Patient Empowerment: Consequences for Pharmaceutical Marketing and for the Patient–Physician Relationship - Innovation and Marketing in the Pharmaceutical Industry - page 429

may bring positive effects on other performance variables like stock returns or
systematic risk (Osinga et al. 2011 ). However, I argue that now is the time to move
beyond these channels (direct-to-physician marketing and DTCA) and actively
explore new direct-to-patient channels. The first step is to understand the role of the
empowered patient in therapy launch and therapy promotion, which opens numer-
ous opportunities for scholars and practitioners in pharmaceutical and health
marketing.

14.4.1 Patient Role in Therapy Launch

Therapy launch is a key decision area for life sciences firms (Stremersch and Van
Dyck 2009 ). After the long process of new therapy development and the examina-
tion of a new therapy's safety, efficacy, and incremental cost-effectiveness, market-
ers in pharmaceutical firms face key marketing challenges, namely, devising a
strong entry and reimbursement negotiation strategy and careful key opinion leader
(KOL) selection (Stremersch and Van Dyck 2009 ). In terms of entry and reimburse-
ment negotiation strategy, marketers need to guarantee that they can provide regula-
tors and payers with a clear demonstration of the health and economic value of the
new therapy (Hilsenrath 2011 ).
The traditional model for therapy launch is largely focused on actions geared
towards regulators and physicians, namely, negotiating the launch price and build-
ing ties with KOLs willing to support the new therapy. For instance, launch price
and the timing for new therapies is typically co-determined by negotiations with
payers and regulators (Stremersch and Van Dyck 2009 ; Verniers et al. 2011 ).
In addition, firms accelerate the uptake of the new drug by closely working with
KOLs. The selection of physician KOLs entails building a strong network of selected
physicians who, due to their influence on others, are capable of speeding-up value-
demonstration and the uptake of the new therapy (Stremersch and Van Dyck 2009 ).
Investing marketing resources in such ties is justified by the fact that detailing KOLs
triggers a social multiplier effect through which the opinions of these physicians
influence the decisions of their peers, an effect that makes the return on investment
of such marketing actions very attractive (Nair et al. 2010 ). 4 Yet, it is also important
to look at social multiplier effects on the patient side of the value chain.
To involve patients in the launch of new therapies, it is important to identify the
patient opinion leaders (POLs) for a specific indication. POLs can be of two types:
(1) patient support organizations and (2) individual patients who, due to their Web

4 Another effect KOLs may have in market access is their capacity to influence the negotiation with
regulators. Clinical KOLs, for instance, are by definition influential in scientific community, and
many actually belong to the committees of regulatory bodies, even though such connections are
increasingly scrutinized by other scientists and health authorities (Smith 2005 ). As evidence accu-
mulates regarding the relationship of the industry with KOLs, their influence on other doctors may
start to decline and regulation may decrease their influence on regulatory bodies (Smith 2005 ).