market research | Pharma Strategy Blog

Strategically, when everybody zigs it makes sense to zag

By MaverickNY on October 22, 2008

"Successful companies do not abandon their marketing strategies in a recession; they adapt them."

John Quelch, Harvard Business School

Yesterday, I was scanning my Google Reader for information on 'Marketing and Recession' and came across an HBR Working Knowledge article by Prof. John Quelch entitled, "Marketing your way through a recession". In it, he cogently argues the following:

Research the customer. Instead of cutting the market
research budget, you need to know more than ever how consumers are
redefining value and responding to the recession. Price elasticity
curves are changing. Consumers take more time searching for durable
goods and negotiate harder at the point of sale. They are more willing
to postpone purchases, trade down, or buy less. Must-have features of
yesterday are today's can-live-withouts. Trusted brands are especially
valued and they can still launch new products successfully, but
interest in new brands and new categories fades. Conspicuous
consumption becomes less prevalent.

In other words, there are still opportunities if companies are bold enough to grab them. Know thy customer is never a truer altruism than when times are hard.

Something else caught me eye in the same article. Quelch went on to say (emphasis in italics mine):

Maintain marketing spending. This is not the time to
cut advertising. It is well documented that brands that increase
advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can
improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during
good economic times.

Well, that got my attention in a month when two big pharma companies (Pfizer and Novartis) announced job losses on top of those previously announced by GSK, Merck, Schering Plough and others. September and October are also the months when Finance Departments traditionally love to cut marketing budgets. If the monies haven't been spent or committed, tough, never mind that there are a number of important scientific conferences coming up that offer great opportunities for announcing new data, PR activity, medical education, symposia/spin-offs and such like for the bold ones able to maximise the opportunities for growing market share into 2009.

Perhaps the Finance Directors would do well to heed the sage advice of Oliver Wendell Holmes:

“Greatness is not where we stand, but in what direction we are moving.”

In a recession, moving forward rather than cutting back may well separate the winners from the losers in the long run.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month – turn the world pink

By MaverickNY on October 2, 2008

This month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Over 186,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer are diagnosed every year in the US alone and, sadly, some 40,000 die from the disease, making it the second deadliest cancer amongst women (source: American Cancer Society).

A number of patient advocacy groups are holding walks in aid of research including the American Cancer Society and Susan G Komen for the cure Foundation. Others, such as the National Breast Cancer Organisation are focusing on early detection, since the earlier the disease is found, the better the chance of a cure or long term survival.

There are some fascinating stories of hope and survival on the internet – you can read some of them on American Cancer Society and on one of my favourite cancer sites for inspiration, Punk Rock Mommy.

And for those of you on Twitter and Friendfeed, why not turn pink like this?

I've gone pink, have you?

Are you doing anything to support this worthy cause?

Making sense of data – how oncology and cancer is becoming more complex

By MaverickNY on September 12, 2008

One of the things many of you may have noticed is how complex the cancer world is becoming. The days of developing broad spectrum chemotherapies that shrink the tumour and blast normal cells as well are gradually going by the wayside. With the advent of increased knowledge about the biology of cancer comes newer, more targeted therapies that not only improve survival, but seemingly reduce the toxic side effects too.

The challenge though, is that cancer remains an elusive beast. With the exception of some specific diseases such as chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), gastro-intestinal stromal tumours (GISTs) and a few others, most cancers appear to have multiple pathways that interact and are critical to survival. This means that ultimately, a combination approach is most likely needed to target the cancer and overcome drug resistance.

Image via Wikipedia

The question remains is which combinations are best and in what sequence would be they be most effective?

Although some success has been reported with targeted therapies such as Herceptin (right), Gleevec, Tarceva, Avastin etc, there is still much that we don't know and a lot of science still to be discovered before we can say with any great confidence that we are winning the war on cancer.

This leaves a dilemma for those developing new drugs – which tumours should be targeted, what stage of disease should be researched and what regimens would make the ideal combinations?

R&D is largely an imperfect and inefficient science, but gradually we see a more logical sniper rifle strategy appearing rather than the old fashioned 'let's have a go' blunderbuss approach. That can only be a good thing in the long run but meanwhile, taking a strategic rational analytical approach may well yield solid results.

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Death is critical to life in cancer

By MaverickNY on June 9, 2008

Image via Wikipedia

Apoptosis is programmed death of cells that are irretrievably damaged or at the end of their useful life. The process is essential for organisms to develop and survive by regenerating new cells. In cancer, this process goes awry because mutations allow cells to divide and proliferate uncontrollably rather than dying, so a tumour mass is formed.

Mutations can occur by addition, deletion or inactivation. Inactivation of p53, for example, can lead to the development of different types of cancer. Although scientists have long known that p53 inactivation plays a central role in the development of cancer, little was known about whether p53 inactivation played a role in maintaining cancers. It was also unclear whether switching p53 back on in tumour cells would have any therapeutic effect.

In 2007, researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute demonstrated that inactivating the p53 gene is necessary for maintaining tumour survival. Conversely, reactivating the p53 gene in mice caused blood, bone and liver tumours to self destruct. The p53 protein is called the “guardian of the genome” because it triggers the suicide of cells with damaged DNA. Cancers can, however, mutate to circumvent p53 reactivation.

It is now known that in most cancer cases, the P53 gene is damaged or switched off, but Scottish researchers found they could reboot it. Biological compounds called tenovins were used to turn off certain enzymes which act as switches and control p53. The compounds were initially selected for study because they induced the required effect on whole cells as opposed to the use of purified proteins. The findings indicate that improved tenovin derivatives may have the potential to stop tumours and that their ability to switch on P53 contributes to this. Tenovins work by inhibiting sirtuins. This may facilitate further optimisation of the compounds in development for inactivating the cancer.

Note: GSK recently purchased Sirtris, a biotechnology company focused on sirtuin research

Do drug companies care about cancer patients?

By MaverickNY on September 4, 2006

Contrary to what many people think, drug companies are composed of people just like you and me who have the same hopes and dreams and fears that everyone does. The word “cancer” sends chills down their spines just like it does to you and me. Most people are touched by cancer in some way, if not personally, through a friend or a loved one. The people who work in the cancer field at drug companies are no different in this respect, whether they be in research, clinical, marketing or sales.

In my experience, patients have often wanted to meet the company representatives, shake their hands and thank them for what they have done for them or their friends and relatives. Regretfully, due to FDA rules and regulations, patients in a trial and drug companies are very limited in how much contact they may have, at least from a marketing perspective. That said, I have been privileged to meet quite a few patients in the cancer clinics over the last 6 years and have often followed their subsequent progress through the doctors. Some of those patients were at deaths door, planning their funeral or deciding how to make the most of their last few months. Their stories were very real, heart rending and courageous; ordinary people doing extraordinary things with a genuine desire to learn, get better and share their experiences.

In the program I was involved with, many of those same patients not only recovered and survived, but are now essentially in chronic remission or ‘cure’ and some of them I still keep in touch with as they go about re-living normal lives again. Such is the miracle of modern science and medicine.

Yes, we live in a rough, tough and cynical world, but many of the drug company workers are ordinary people like the rest of us who sincerely care about fighting cancer, relieving human suffering and quite simply, helping patients get better. You can’t save everyone, but you can at least do the utmost possible in the time you have with the resources, technology and information available.

{Update: I was delighted to hear from a principal investigator recently that at least 4 or 5 patients are still alive from a trial of a phase I pipeline compound I was involved in 10 years ago. Most had at best, 2 years to live, so to hear that they are goinge strong was very heartwarming. That’s what you live for – the opportunity to make a real difference to patients lives.}

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Posts tagged ‘market research’

Strategically, when everybody zigs it makes sense to zag

Breast Cancer Awareness Month – turn the world pink

Making sense of data – how oncology and cancer is becoming more complex