Assisting a midsize biotech company seeking to realize operational excellence in medical affairs, our team developed a medical affairs operational plan and user-friendly dashboard with activity-tracking functionality and performance metrics.

Situation

With a wide-ranging and complex portfolio spanning a multitude of diseases and therapeutic areas, the client company’s medical affairs group was large and had a broad diversity of target customers. The leadership team identified the need to streamline medical affairs operations and establish key performance indicators (KPIs) for monitoring the group’s performance to more effectively provide transparency to functional peers and company leaders in support of medical affairs operational excellence. 

SciVida’s Approach

We began by conducting individual working sessions with each functional leader within the medical affairs unit to gain insight into their existing three-year strategy and supporting operational plan to lay the groundwork for the new plan. Taking all input into account and collaborating with the client, we developed a storyboard for the plan and outlined initial plan content.

We then worked closely with medical affairs stakeholders to develop plans for each functional group. Upon completion of all function-specific plans, we reviewed the overall plan with the medical affairs leadership team and finalized it, with their input, for the next phase.

Leveraging the new operational plan, we then worked with the client to define, align on, and prioritize key inputs and metrics to track performance, and then we identified and collected appropriate data sources for the metrics. In the next step, we developed an easy-to-use, intuitive dashboard. Lastly, we established a quality assurance procedure to test the functionality and usability of the dashboard prior to rollout.

In the final phase of the engagement, we established the rollout plan requirements and helped the client prepare for implementation of the new medical affairs operational plan and metric-tracking tool. Specifically, we confirmed the tool was finalized and ready for rollout, defined implementation timing, established the update frequency and plan, and identified accountable parties within each medical affairs function for updates and questions.

Through internal analysis, a competitive benchmarking study, and development of a strategic roadmap, our team supported an oncology-focused global biopharma company on an operational excellence initiative to increase the value its medical affairs organization delivers to its customers.

Situation

After successfully launching its first oncology product, our client wanted to increase the value its medical affairs group delivered both internally and externally to help support the organization’s growth goals and deliver on its customers’ heightened expectations of medical affairs. The client sought our team’s help in defining an effective approach and strategy for achieving medical affairs operational excellence.

SciVida’s Approach

We began by proposing a three-pronged approach entailing (1) a comprehensive situation assessment with desk research, cross-functional internal primary research, and a competitive benchmarking study, (2) a multiple-day strategy workshop, and (3) development of strategic recommendations and detailed action plans. 

Our team conducted primary research with internal stakeholders across all relevant functions as well as external stakeholders at competitor companies in a double-blinded benchmarking format. The benchmarking study focused on identifying and elucidating best practices across the industry. Combining the primary research insights from thousands of data points with internal client documentation and findings from our desk research, our team developed an in-depth assessment of the situation.

From the assessment, we identified the strengths of the client’s existing medical affairs organization and more importantly the opportunities for enhancement and the focus areas for the upcoming strategic workshop. During the workshop, we facilitated several interactive exercises, including multiple brainstorming and prioritizing sessions, and held in-depth group discussions to generate the overall vision for the medical affairs function, strategic imperatives necessary for achieving the vision, and high-level action plans for each.

Armed with the insights and output from the strategic workshop, our team then developed a roadmap—as well as detailed action plans for each strategic imperative—for achieving excellence in medical affairs. We also laid out near-term, mid-range, and long-term priorities for the medical affairs group. Finally, we defined a clear and actionable path forward for the client.

SciVida assisted a midsize biotech company in developing pricing and contracting strategies for a franchise consisting of a late-stage asset for a rare disease nearing launch and an in-line product for the same indication.

Situation

A midsize biotech company was preparing to launch a late-stage asset in a rare disease indication for which they already marketed another product. The disease itself was multifaceted, involving variable organ systems and thus several potential provider specialties, adding to the complexity of the scenario. The company faced several challenges: at what price should they launch the new product, should they change the price of the in-line product (and, if so, what should that new price be), and what contracting strategies should they pursue for both the in-line and pipeline products. Wanting to maximize the value of their franchise, they engaged SciVida for assistance.

SciVida’s Approach

To tackle these business needs, we developed an approach entailing three major work streams: (1) conducting in-depth primary research with payers, physicians, and patients and performing pricing modeling and analysis that integrated and evaluated price elasticity of payers, physicians, and patients to recommend pricing for both products [the pricing phase], (2) developing an account segmentation and prioritization model to characterize payer accounts and model the impact of various contracting scenarios for both products [the contracting phase], and (3) facilitating a competitive simulation workshop to vet the strategies for both products and hypothesize competitor strategies [the competitive simulation phase].

Pricing: In the first phase, we conducted quantitative and qualitative primary research with payers, physicians, and patients. Leveraging the output from this research, we developed a pricing model and conducted extensive pricing analysis to evaluate the tradeoffs associated with different pricing and contracting strategies. SciVida then developed recommendations for list and net price for both products.

Contracting: In the next phase, we collaborated with the client to define key criteria for customer segmentation, obtained the necessary internal and third-party data for accounts, products, and key analogs, and then built an Excel model for segmentation and prioritization that characterized accounts according to common attributes and defined economic potential of the different segments, informing leverage points, engagement and influence requirements, and contracting and market access strategy approaches. We then modeled the economic impact of various contracting scenarios across account segments to develop a robust contracting strategy for both products.

Competitive Simulation: In the final phase of the engagement, we collaborated with the client to establish the objectives and scope of the competitive simulation—to hypothesize competitor strategies and identify implications for the client’s products. SciVida then prepared briefing materials for each team and conducted advance briefing sessions to foster robust participation in the simulation activities. On the day of the workshop, the SciVida team facilitated several rounds of competitive simulation, conducted a full debrief with the client team at the end of the workshop, and documented the results.

Armed with the insights from all three phases of the engagement, SciVida developed a strategic blueprint to guide the client on near-term decision making to help them maximize the value of their portfolio.

SciVida assisted an emerging biotechnology company with a late-stage asset in conducting a comprehensive patient assessment and patient archetype analysis to guide launch strategy.

Situation

Our client’s asset for a common condition was less than a year from launching into a market consisting of both prescription and over-the-counter treatment options. In order to inform launch strategy for the asset, the client team needed to understand the patient experience, perceptions of unmet need, product choice drivers, cost sensitivity, and willingness to pay, as well as the impact of these elements on future product use, considering the indication’s recurrent nature.

SciVida’s Approach

Our team collaborated closely with the client to identify and prioritize key business questions the assessment needed to address across the patient experience, patient impressions of a blinded product profile, impact of product attributes on treatment preference and selection, cost sensitivity and willingness to pay, and copay assistance.

Next, SciVida conducted quantitative and qualitative primary research with patients. Using the data and insights from the research, we conducted a robust analysis of patient receptivity to the product and the resulting willingness to pay, combining both van Westendorp and Gabor Granger methodologies, as well as an evaluation of patient segmentation and the incremental value of specific product attributes.

Our analysis identified crucial out-of-pocket cost thresholds and a suggested cost per prescription as well as patient archetypes based on key patient characteristics to help the client develop pricing and market access, patient engagement, and copay mitigation strategies and make critical decisions regarding where to invest resources.

SciVida assisted a global specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on rare disease in its due diligence of a product it was considering in-licensing, elucidating potential pricing elasticity for the product as well as market access dynamics.

Situation

Our client, an established company in the rare disease space, was considering diversifying its portfolio through in-licensing of a novel asset indicated for a rare disease that had no approved treatments. The client wanted to understand pricing and market access potential for the new asset and how dynamics were impacted by the emergence of a key competitor that was expected to be first to market.

SciVida’s Approach

SciVida gathered and reviewed the client’s materials, and, given the imminent need for insights on which to base a go/no-go decision, our team jumped right into a working session with the core client team to identify and prioritize the key business questions and plan to generate the requisite insights, including a combination of desk research, third-party data analysis, and focused primary research.

Our team conducted secondary research to fill information gaps necessary to support the focused primary research with payers. In a short time, SciVida was able to gather critical insights on payer perceptions of the disease, the asset, and the key competitor; anticipated coverage and handling, including coverage considerations; and product benchmarks for pricing, price expectations, and price sensitivity.

Our due diligence support also included a risk analysis of value assessment by Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER).

We synthesized the insights from our primary and secondary research and ICER risk analysis into key takeaways and considerations to support the client’s go/no-go decision.

SciVida assisted an early-stage biotech company in articulating the market potential and commercial story for its lead product candidate for engaging with external stakeholders in prospective partnership/investor discussions.

Situation

Our client, an emerging biotech with several assets in preclinical and clinical development, was nearing Phase 2 on its lead candidate and preparing to engage in partner/investor discussions. The asset was an innovative and targeted disease-modifying therapy for a historically mismanaged condition, and the client needed help explaining the complex disease landscape and crafting a compelling commercial story regarding the product’s potential value.

SciVida’s Approach

Our team began by facilitating a brainstorming workshop with the client’s leadership team to align on key requirements for the investor presentation as well as strategic imperatives within key areas to support commercial success.

SciVida combined output from the workshop with all previously completed relevant work and collaborated closely with the client to align on key needs for the investor presentation. The document was designed to include disease background, current treatment landscape, key unmet needs, the market size and opportunity, the asset’s value proposition, and a winning strategy for the client centered around their priority areas of regulatory approval, competitive differentiation, and market access.

We socialized a detailed outline with executives from the client team, refined the structure, and then developed the presentation.

Finally, our team iterated with the client’s senior leaders and board of directors to finalize the presentation, which was then immediately shared with prospective partners and investors.

SciVida assisted a biotech company in assessing the market opportunity and prioritizing multiple indications for a promising franchise of early-stage assets to inform key strategic commercial and clinical development decisions.

Situation

Believing opportunity existed in a number of potential indications for their early-stage assets, our client asked SciVida for assistance in conducting a deep-dive assessment of opportunity across indications to determine and prioritize the most attractive indications for commercialization and the requirements for success in each, particularly regarding the clinical profile and endpoints.

SciVida’s Approach

After compiling existing market insights and assumptions and identifying critical gaps, our team went about building the fact base for our client through a combination of desk research, third-party data analysis, and primary research.

Armed with the competitive landscape and market size details from our secondary research and data analysis, we then conducted primary research with physician specialists, key opinion leaders (KOLs), and pharmacy and medical directors at key payer accounts to elucidate the market landscape, target product profile attributes and points of differentiation, guidance on pricing boundaries and access considerations, and positioning and strategic options for the assets.

Leveraging the output from the research efforts, we characterized details related to the opportunities, attractiveness, and requirements for success of the multiple indications being considered. Our team defined and mapped out strategic options for the assets within and across key market segments, i.e., the realm of possibilities, and then conducted working sessions with the client to review the options and identify and align on key criteria against which to evaluate them. 

Using the agreed-upon criteria, team input, fact base, and clinical research to date on the assets, we objectively evaluated the options and tradeoffs. SciVida then leveraged all findings into a comprehensive assessment and prioritization of the opportunity in several indications to guide clinical development and commercialization strategy for the products.

Vis-à-vis increasingly competitive dynamics, SciVida supported a large pharmaceutical company in developing strategy to improve access and utilization of a key product franchise in the health systems channel.

Situation

Having recently released a new product in a crowded market, our client wanted to revise and strengthen its health systems strategy for a portfolio of products in a therapeutic area. They needed a partner to inform a robust fact base, identify the strategic considerations and implications of the findings, and develop an actionable strategy.

SciVida’s Approach

A strong health system strategy for the franchise required deep insights from appropriate decision makers at health systems, group purchasing organizations (GPOs), and regional purchasing coalitions (RPCs). After taking stock of the client’s existing data and information, our team developed a primary research plan in collaboration with the client to include clinical (e.g., department heads) and pharmacy (e.g., directors of pharmacy) stakeholders involved in P&T decision making for the relevant franchise, as well as executive-level stakeholders from top GPOs and RPCs.

We prepared and executed the primary research plan with the end in mind, considering the key business questions our client needed answered and taking those into account in the logic of the research questions we posed as well as the specific probes we included. Broadly, the research focused on perceptions of products and manufacturers, drivers and barriers of coverage, handling, and utilization, and pricing and contracting dynamics in the category.

Using the output from the primary research with health systems, GPOS, and RPCs, we developed a robust assessment, including both summary points and granular-level details. In analyzing our data and findings, we defined and characterized a set of account archetypes into which health systems can be grouped for strategy customization and then developed strategic recommendations for each customer segment. We synthesized the findings of the assessment and archetype analysis—interpreting the “so what” factor for our client—and recommended strategies for improving access and utilization of their products within health systems.

The client leveraged the output to refine their health system strategy for the franchise, including customer engagement, product value proposition and positioning, and contracting.