ] - Marketing needs to be data-driven. "You cannot come up with all these permutations and combinations in terms of when and how to deploy content to each physician in a personalized manner without being highly data-driven and technology-led"

[ 00:35:31 ] - If you don't have the following; the speed of creating new content, data analytics competencies to figure out what physicians are looking for at any level, and the ability to pull through from a pricing reimbursement value standpoint, you have no other option but to do so to rely on Salesforce

If you want to learn more about leading a successful pharma marketing campaign in the US, tune in to this episode of Pharma Launch Secrets, a Podcast by Evermed.

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And connect with Indraneel here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/indraneel-mukherjee-b6402620
Website: https://www.zs.com

About The Show:

“Pharma Launch Secrets” is a podcast by Evermed and hosted by Bozidar Jovicevic, where we host direct, actionable conversations with world-leading pharma launch experts and help you stay up-to-date with the latest trends and strategies to help you launch your product successfully.