Enhancing Relationships with Medical Thought Leaders

Healthcare Thought Leaders are critical to marketing success throughout the product lifecycle.

Pharmaceutical companies are realizing now, more than ever, the impact of thought leaders during the entire lifecycle of a brand.  From compound research to post-market management, thought leaders act as a compass to guide a product through the pipeline or as an indicator to determine a drug’s potential success in the market and sort through market feedback.  As the importance of physician advocacy heightens, pharmaceutical companies are recruiting thought leaders as early as Phase I clinical trials, with 52 percent using thought leaders before a drug makes it to market and 48 percent after a product launch, according to Best Practices, LLC.

It is now apparent that pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies must constantly work to develop and maintain win-win relationships with thought leaders to identify unmet medical needs, shape clinical studies, launch products and understand critical lifecycle issues.  In fact, a major pharmaceutical company recently recruited a physician board to review Direct-to-Consumer advertising before launching one of the most successful marketing campaigns to date.  Leading companies are developing new ways to gather the knowledge of thought leaders and leverage their experience to influence the market.

Developing relationships are at the core of thought leader recruitment.  Securing thought leader involvement is much more difficult than it once was, as 8 out of 10 requests for participation are turned down.  As a result, field-based medical programs have come to the forefront.  While traditional sales reps still dominate the field, Medical Science Liaisons (MSL) have assumed a pivotal role interfacing between pharmaceutical companies and opinion leaders.  MSLs, most with advanced medical or science degrees offer thought leaders the credibility and sophistication of a peer, but also provide insider’s knowledge about the company and products they represent.

To ensure success, pharmaceutical companies must provide their MSLs with every available resource while using an integrated approach to optimize thought leader relationships.  Considering that physicians are using the Internet more than ever before, the idea of building online communities focused on a specific brand might be just what the doctor ordered.  In fact, many leading brands have already taken steps to mange key relationships in a virtual environment.  Online communities present a number a benefits when used in conjunction with traditional best practices.  These include improved communications channels, 24/7 access from anywhere in the world, regulatory tracking and moderation, asset sharing, and consolidation of expert commentary.

Moving forward, as more pharmaceutical and medical device companies recruit more and more thought leaders even earlier in the product lifecycle, online relationship management is becoming absolutely vital.  By building a virtual community, an organization can disseminate critical information to key constituents to increase their knowledge and influence while soliciting valuable feedback from medical specialists to shape clinical trials and ensure market success.  All of this adds value and credibility to a thought leader program with minimal investment relative to the millions spent each year on relationship management. 

My company Estco Medical helps life science companies with online marketing initiatives, community development and understanding how the Internet affects the lifecycle of a brand. Our product Medigent Thought Leader has been built to meet the market’s need for a powerful online thought leader management tool.

Comments

[MWY]

While MSLs have a distinct role in the field, many biopharms and pharma companies benefit from effective Professional Relations department activities as well. These head office-based "marketers" can often provide more clout directly at the point of influence and can serve to integrate not only the medical affairs component of the MSL, but provide effective conduits to on message medical education and the development of meaningful educational grants and fellowships.

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[Jane Chin, Ph.D.]

John, I'm interested in your thoughts on the changing role of MSLs now that it's been 2 years since your original entry!

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