Becoming More Flexible

By Innovex

We have all seen reports about how pharma must change its business model in order to deal with the contraction of the drug pipeline and increasing competition from generic drugs. In this new era pharma needs to better manage and exploit existing products throughout their entire life cycle. They must also address the needs of the increasing number of stakeholders who influence patients’ access to medicine. The industry is looking for a miracle which is unlikely to materialize, but by taking a more strategic approach to sales force management the industry should be able to find the right mix of integrated and flexible sales solutions for success. Innovex’s multiple service offering helps biotech and small pharma to develop and implement sales strategies on a much greater scale than they could independently. This begins the product’s launch phase and adds value throughout the product life cycle.

ProStrakan, a UK-listed company (LSE: PSK), sought a partnership to launch its Sancuso^TM product and establish a long-term US commercial capability without incurring the full risk and expense. Innovex, together with NovaQuest, was able to offer an immediate commercial infrastructure with 75 dedicated specialty representatives for launch that Prostrakan can convert into its own headcount within three years of the agreement.

Big Pharma can also benefit from an integrated approach. A tailored, strategic sales support programme to support launch can involve risk share deals and/or a range of sales options. In 2004 Lilly was facing a number of challenges including multiple launches of products which were putting pressure on internal resources. A risk-share partnership deal with NovaQuest and Innovex was developed. Innovex hired and trained the sales team in around 10 weeks. Forty per cent had more than 2 years pharma experience and 60% had B2B sales experience. The result was an optimum sales force resource in preparation for launch and Eli Lilly was able to retain control of its commercial programme.

In the middle years of a product life cycle, big pharma still often looks to fee for service solutions to provide the sales muscle. This ensures fast mobilisation of sales teams, reliable access to specialists in secondary care and therapy areas such as oncology, and the flexibility to respond to market dynamics. 

Innovex worked with one top ten pharmaceutical partner who wanted to expand, from 3 sales teams of 350 territories to 4 teams of 510, but was concerned that productivity could be lost during the growth. The solution included a phased recruiting and training program that ensured smooth sales team expansion. Key to this was involving the partner's district managers in the final interviews and creating a hiring SOP with scheduled dates and feedback mechanisms.

When a product is at the tail end of its life cycle, better return can often be realized for longer by outsourcing. In addition to sales forces, this can include the full spectrum of services required to support a product such as regulatory affairs and pharmacovigilance.

Implementing these programs successfully does require a more strategic and diverse team compared to the traditional model of high numbers of reps with uniform geographic distribution, and limited access to clinicians. Depending on the product and where it is in the life cycle, this new team will be comprised of sales reps, specialty reps, nurse educators, medical scientific liaisons and telesales. With such a diverse range of skills distributed according to geographic potential, these teams are able to communicate effectively with the increasingly complex network of influencers, which goes beyond just clinicians to include payors, regulators and others. Determining the best mix of people relies on robust analytics drawn from Quintiles substantial experience in both commercialization and consulting.

For pharma to secure a successful future, they must focus on achieving better outcomes from less people and evolve to become more flexible in response to market dynamics and other challenges.

Daryl Gaugler is the President of Innovex. He brings over 20 years of pharmaceutical sales and senior management experience to the position. Daryl oversees the US Commercial business for Innovex Americas with operations in the United States, Canada and Mexico and with service offerings including investment based commercial partnerships, fee-based outsourcing and Health Management Services.