Patient-Centric Pharmaceutical Strategies: Drug Companies Allocate Broad Range of Responsibilities to Dedicated Teams

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC--(Marketwired - September 01, 2016) - Patient centricity is no longer a buzzword in the pharmaceutical industry. The industry's transition away from brand-focused messages has meant that drug manufacturers have started to incorporate the patient voice as early as drug discovery and now implement patient-focused initiatives throughout a product's lifecycle.

A new benchmarking study, published by Cutting Edge Information, found that 61% of surveyed pharmaceutical companies have formed internal dedicated teams to oversee patient-centric engagements, including shaping overall strategy for specific initiatives. In fact, 68% of surveyed companies also assign these teams to identify unmet needs and contribute to developing new patient-centric initiatives. None of the surveyed drug companies reported that they did not contribute to individual initiatives.

According to the study, Patient-Centricity 2.0: Communication Strategies to Boost Patient Engagement, regional differences in patient-centric strategy development began to emerge when examining how companies actually implement their activities. Among dedicated US groups, 89% work on delivering patient-centric programs while just 44% of surveyed European, Canadian, and Australian groups do so. This broad scope of responsibility reflects the position and experience that dedicated groups possess.

"The members of these dedicated patient-centric groups are crucial to determining the success of these initiatives," said Adam Bianchi, senior director of research at Cutting Edge Information. "Many individuals who join dedicated teams come from marketing backgrounds and have hands-on experience with products. That level of experience brings knowledge of commercial strategy that allows these teams to design programs that identify with current priorities."

Additional team members with market research or business development backgrounds contribute to patient-centric initiatives. Individuals with these backgrounds are well equipped to determine programs' effectiveness and make sure that initiatives are meeting patient needs.

Patient-Centricity 2.0: Communication Strategies to Boost Patient Engagement, available at https://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/research/marketing/patient-centricity/, explores different types of patient-centric programs and various drug companies' experiences to develop best practices. The report's aggregate data and individual profiles on patient-centric programs provide insights on a wide range of programs. The study is designed to help pharmaceutical company executives:

• Increase awareness of - and improve strategy and planning for - patient-centric initiatives.
• Determine best-fit structures for disseminating patient-centric messages.
• Benchmark patient-centric initiative costs, staffing and duration to plot successful initiatives and ensure adequate support.
• Learn effective methods for measuring ROI, a consistent challenge for patient-centric programs.

For more detailed information on Cutting Edge Information's patient-centric benchmarking research, visit http://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com.