For years, many manufacturers have assumed that pre-market physician education was not strictly necessary unless their brand was the first to market or had a novel mechanism of action. With the advent of precision medicine, however, ongoing disease state education has become increasingly critical. Today’s molecular-targeted therapies have very different treatment paradigms, not to mention cost structures.
While it stands to reason that purportedly curative therapies, like those for hemophilia, would require more intensive education campaigns, the need for greater pharma investment in physician education is not limited to precision medicines. Evidence-based physician education is now an essential element of market access planning for any new drug, regardless of whether it is the first therapy in an indication or the fourth.
The Role of First-to-Market Manufacturers
Manufacturers of first-to-market therapies reap the benefits of providing the first therapeutic option for patients in need, but they also assume the tremendous responsibility of comprehensive disease state education. Until the advent of the first therapy, specialists are just treating symptoms. They may be familiar with the diagnosis and know which protocols are best, but they are unlikely to know the latest research on disease progression, or which clinical factors matter most.
Manufacturers of breakthrough drugs often rely on real-world data to find diagnosed patients and their treating physicians. To develop a strong physician education program, manufacturers must ensure that the physicians involved with their clinical trials become true key opinion leaders (KOLs). They should be tapped to provide disease state education to their peers—and specifically to potential prescribers—in published research and public commentary.
Fortunately, much of this physician disease state education can be done before a drug is approved. If a manufacturer’s KOLs have successfully raised awareness about the latest research and the imminent release of a breakthrough drug, physicians will be eagerly awaiting its launch—and the manufacturer will not experience a lag in sales. In fact, research indicates that pre-launch medical KOL education increases treatment adoption in the first six months after launch by 150%.
Read the full article in BioPharma Dive. For more information on how to drive online disease state education, visit Skipta, the network of medical micro-communities focused on specific conditions and specialties.
