research topics in pharmaceutical marketing

Pharma Market Research: 10+ Trends & Real-Life Examples in '24

The pharmaceutical industry is facing several challenges, especially after COVID-19 and the changes the pandemic has brought to the pharma market and the healthcare landscape (see figure below). One way to understand the market dynamics and evolving needs is to conduct market research with healthcare providers, patients, and employees. Here, we provide the latest trends and some real-life examples of how market research can play a role in the pharmaceutical industry to help companies understand evolving healthcare models and gain a competitive advantage in the industry.

Source: McKinsey 1

Figure 1. The network of forces in the pharmaceutical industry

If you are looking for a market research tool , you can check out our vendor’s deep dive on the top providers in the market.

Top 13 latest pharma market research trends

1- ai & automation.

It usually takes 12 to 18 years for a new drug to get to the market, costing around $2.6 billion on average. 2 By leveraging machine learning, deep learning, Natural Language Processing (NLP) , or other AI technologies, pharmaceutical companies can:

• accelerate drug discovery
• enhance the accuracy of research
• streamline various phases of clinical trials.

This technology can analyze vast data sets more quickly and accurately than traditional methods, leading to more efficient identification of potential drug candidates and optimization of trial designs.

1.1. Generative AI

Pioneering pharma companies are harnessing generative AI to reshape drug discovery and development. Indeed, 44% of industry professionals view their quality IT infrastructure as dependent on numerous, independent IT systems. 3 This trend marks a paradigm shift, as AI algorithms predict drug efficacy and safety profiles, drastically reducing the traditional decade-long drug development cycle.

Check out our comprehensive article on the use cases of GenAI in the healthcare industry if interested.

1.2. Digitalization

The top five pharmaceutical companies have declared over 50 investments in digital health firms and assets, doubling their digital health partnerships, emphasizing a strong focus on digitalization in the sector. 4 Companies are integrating digital channels into their R&D, marketing, and patient engagement efforts, leveraging technologies like AI, IoT, and cloud computing to optimize operations and reach.

1.3. Sentiment analysis

91% of those involved in the pharmaceutical industry believe that adopting a patient-centric quality approach is a strategic benefit for their organization. 5 To develop a patient-centric approach, the industry is increasingly using sentiment analysis . By mining social media and healthcare forums, companies can fine-tune their marketing strategies and product developments, ensuring they resonate with end-user expectations and experiences.

If interested, you can also check out how sentiment analysis is used in the healthcare industry .

Predictive modeling

AI-driven predictive modeling in pharmaceuticals involves analyzing data like sales history and disease trends to forecast drug demand. This approach helps companies make informed decisions about production and inventory, adapting efficiently to market changes and patient needs. As new data emerges, the AI continuously refines its predictions, enhancing accuracy and aiding in strategic planning.

Real-time market monitoring

Real-time market monitoring involves using advanced AI algorithms to continuously track and analyze market data. This includes monitoring competitor activities, drug pricing, regulatory changes, and consumer behavior to understand the market dynamics. By processing data from sources like social media, medical journals, and market reports instantly, companies gain actionable insights into emerging trends and market shifts.

2- Clinical pipeline tracking and disease landscaping

Companies are using advanced analytics to monitor drug development stages, predicting potential bottlenecks and market readiness. This strategic foresight is pivotal in maintaining a competitive edge in the fast-paced pharma industry.

3- Sustainability

Sustainability is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’; it is a ‘must-have’ in pharma. Companies are embracing green chemistry, waste reduction, and energy-efficient practices to achieve sustainable growth. These enable companies to be involved in a more eco-conscious market, ensuring long-term brand loyalty and corporate responsibility.

4- Strategic workforce planning

Demand for STEM-related roles in the life sciences industry in the United States has seen a 20% surge. 6 As pharma ventures into new realms like genomics and personalized medicine, strategic workforce planning is crucial. Companies are actively reskilling their workforce and recruiting niche experts, ensuring their teams are equipped to navigate the evolving scientific and regulatory landscapes.

5- Development of partner ecosystems

In the face of complex drug development challenges, pharma companies are cultivating partner ecosystems. Indeed, research shows that more than 50% of companies are planning to significantly enhance their collaborative efforts with other industry players. 7 These collaborations, ranging from academic institutions to biotech startups, are vital for innovation sharing and risk distribution, paving the way for groundbreaking therapies.

6- Technical product development

76% of survey participants don’t believe that their organization has yet reached the quality maturity it should have. 8 Thus, the race for technical superiority in product development is intense. Companies are investing in advanced drug delivery systems, precision medicine, and next-gen biologics, aiming not just to participate in the market but to redefine it.

7- Personalized pharmaceutical products

Personalized medicine is transforming patient care. Pharma companies are leveraging genetic insights to tailor treatments, moving away from the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach and towards therapies that offer higher efficacy and reduced side effects for individual patients.

8- Patient identification and stratification in clinical trials

Precision is key in clinical trials. Advanced analytics and AI are enabling healthcare professionals to identify and stratify patients, enhancing the efficacy of trials and speeding up the time to market for new drugs.

Real-life examples of market research in the pharmaceutical industry

PTC Therapeutics implemented the Interactions Hub, a digital solution by PwC, to streamline its processes. 9 This move addressed the inefficiencies of their previous manual system, where staff spent about 25% of their time on administrative tasks. The new digital approach improved operational efficiency and compliance, enabling a more focused effort on strategic drug development initiatives​.

VaxAssist, an online tool introduced by Pfizer, assists adults in determining their eligibility for various respiratory vaccines such as COVID-19, pneumococcal pneumonia, influenza, and RSV. 10 This initiative responds to the confusion and hesitancy caused by an overload of health information and the “triple-demic” impact of flu, COVID-19, and RSV, which led to significant hospitalizations and emergency room visits in the U.S. VaxAssist aims to simplify vaccination processes and improve accessibility, addressing both the misinformation problem and the barriers to vaccine uptake, reflecting a market research-driven approach in the pharmaceutical industry to enhance public health outcomes.

Sanofi, a pharmaceutical company, invested $180 million in Owkin, with a strategic shift in pharmaceutical market research. 11 With this initiative, the company focuses on artificial intelligence and federated learning to advance its oncology portfolio. This collaboration, targeting four cancer types, emphasizes building private and secure disease models from vast datasets. It aims to enhance clinical trial design and identify new biomarkers.

For those interested, here is our data driven list of market research tools .

External Links

• 1. “ Emerging from disruption: The future of pharma operations strategy “. McKinsey. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
• 2. “ Generative AI has the potential to revolutionise drug discovery “. Pharmaceutical Technology. August 3, 2023. Retrieved December 29,2023.
• 3. “ Putting patients at the centre of quality “. PwC. Retrieved December 29,2023.
• 4. “ Rewired pharma companies will win in the digital age “. McKinsey. June 14, 2023. Retrieved December 29,2023.
• 5. “ Putting patients at the centre of quality “. PwC. Retrieved December 29,2023.
• 6. “ Emerging from disruption: The future of pharma operations strategy “. McKinsey. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
• 7. “ Emerging from disruption: The future of pharma operations strategy “. McKinsey. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
• 8. “ Putting patients at the centre of quality “. PwC. Retrieved December 29,2023.
• 9. “ An automated compliance system allows PTC to better focus on its mission “. PwC. Retrieved December 29,2023.
• 10. “ Pfizer Launches VaxAssist, to Help Individual’s Assess Respiratory Vaccine Eligibility “. PwC. December 15, 2023. Retrieved December 29,2023.
• 11. “ BioMap Establishes a Strategic Collaboration with Sanofi to Co-Develop AI Modules to Accelerate Drug Discovery for Biotherapeutics “. BusinessWire. Retrieved December 29,2023.

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The Evolution of Pharma Market Research

The past few years have ushered in a seismic shift in the pharmaceutical industry.

From billion-dollar, government-funded research initiatives to a renewed focus on manufacturing new technologies, there’s no shortage of lucrative investment opportunities in every sector of the industry.    

To capitalize on strategic growth, pharma organizations and investors need to stay up to date on the market-moving trends, shifts, and developments that are shaping the industry landscape.

An increasing number of pharma professionals are relying on market intelligence platforms to stay on top of these movements while providing the tools they need to devise a business or investment strategy. 

By taking a more proactive—rather than reactive—approach to research, organizations can leverage better-informed strategies to stay ahead of their competitors.

How Pharmaceutical Market Research Is Changing

Historically, market research methods in the pharmaceutical industry involved relying on historical datasets and manually searching for information from incomplete and disparate sources.

The tedious, time-consuming, and often unreliable process of gathering relevant data points and documents and then separating useful insights from the noise is a herculean task in today’s age of information overload.

Yet, this was the status quo for pharmaceutical and healthcare companies until the advent of technologically advanced market intelligence platforms . These tools turned a monumental task into a cakewalk by exponentially increasing the accuracy, breadth, and depth of conducted research.  

However, it took the COVID-19 pandemic for companies to understand the true value of these tools. As speed became tantamount in the race to solve the public health crisis, traditional methods of research became obsolete. Staying on top of the latest regulatory actions, clinical trials, drug developments, and FDA approvals was an essential component to engineer a vaccine against the virus.

In addition to the sheer volume of information researchers had to wade through, regulatory sites are notoriously difficult to navigate. These factors only made keeping informed and finding answers even more time-consuming. 

In today’s interconnected world, pharma professionals need to understand more than just diseases and treatments. 

The events of the last four years have highlighted the importance of having a solid understanding of global supply chains, remote working trends, sales and marketing constraints, the effectiveness of personal protective equipment, the impact of social distancing on consumer behavior, and much more. 

Today, the best approach to market research is rooted in speed, efficiency, and thoroughness—qualities that are integral in every industry, but none more so than the pharmaceutical space.

That’s why an AI-powered market intelligence platform that not only provides access to all the right data, but also helps you quickly filter out the key insights from the noise, is critical for forward-thinking pharma organizations.

Related Reading: Top Pharma Trends to Watch in 2024

Artificial Intelligence in Pharmaceutical Market Research

Artificial intelligence (AI) is improving not only the quality of results from the market research process, but increasing the speed at which it’s done. AI search technology can quickly extract the relevant market data needed to identify trends and patterns that would otherwise be impossible for humans to detect using manual processes alone.  

Compared to the time and expenses associated with manual research, platforms that leverage AI search technology offer an exponentially higher ROI to any market research process. 

In fact, advancements in AI have even made it possible  to understand the context and purpose behind your search terms. The AlphaSense platform uses machine learning to expand your query, delivering the most relevant results available on your topic using  Smart Synonyms™ technology .  

Whether it’s information about a competitor’s new products, market segmentation, customer insights, pricing benchmarks, or financial performance, market research platforms that utilize the power of AI are revolutionizing strategic planning processes, product development decisions, and investment strategy.

Organizations that transition their market research and competitive intelligence processes onto a market intelligence platform instantly gain a competitive edge, regardless of how they choose to use it.  With a modernized market research process, organizations can easily identify outcomes that matter to different stakeholder groups, gain insights to inform future business decisions, or monitor clinical pipelines with minimal effort.

Conducting Pharmaceutical Market Research With AlphaSense

AlphaSense is a leading market intelligence platform for life sciences professionals and investors. Our platform sets itself apart with its extensive content universe—spanning company documents, expert calls , news and research journals, broker research , and regulatory documents—as well as its proprietary AI search technology.

Here’s how these features work in tandem with an extensive content universe to level up the market research process for pharma professionals:

Aggregated Content Universe

AlphaSense’s comprehensive content library draws from more than 10,000 high-quality content sources, offering both quantitative and qualitative global market research data. By providing timely, reliable insights, the AlphaSense platform can help you make faster, more-informed business decisions.

The following examples are just a few of the different types of industry-specific content that’s accessible in the AlphaSense platform:

• Healthcare industry news, pharmaceutical company reports, statistical data, and industry publications from authoritative sources like the World Health Organization and the US National Library of Medicine
• A vast library of regulatory healthcare content from ClinicalTrials.gov, FDA, EMA, PubMed, and more
• Exclusive equity research and analysis from Wall Street Insights® , a premier market research tool for corporate teams and healthcare professionals
• Primary research that includes over 40,000 expert call transcripts from interviews with doctors, patients, medical researchers, pharmaceutical companies, healthcare industry leaders, and more

Semantic Search

AlphaSense’s proprietary AI search technology recognizes the intent of your search and surfaces key insights without you having to perform multiple manual searches or spending time reading through the entirety of long documents. 

Our Smart Synonyms™ technology analyzes speech patterns across tens of millions of search documents, resulting in a robust library of synonymous words. AlphaSense does the heavy lifting of searching for your query, as well as all relevant synonyms, within text-heavy documents.

Sentiment Analysis

Our sentiment analysis technology utilizes natural language processing (NLP) to uncover market perceptions about a given topic. Further, it color-codes positive and negative sentiment for easy recognition as you browse search results. These AI features are executed in seconds, saving analysts precious hours that were previously spent combing through broker reports and other complex healthcare market research .

Generative AI

Unlike other consumer-grade generative AI (genAI) tools trained on publicly available data, AlphaSense takes an entirely different approach. Our industry-leading suite of generative AI tools is purpose-built to deliver business-grade insights and leans on 10+ years of AI tech development. 

Our suite of tools currently includes:

• Smart Summaries – This feature allows you to glean instant earnings insights—reducing time spent on research during earnings season, quickly capture company outlook, and generate an expert-approved SWOT analysis straight from former competitors, partners, and employees.
• Enterprise Intelligence – This is a first-of-its-kind knowledge management offering that delivers AlphaSense’s AI-powered search and summarization capabilities to customers’ internal organizational knowledge.
• AlphaSense Assistant (in beta) – Assistant is a generative AI chat experience that transforms how users can extract insights from hundreds of millions of premium content sources.

Our pharma and biotech customers use our generative AI capabilities to:

• Extract guidance
• Summarize most important insights
• Extract sentiment
• Summarize and rank positives and negatives
• Extract KPIs
• Validate KPI accuracy in summary

Related Reading: Accelerating Pharma Research With AI (Complete Guide)

Modern Pharma Market Research in Action

But how do these features help pharma professionals and investors conduct quicker, deeper research and feel more confident in their work?

Clinical Pipeline Tracking

AlphaSense makes it easy to track and analyze clinical pipelines with aggregated access to regulatory healthcare content from ClinicalTrials.gov, FDA, EMA, PubMed, and more. Our advanced filtering features allow you to get straight to the right types of content for your specific research needs. Instead of sifting through entire documents, let AlphaSense find the insights most pertinent to your search query.

Disease Landscaping 

Perform a more comprehensive competitor pipeline analysis and disease research to ensure you never miss out on updates with AI-powered company recognition and Search Summaries. Our platform can gather the context behind your quantitative research, so you can focus on developing an effective go-to-market strategy and take your product development to the next level.

Earnings Analysis

You can analyze earnings transcripts in a more strategic, in-depth way by using AlphaSense’s sentiment analysis technology and Search Summaries. The former allows you to uncover shifts in commentary on relevant companies and topics, while the latter helps you develop a full-scale understanding of an industry by surfacing emerging topics from sector leaders, competitors initiatives, and company KPIs. 

Trend Forecasting

Pharma industry trends evolve on a near-constant basis, making a market intelligence platform that allows you to spot new developments quickly a critical tool. alphasense aggregates content from the four key perspectives (company, journalist, analyst, and expert) to help you uncover insights before they’re on anyone else’s radar., experience the alphasense difference.

Download our Advancing Pharma Research with AI  guide to learn the nine ways AI can help you enhance your pharma research processes.

AlphaSense’s extensive content library, proprietary AI search functionality, and market sentiment scoring feature converge to streamline pharma market research. By leveraging our AI and NLP technology, organizations can reduce time and money spent on fruitless market research, and maintain an edge on the competition.

Start your free trial of AlphaSense today.

Fueled by empathy-driven storytelling and good coffee, Nicole is a content marketing specialist at AlphaSense. Previously, she has managed her own website/blog and has written guest posts for various other publications.

Read all posts written by Nicole Sheynin

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Thirty-Four Years of Online Pharmaceutical Marketing Research: A Bibliometric Analysis

• First Online: 01 January 2022

Cite this chapter

• Sheena Lovia Boateng   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9995-3340 6 &
• Paul Owusu Donkor   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8448-3833 7  

Part of the book series: Advances in Theory and Practice of Emerging Markets ((ATPEM))

570 Accesses

This study seeks to uncover the state of scientific research and trends in online pharmaceutical marketing. A total of 541 journal documents were obtained from Scopus and classified based on country, institutions, most impactful authors, influential journals, and keywords in the research area using VOSviewer and the bibliometrix package in R Studio. The findings reveal that research on online pharmaceutical marketing has revolved around three themes: digital technologies that facilitate the marketing of pharmaceutical products, the dark side of marketing pharmaceutical products online, and the legislation and regulation of online pharmaceutical marketing. Contributions to research in the area were also found to mostly originate from North America (USA) and Europe, with developing regions such as Africa being barely represented. Findings show that the USA and the University of Hertfordshire are the most productive country and institution, respectively, in respect to online pharmaceutical marketing research. At the same time, the International Journal of Drug Policy emerged as the most productive and most cited journal, with “Mackey TK” and “Liang BA” being the most relevant authors and “Schifano F” involved in most of the author collaborations. These results provide insights into online pharmaceutical marketing, in addition to valuable information to enable researchers to identify hot topics, new perspectives and research frontiers in the area, as well as potential collaborators and partner institutions. Furthermore, the findings point to the need for an enhanced research focus on other themes in online pharmaceutical marketing, particularly by researchers in Africa.

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Boateng, S.L., Donkor, P.O. (2022). Thirty-Four Years of Online Pharmaceutical Marketing Research: A Bibliometric Analysis. In: Boateng, R., Boateng, S.L., Anning-Dorson, T., Olumide Babatope, L. (eds) Digital Innovations, Business and Society in Africa. Advances in Theory and Practice of Emerging Markets. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77987-0_8

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Ethical Issues in Pharmaceutical Marketing: A Systematic Review and Future Research Agenda

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This systematic review of cross-disciplinary peer-reviewed quantitative research into pharmaceutical marketing ethical issues from 1990 to 2021 reveals a focus on direct-to-consumer advertising and physician-directed promotion. This review documents inconsistent findings across studies due to discrepancies and limitations in research designs, study populations, sampling procedures, and analytical approaches as well as discipline-specific biases and normative ethical ideologies. We present a comprehensive taxonomy of ethical issues from the systematic review, additional scholarly and industry publications, and expert interviews. We recommend that future research test causal inferences, use rigorous research designs, explore under-researched topics, resolve conflicting findings, and incorporate ethical theories.

• Pharmaceutical and medical ethics
• direct-to-consumer advertising
• ethical issues with pharmaceutical sales representatives
• marketing mix
• physician-directed promotions
• systematic review

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• Pharmaceutical Marketing Keyphrases 100%
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• Drugs Social Sciences 100%
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• Population Study Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science 100%
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T1 - Ethical Issues in Pharmaceutical Marketing

T2 - A Systematic Review and Future Research Agenda

AU - Limbu, Yam B.

AU - Huhmann, Bruce A.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

N2 - This systematic review of cross-disciplinary peer-reviewed quantitative research into pharmaceutical marketing ethical issues from 1990 to 2021 reveals a focus on direct-to-consumer advertising and physician-directed promotion. This review documents inconsistent findings across studies due to discrepancies and limitations in research designs, study populations, sampling procedures, and analytical approaches as well as discipline-specific biases and normative ethical ideologies. We present a comprehensive taxonomy of ethical issues from the systematic review, additional scholarly and industry publications, and expert interviews. We recommend that future research test causal inferences, use rigorous research designs, explore under-researched topics, resolve conflicting findings, and incorporate ethical theories.

AB - This systematic review of cross-disciplinary peer-reviewed quantitative research into pharmaceutical marketing ethical issues from 1990 to 2021 reveals a focus on direct-to-consumer advertising and physician-directed promotion. This review documents inconsistent findings across studies due to discrepancies and limitations in research designs, study populations, sampling procedures, and analytical approaches as well as discipline-specific biases and normative ethical ideologies. We present a comprehensive taxonomy of ethical issues from the systematic review, additional scholarly and industry publications, and expert interviews. We recommend that future research test causal inferences, use rigorous research designs, explore under-researched topics, resolve conflicting findings, and incorporate ethical theories.

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KW - direct-to-consumer advertising

KW - ethical issues with pharmaceutical sales representatives

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M3 - Article

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JF - Journal of Global Marketing

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Five lessons for effective pharma market research

Market research can identify ways to lower costs and improve revenues, if it is approached methodically. Here are some tips for success.

The slow-down in growth in the pharma industry over the last few years, as current medicines reach saturation levels, has highlighted the need for the industry to both invest in new drug development and better understand and counteract falling drug sales in emerging markets. Identifying the market potential for new drugs and pinpointing what is impacting sales is crucial if the industry is to move forward. However, in order to do this, it’s vital that the industry takes a ‘big picture’ view – a horizontal approach, some might say.

The healthcare industry is moving towards a patient-centric care model, but today’s pharmaceutical customer presents as a myriad of consumer types, ranging from hospital managers, doctors and pharmacists, to patients and care givers. Pharma needs to be mindful of all customers along the drug development pathway, from the outset, through the subsequent trials and regulatory processes, and on to delivery.

Market research (MR) can help identify ways to lower costs and improve revenues. The most successful pharma companies have developed powerful feedback programmes, tailored to their specific business needs, to get a more thorough understanding of the issues, concerns and requirements of every customer.

However, the increasingly complex nature of both client studies and business-critical MR programmes has required pharma companies to adopt the approach to research methodology and practices espoused by experts in MR.

Here are five fundamental lessons that pharma companies can apply to MR initiatives in this challenging environment:

Lesson 1. Gather feedback from all your customers

This may seem like an obvious statement, but it is essential to conduct a wide variety of surveys and research studies across all customer types to help you identify and prioritise which issues will have the biggest impact on your company’s success.

Some of the most effective surveys include:

• Physician satisfaction surveys following education seminar attendance
• Store/hospital product satisfaction surveys
• Patient/care giver satisfaction surveys following contact with the patient assistance department
• Patient pre-and post-clinical trials surveys.

Lesson 2. Monitor customer feedback at every touchpoint

It is important to provide a variety of different ways for customers to share their comments, so offer multiple feedback channels to improve both the quantity and quality of the feedback received. Make sure that you measure and monitor customer sentiment – what they really think – across all consumer support channels, as this kind of feedback is often provided ‘in the moment’ when opinions shared are most accurate.

Make feedback an integral part of business operations and key performance objectives so that it is clear that the management team has given the programme its full backing. Feedback can make a strong contribution to the development and evaluation of new initiatives, so remember to reference insight gathered when considering a new project.

Feedback channels that have proved to be successful consistently include:

• Pop-up and passive surveys on company websites for both ordering and bill pay
• Paper surveys in the field used following physician education seminars
• Email to web surveys following any form of email support
• IVR (Interactive Voice Recognition) surveys following phone support.

Lesson 3. Accommodate the diversity of the customer base

The ease of collecting and sharing feedback from customers around the world can help identify ways to improve overall competitiveness and international market profile. Global reach and multi-lingual deployment is therefore likely to be a ‘must-have’ requirement for any MR initiative. Customers naturally prefer to provide feedback in their own language, so surveys must be deployed in the local language to ensure high response rates.

It’s also important to remember that pharmaceutical companies need to provide their teams around the world with access to role-based dashboards so that users can review, address and resolve customers’ issues in a timely manner, and monitor and respond to geographical or cultural trends at the same time.

The key issues to address when considering a global MR initiative are:

• Which countries do you plan to target for survey deployment?
• Which languages are available as standard in your preferred survey platform?
• Are you correctly catering for the nuances and contrasts that arise across cultures and languages in order to localise research?

Lesson 4. Leverage a strategic Voice of the Customer (VoC) programme to support compliance and regulatory requirements

Strict rules regarding patient privacy and adverse events (AE) could be regarded as a significant issue for any MR programme. Similarly, imminent changes arising from the arrival of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) this Spring, and Brexit further down the line, are creating uncertainty in the industry about the impact of increased regulation and statutory controls on drug development, trials and delivery to market.

The solution is to build compliance into a Voice of the Customer (VoC) programme to not only reduce risk but also to streamline compliance initiatives. This ultimately saves both time and money.

For example, in the US, all open-ended comments must be reviewed for AE within 24 hours. Similarly, use fields are incorporated into survey questionnaires so that agents can record that they have reviewed each comment. Utilising use hierarchy capabilities also makes it easier for managers to sign off on actions to ensure staff have acted appropriately.

Lesson 5. Internal communication and action are the keys to success

Feedback is not an island. Real-time, role-based reporting and dashboards can help companies to drill down into the data gathered by MR initiatives and not only identify, but also prioritise, issues in a much more efficient and effective manner. Using these same dashboards can also help to streamline communication across departments and regions, encouraging insight to be shared by teams and country offices. After all, the ultimate goal of any MR initiative is not to create silos of data but to share findings and provide an opportunity for greater insight and improved new product delivery and service provision, based on all customer feedback, not just a snapshot.

To that end, remember that listening to employees can also help to streamline processes and development cycles. So, consider seeking the Voice of the Employee (VoE) alongside broader MR and VoC programmes. Employees at the frontline often have first-hand knowledge about where efficiency gains could be made or where there may be opportunities, so be sure to add their voices into the feedback mix.

About the author:

Holly Carter is a Director with Confirmit, suppliers of SaaS for customer experience and market research solutions. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in business and technology, and regularly presents at webinars and market research events. She has two bachelor’s degrees in business and marketing and an MBA.

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Next in pharma 2024: Reinventing for returns

Top C-suite agenda topics that will help shape the year

Today’s challenging environment

A healthy pharma sector produces positive outcomes for both patients and investors.

Over the last year, we’ve seen breakthroughs in vaccine development, cancer treatments, GLP-1 drugs that are revolutionizing obesity management, gene therapy and gene editing technology for rare diseases and new treatments for complex diseases like Alzheimer’s. Yet the value problem persists, and investors are still coming up short. The sector continues to experience under-performance in capital markets relative to the market index.

Reinventing the pharma business model is paramount:

The headwinds for pharma are real and sustained, rethink the innovation strategy.

• Accelerate using AI and analytics
• Lower costs, for real
• M&A as a catalyst for transformation
• Protect the enterprise

Every cost on the P&L is going up due to inflation, interest rates, new tax regimes and an increasing threat environment. As the cost of doing business rises, prices for some of the most-widely used drugs will be coming down with the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act which, for the first time, will allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. This will shift the definition of value and the relationship between value and price across each therapeutic area. Pharma companies are looking for strategies to help mitigate the negative impact these policies are expected to have on access to medicines covered by Medicare and on continued drug development.

The 2024 operating environment also faces continued risk from geopolitical tension, domestic political uncertainty and heated campaign rhetoric, and increasing attention on regulatory enforcement around the world. Whether pharma executives make planned strategic moves or take adaptive tactics in response to inevitable surprises, the industry can expect continued scrutiny of its actions — e.g., pricing decisions, M&A transactions, AI investments, workforce reductions — which means trust with stakeholders will remain a North Star.

In addition to these macro dynamics, there’s a fundamental truth about strategy in today’s pharmaceutical industry — there’s more competition fighting over the same space. The double-edged sword of scientific advancement is more head-to-head competition between on-market drugs within therapeutic areas, more investment in smaller patient populations and increased R&D dollars pursuing the same biological targets.

To outperform in this environment, leading companies can seize this moment to “reinvent for returns.” Companies with foresight will see 2024 as the year of delivering impressive results for both patients and investors. They will set their transformation agenda accordingly, which means rethinking the balance of R&D investments to increase focus on “white space,” accelerating products through the value chain with transformative investments in AI, lowering operational costs across the enterprise and using deals as a key enabler of strategy. While product launches and other growth strategies continue to be the lifeblood of the industry, planning growth on top of the same business model is likely to yield more of the same disappointing results in the capital markets. Instead, leading companies will use 2024 to reinvent the model in a way that matches the moment and sets the stage for competing differently in the years ahead.

Incremental change won’t be enough to deliver the results that the market and patients demand. Real change will be paramount to achieving meaningful growth in the short and long term.

Innovation should be ingrained in each aspect of the business model if companies are to break the cycle of margin compression and below-market returns. Starting with the R&D investment strategy, leaders can use 2024 to take a close look at the balance of investments directed at established areas versus white space. While investing in validated pathways and known mechanisms may seem to present lower risk, this is the same strategy that’s producing more head-to-head competition (Ref. Chart) and driving down returns in the commercial markets. It helps to explain why the upward trend in drug approvals is not translating into outperformance for the sector. Similarly, the shift of the last decade to concentrate R&D investment increasingly in specialty care categories means smaller patient populations on average. This may drive outperformance in areas with limited competition and/or strong pricing power, but as both of those circumstances become rarer the challenge of generating superior returns increases. Developments in the markets for obesity and Alzheimer’s may prove to be good examples of investing in white space — higher risk but less crowded commercial markets with large patient populations.

While rebalancing R&D investment isn’t all or nothing, R&D leaders can challenge their organizations on points such as:

• Is the downstream commercial risk of competing in established spaces fully incorporated into NPV models? 
• Are advances in AI and computing being leveraged fully to accelerate the journey to new validated pathways? 
• Do we have enough external collaborations in the white space? 
• In which areas can we increase our risk tolerance based on our knowledge and capabilities?

Simply put, the market has created a great deal of competition in the same spaces, resulting in more expensive investments in sales and marketing efforts, higher acquisition costs per patient, potentially lower peak sales and lower margins. The opportunity exists to reshape R&D strategies and ask hard questions about whether enough of the budget is going toward white space.

Differentiate investments to grow revenue and serve patients

Reset expectations for shareholder value performance along-side the patient mission. Drive business model reinvention agenda.

Chief Commercial Officers

Drive higher-ROI promotional model through portfolio investment choices and nextgen customer capabilities; double-down on white space market input to R&D.

Accelerate growth through AI and analytics

Pharma companies should increase speed across the value chain through faster drug development and faster uptake in the market. This means a full-throttled and responsible embrace of AI and analytics with use cases that can move the needle at scale. AI and generative AI (GenAI) have the potential to unlock high-value opportunities across the pharmaceutical value chain, including areas like drug discovery, clinical trial design, medical writing, promotional content generation and customer engagement. In fact, there are more than 200 use cases where GenAI can make a material difference in the work of a pharmaceutical company.

This is not just technology for the sake of technology. Instead, it’s about unlocking returns by deploying digital technology specifically to go faster, connect dots and release capacity. A PwC analysis shows the projected value of AI-enabled intelligent automation and advanced analytics:

• A 60% to 70% reduction in process timelines: Due to on-demand/near real-time intervention in clinical trials, supply optimization, and true data driven decision-making with ability to codify and automate institutional knowledge.
• Reduced burden for patients, providers and life sciences companies: Through operational improvements and AI-assisted decision and task optimization. Impacts across ecosystem of patients, providers and value chain players.
• A 30% or more reduction in operational costs: Due to improved efficiency in delivering operational productivity improvements driven by content automation, improved data quality, automated collection and processing.
• A 40% or more reduction in project delivery timelines: Prototyping in weeks not months, deployment in months not years — changing IT from an enabler to a digital partner.

Leading companies will likely invest in digital technologies such as AI, data analytics and machine learning to help accelerate the drug development process and leverage predictive insights to determine the direct costs to operationalize the portfolio from discovery through commercialization. Using these technologies can allow companies to increase speed across the value chain from drug development to approval and ramp up sales faster.

To capitalize on this next-generation technology, executives should have:

• A clear vision of where and how they will unlock value with nextgen technology, including measurable, quantified objectives and a clear assessment of what new technology means for future roles and skills.
• A responsibility framework that outlines their company’s practices for the ethical use of AI and builds trust with stakeholders.
• An ambitious portfolio of use cases which, just like the drug portfolio, includes projects with blockbuster potential (i.e., the ability to be truly transformative) and program management discipline that moves these use cases from idea to production.
• A backbone that can scale, either via in-house resources or through a partner.

Combine tech and business strategy for greatest gains

Lead the enterprise’s ‘art of the possible’ thinking across the value chain; ensure ‘value-first’ approach to emerging technology while also providing safeguards.

Embed stronger disciplines on resource allocation linked to value creation across the company; leverage M&A as opportunity to transform beyond traditional synergies.

Lower costs, for real, with bigger ambitions

While top-line growth remains essential, cost management is moving up the agenda, and it needs to come with bigger ambitions. Innovating in white spaces and increasing speed to market can help, but those levers won’t deliver change quickly enough to offset industry headwinds that are already dragging down P&Ls. Some companies started to deal with this reality through organizational restructuring and other cost actions in 2023. As a result, cost benchmarks are in flux.

In 2024, industry leaders will take additional steps to confirm spending is fully aligned with value creation. Strategically, this means being clear-eyed about what really drives competitive advantage for the enterprise and recycling investment from other areas to the differentiators. Traditional budgeting processes typically aren’t effective at driving trade-offs in resource allocation. This means corporate leaders will likely need supplemental steps in 2024 to confirm investment dollars are well-aligned with those few strategic priorities that can really deliver out-sized returns.

Operationally, the everyday operating costs of running the company should be on every leader’s agenda. There needs to be scrutiny of decentralized structures that may be duplicating activities; to enhance their value, offshore centers should take on new functions ; organizational charts will need to be flatter; and lower value routine processes may need to move to tech-enabled managed services.

Considering the cost management imperative, leading companies are creating deeper insights into the talent and financial resources’ productivity by function, geography, therapeutic area and asset. There’s an internal drive to understand the drivers of work across the enterprise and learn more about which spending choices are really creating a return. Even sophisticated companies that have undergone cost reductions are considering ways to reallocate spending using a stronger value-based approach. Analytics can make underlying drivers of work more transparent — alongside more granular insights on productivity gains — and reveal possibilities for material savings through increased cost discipline.

Accelerate growth through M&A: Transact to transform

Transact to transform is the deals mantra for 2024, which means using M&A as a catalyst for real transformation. Each deal represents an opportunity to improve the business and reinvent how it works.

As pharma companies look to reshape drug portfolios, drive scale/cost efficiencies and embrace technological advances, deals of all types will continue to play an essential role in 2024. M&A activity will comprise collaborations and partnerships, divestitures to cut low-/no-growth businesses, spin-offs to get back to core businesses ( as reflected in recent deal activity ), and ecosystem plays that bring traditional and nontraditional stakeholders together to solve problems.

There seems to be a new paradigm emerging in biopharma M&A against a backdrop of higher risk-free rates, economic and geopolitical headwinds, and the implications of the Inflation Reduction Act. Margin accretion will take center stage over growth-driven dealmaking, and, with a clearer understanding of regulators’ positions, there may be some larger deals. IPO markets will gradually reopen in 2024, but it's likely that only companies with strong clinical data and differentiation will actually go public as the economics of me-too products are unlikely to attract investors.

Creativity in M&A will also be imperative in 2024 leading to more innovative structures around R&D funding and partnering / collaboration (to provide P&L or capital relief), a larger role for private equity and private credit, continued focus on divestitures, critical importance of eco-system building early-on and perhaps even some asset swaps to enable scale and margin accretion.

The sector should also widen the types of investments it’s willing to target, including smaller biotech, research universities, equity investments, collaborations and venture capital.

Building trust and protecting the enterprise

Trust continues to be an essential ingredient for success. Asking patients to take a new medicine, regulators to approve a new product and employees to act in a compliant manner are just a few examples of the important role trust plays in the pharmaceutical sector.

Maintaining trust with pharma’s many stakeholders means anticipating threats and managing risks. Many of the threats are familiar — cyber attacks, quality and regulatory compliance deficiencies, ethical lapses, and evolving legal, tax and other compliance obligations — and every year brings new variations. The new  Pillar Two  tax environment is one example, making a clear, defendable — yet agile — tax strategy key to long-term success. And advocating for tax policy that continues to incentivize pharma’s investment in R&D will be important, no matter the outcome of the November presidential election.

More broadly, as regulatory and enforcement agencies develop methodologies for using AI and other technologies to analyze data in more sophisticated ways, we expect enforcement in the months and years ahead to become more stringent. From increases in audits of transparency programs (including heightened requests for years of historical data from companies) to increases in FDA inspections now that the pandemic has passed, regulators are likely to more proactively and effectively enforce current and emerging regulations.

Compliance and risk functions should consider coordinated investments in people, processes and technology to maintain the distinctive capabilities necessary to help safeguard their organizations. Taking a compliance-by-design mindset in designing and launching new strategies can help pharma companies as they look to innovate and win — baking-in quality, compliance and trust as an essential part of all forward-looking investments.

Safeguarding the enterprise while also transforming it to move faster and operate with lower costs isn’t easy, but there’s really no choice. Executives focused on growth alongside the risk agenda know that trust is critical to the mission. Strong risk and resilience capabilities can be the difference between those that thrive and those that fight to survive.

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Glenn Hunzinger

Health Industries Leader, PwC US

Pharmaceutical & Life Sciences Advisory Leader, PwC US

Laura Robinette

Health Industries Assurance Leader, Global Engagement Partner, PwC US

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Behind the mirror: The science — and art —of market research

BEHIND THE MIRROR: The Science — and Art — of Market Research

Tapping into the psyche of physicians and consumers is critical in today’s competitive environment. The challenge is to meld qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to gain meaningful results and actionable tactics to reach these powerful groups.

PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES KNOW THAT MARKET RESEARCH IS CRITICAL — data provide customer insights, competitive intelligence, behavioral tendencies, and product positioning. And market research increasingly is becoming an important component for linking R&D and marketing teams. The most successful companies know that to position new products effectively in the market and to increase brand equity, they have to understand physician and patient attitudes, behaviors, and perspectives.

Although pharmaceutical companies rely on many different types of research methodologies to gain quantitative market intelligence, a mainstay for gathering qualitative feedback is the focus group. But pharmaceutical companies may not be getting all they can from their focus group market research efforts. Specialists who conduct focus groups and other types of market research say pharmaceutical companies can realize value beyond the objectives of the primary research, as well as gain better insight and data for their money by developing better designed studies, identifying more targeted objectives, and using improved technologies.

There are no studies that track how much pharmaceutical companies spend on various market research methods, but according to Richard B. Vanderveer, Ph.D., CEO of V2 Inc., qualitative studies are estimated to account for about 40% to 50% of the market research dollars in the pharmaceutical industry. “The rest is generally spent on quantitative types of market research, ranging from the use of the Internet to conducting surveys, tracking studies, modeling discrete choice studies, and using statistical metrics,” he says.

Qualitative, not Quantitative Focus groups, experts explain, can be used for several purposes, such as determining the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of participants. Or focus groups can be used to test concepts, through which a company can get guidance on clinical trials, make a go/no go decision for a product, or test promotional elements.

Experts say while focus groups can provide valuable insights, the results are inherently qualitative. “Focus groups shouldn’t be used for quantitative measurement,” Dr. Vanderveer says. “The unit of analysis when 10 doctors are together is really the group. It doesn’t make sense to say 6 out of 10 doctors in the group said `x.’ Because physicians play off each other, we don’t get a pure read of the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of any one physician in the group.”

In fact, some clients run focus groups as quasi quantitative studies, says Ken Berwitz, president of Ken Berwitz Marketing Research and president of National Qualitative Centers Inc.

“Clients have the moderator ask one question, get an answer from everybody, and then ask the next question, with no probing, interaction, or synergy from members of the group,” he says. “This really isn’t a focus group. The purpose of the focus group is not to come to conclusions; at least it shouldn’t be. The purpose should be to get ideas and direction, which are then tested quantitatively in a statistically viable way.”

Experts say companies should use market research to go beyond the preconceived beliefs that their marketing people already may have.

“Today, many pharma product managers are relatively young,” says John Trombetta, senior VP of Thomson Advanced Health Market Research. “They come out of the field, and they make a decision based on this limited experience. The market research then becomes a way to validate their decisions.”

Another mistake companies make is to use research results as the only, or majority, vehicle for decision-making rather than using research as fodder for a marketing decision, says Phil Deschamps, president of Gerbig, Snell/Weisheimer.

“Human nature is to rely on objective metrics to make decisions,” he says. “The lure of being able to say `market research said so’ is a shield. Market research should be used as a sword to help us make better marketing decisions.”

The key is integrating data from various sources to gain a big-picture perspective, says Ron Brand, group director of salesforce effectiveness consulting at IMS Health.

“Primary research is important, but it shouldn’t be used in isolation,” he says. “There is additional information that can be brought to bear for segmentation purposes. To extract greater value, marketers have to link those primary variables with a physician’s demographics and behaviors in terms of prescribing patterns and with other influences such as managed care. Combining all of these elements presents a more complete and actionable picture.”

When it comes to market research, one of the earliest decisions a company needs to make is selecting the right methodology for its objectives, whether it’s a focus group, a survey, a one-on-one interview, or an online session. To determine the right research method, companies need to start by considering all the business decisions that require third-party input and how best to gain meaningful data from participants.

“The spend on market research should match directly to the value of the information being sought, which matches directly to the size of the decision being made,” says Philip Patrick, president of PharmaStrat Inc. “For example, a company may want to determine whether to do a Phase III clinical study in support of a drug. Arguably, this is one of the larger decisions a company makes during drug development. This could be a $10 million decision. When considering a slight refinement in a print ad or other relatively small decisions, spending a large amount of money on focus groups in multiple cities might not be the best way to collect that insight.”

According to Dr. Vanderveer, focus groups should be used to develop a body of knowledge beyond the specific objectives of a particular research project, this allows the company to keep its finger on the pulse in a particular treatment area.

Justina Lambert, VP of marketing at SigmaTau Pharmaceuticals Inc., points out that a focus group is just one aspect of a research model that can be used to evaluate a marketing environment.

“When we do focus groups, we also conduct backup surveys,” she says. “Companies have to be diligent to align all of the data results. There is a tendency to ignore results that might not be in the company’s favor and focus on the results that the company wants. The reason to use multiple tools is to ensure that different viewpoints are captured based on different techniques. If a company only latches onto the answers that it wants, then the company is defeating the whole purpose of market research.”

Because research results can be interpreted in various ways, pharmaceutical marketers must ensure that personal bias and individual personalities do not skew results, especially in a focus-group setting.

Quote: Justina Lambert IF WE COULD START DOING RESEARCH PROACTIVELY WITH PLENTY OF TIME, THEN WE COULD USE THE DATA MORE TO PLAN RATHER THAN TO REACT.

Quote: Phil Deschamps MARKET RESEARCH REALLY SHOULD BE USED AS A SWORD TO HELP US MAKE BETTER MARKETING DECISIONS.

Quote: Ken Dietel THE INTERNET IS A GREAT WAY TO TARGET AN AUDIENCE TO ASK QUESTIONS,OR TO TRACK PHYSICIAN BEHAVIOR.THE BEAUTY IS THAT IT CAN BE DONE SO QUICKLY.

“The problem lies in misinterpreting or over-interpreting data from focus groups or other research,” Mr. Deschamps says. “The classic example — and this probably happens more often than not — is when marketers try to pull quantitative data from qualitative research. This is very dangerous and can lead to poor decisions.”

“The power of the focus group is to observe not just words, but the body language and emotions exhibited around the table,” he says. “When focus groups are well executed, the market research team records not just what the subjects say but their body language and demeanor to determine their feelings toward whatever they are being asked to react to.”

Just as important as interpreting the information, is the need for a well-controlled environment.

“During focus-group sessions, often there are people who have very strong opinions or personalities and naturally that person begins to influence the opinions of the other participants,” Ms. Lambert says. “During one focus group, we had a participant who was very outspoken about our product and had a negative perception about dialysis patients in general. After a very short period of time, we started to see the other focus group participants clam up or follow the lead of this outspoken person rather than presenting their own opinions and ideas. That skews the entire focus group. But by using backup survey data we can ensure the results of a focus group are valid.”

Focus-group participants are not the only ones who can skew a session; personalities on the other side of the glass also must be considered.

“People who work on a brand invest a lot of time and effort, and they become champions of certain points of view,” says Jules Korzeniowski, president of The Conectics Group. “When these beliefs are challenged in a focus-group setting, it’s surprising to see how the data can be reinterpreted.”

Quote: Philip Patrick THE SPEND ON MARKET RESEARCH SHOULD MATCH DIRECTLY TO THE VALUE OF THE INFORMATION BEING SOUGHT.

To guard against bias, one solution is to have more than one person interpreting the results.

“Different people should be assigned to listen for or observe different elements,” says George Glatcz, general manager of Health Process Management. “In an ideal research scenario, different people would be focused on the analytical part, the emotional part, and the practical part. Most companies don’t do that. There needs to be a team of people who listen to and look for the different communication styles of physicians.”

Improving the Process To get the most from their market research dollars, companies need to invest the time and resources for proper implementation. Because a focus group can cost anywhere from $50,000 to $250,000, proper planning is necessary to yield the best results.

“We get caught up in the hectic nature of our businesses, and we often do market research at the last minute,” Ms. Lambert says. “Sometimes this is because we are reacting to a market condition. But, if we could start doing research proactively with plenty of time, then we could use the data more to plan rather than to react.”

Pharmaceutical companies are very price conscious, according to Mr. Trombetta, but they don’t always compare apples with apples.

“Sometimes companies look for the quickest, easiest, and cheapest approach for market research, but that may not always be the best way,” he says.

D r. Vanderveer suggests that technology can be a valuable tool for interpreting the data and gaining additional insights from the information collected.

“Technology can make for a better presentation of research results,” Dr. Vanderveer says. “There should be more editing of the focus group, where carefully produced results are presented to management. I’ve seen examples where management had one perspective on a marketing situation and the people who interact with the doctors had a different perspective. A very convincing way to show upper management what the real world is like is to put together a realistically edited presentation of in-depth interviews.”

One way to get a “real-world” perspective, according to Mr. Deschamps, is to get physicians out of the physician mode.

“The methodology of the focus group, the ability of the moderator, and the questions should be structured to remove doc tors from their analytical comfort zone,” he says. “Doctors are trained to look unemotionally at situations and to come up with the best logical and left-brain approach to treat their patients. In the context of a focus group, where more often than not a company is trying to determine product positioning or marketing concepts, it is important to have the physician become a consumer.”

Mr. Deschamps says the way in which physicians respond to questions also is important.

“When the moderator asks, `how would you diagnose a particular patient?’ or `what’s going through your mind?’, it takes physicians back to their comfort zone and we lose the opportunity to have them provide a sincere, honest reaction because these are questions they answer many times in the course of a day,” Mr. Deschamps says. “Someone listening in on a focus group we may hear a lot of conversation, but we’re really not learning anything new. By taking physicians out of their comfort zone and asking the right questions, we can tap into their emotions. Such as, `what emotion do you have when you see a patient with a certain disease?’ Or, `how did you feel when you were able to satisfactorily treat the patient?’ By getting physicians to open up emotionally, focus groups give marketers some insight into their psyche and provide information that we can capitalize on.”

Another area in which market research in a focus group setting can fall short, is by trying to do too much within the allotted time frame.

“Often clients add too many components and the outcome is a history of pharmaceuticals part one,” Mr. Berwitz says. “When that happens, the moderator is forced to cut off rich discussions, which would have yielded important information, in order to cover everything on the agenda. Companies need to prioritize and identify the most important elements to be addressed. Instead of having 10 issues up for discussion, cut the number down to six. Unless those critical issues are identified and there is enough time to fully explore them, all the richness of the focus group is lost. Focus groups can’t be treated as economy centers.”

To fully realize the data that can be mined from a focus group, companies must be realistic in their expectations and carefully design the questions that are to be asked. They must ensure that the moderator is well-versed in orchestrating the flow of the discussion, asking probing questions at the appropriate opportunity, and maintaining the right timing.

“The questions that the moderator is asking are vital to ensure that the company is getting the exact information that it is looking for,” Ms. Lambert says. “Often companies have a list of questions, then leave them in the hands of the individuals or the group who is conducting the focus group. Naturally at the end of the process, the company may very well not get what it is looking for.”

Some experts say, however, there is too much emphasis placed on the focus group itself and not enough importance on trying to change physician behavior.

As such, Mr. Korzeniowski notes, marketers have to expand their definition of market research, and incorporate data from varied resources, particularly the salesforce.

Quote: George Glatcz UNDERSTANDING HOW PHYSICIANS BEHAVE IN THE REAL WORLD IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST PARTS MISSING FROM THE MARKETING PRACTICE RIGHT NOW.

Quote: John Trombetta PHARMA COMPANIES ARE VERY PRICE CONSCIOUS, BUT THEY DON’T ALWAYS COMPARE APPLES WITH APPLES.

Quote: Ron Brand THE KEY IS INTEGRATING DATA FROM VARIOUS SOURCES TO GAIN A BIG-PICTURE PERSPECTIVE.

“Data that come back from the salesforce about physician behavior are market research,” he says. “There are many tools today that provide specific, measurable data; salesforce automation tools are very sophisticated, so now it’s possible to determine what is happening at the line level and even at the pharmacy level.”

“Understanding how physicians behave in the real world is one of the biggest parts missing from the marketing practice right now,” Mr. Glatcz says. “We know what physicians want to tell us. We know how to influence their behavior by putting them into controlled situations. But we really don’t watch how they practice every day. Marketers take qualitative information from focus groups and try to match that with quantitative information. Both data sets should be seen as complementary. Neither traditional qualitative nor quantitative research provides a complete picture of how physicians will act in a given situation. To gain a better understanding, marketers also need to consider forms of research that provide insights into behavior, such as observational studies.

“Behavioral change is not about tracking physicians’ prescribing patterns,” Mr. Glatcz adds. “What is important is to understand what influenced a physician to switch from one therapy to another. Often times, pharmaceutical companies do not make an effort to find these answers.”

An evolving area of market research is the use of the Internet, which according to Ken Dietel, VP of strategic marketing research at The Conectics Group, is a great way to target questions for a specific audience or to track physician behavior.

“The beauty is that these studies can be done quickly,” he says. “Also people can respond when they are available. Based on our experience, the best time for a physician to participate is after hours or on weekends or holidays, which is not when research is conducted ordinarily.”

One pharmaceutical company that is using online focus groups is Reliant Pharmaceuticals LLC, which has done a few pilot programs. “One of the key reasons we looked to online tactics was cost savings — travel savings of our staff and of participants and rental facilities,” says Ron Calderone, chief information officer at Reliant. “If we can make it easier on participants, this is a benefit. And it clearly benefits us because we’re able to capture information in a more structured environment.”

PharmaVoice welcomes comments about this article. Email us at feed [email protected] .

Sidebar: Winning Strategies for Market Research PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES THAT GET THE MOST FOR THEIR MARKET RESEARCH DOLLAR HAVE SEVERAL THINGS IN COMMON, SAYS CHRIS BOGAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF BEST PRACTICES LLC. THESE BEST PRACTICES INCLUDE: • Conducting market research earlier in the development cycle. This helps companies to shape a product’s positioning and message early on. “Everybody says they do market research early in the process,” Mr. Bogan says. “But what they’ve really done is a market sizing exercise, which should be done. What we’re talking about is market research that is brand-specific, therapeutically relevant, and designed to help the early design and development teams understand what doctors need. This enables a unique positioning for the brand when it comes to market.” • Developing marketing research specialists who are familiar with specific therapeutic areas. These specialists can help guide market research so that it is faster, less expensive, and provides richer customer insights. • Understanding how to use outsourced resources appropriately. The best companies are able to identify the critical issues that need to remain under the direction of in-house staff and which ones can be done by an outside firm. • Using old tools more creatively and often earlier in the process. An example, Mr. Bogan says, would be the earlier use of conjoint analysis, a technique for determining the value that people place on the features of a product. • Applying new tools to pharmaceutical market research, such as those used for consumer products. “An example is to conduct end user customer research to evaluate patient outcomes from a patient’s perspective and not necessarily from a doctor’s perspective,” Mr. Bogan says. “The data can help doctors understand that a successful holistic treatment involves understanding different patient types and how to treat them appropriately.” • Distributing and sharing market research within a global enterprise. “In a large global enterprise, there’s the potential for repetitive and redundant research that’s done from country to country,” Mr. Bogan says. “Sharing research is critical because outside the larger nations, the quality of market research goes down.” Quote: Chris Bogan WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT IS MARKET RESEARCH THAT IS BRAND SPECIFIC,THERAPEUTICALLY RELEVANT,AND DESIGNED TO HELP THE EARLY DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT TEAMS UNDERSTAND WHAT DOCTORS NEED. • Identifying a minimal critical standard for excellence in market research. This can help keep market research budgets in check and maintain consistent quality across markets, brands, and therapy areas. • Organizing a group of people within the pharmaceutical organization that can analyze and make decisions about promotion al investment.

Sidebar: Experts on this topic KEN BERWITZ . President, Ken Berwitz Marketing Research, Marlboro, N.J., and president, National Qualitative Centers Inc., Chicago and Boston; National Qualitative Centers operates focus group facilities. For more information, visit nqcfocus.com. CHRIS BOGAN . President and CEO, Best Practices LLC, Chapel Hill, N.C.; Best Practices conducts research and consulting work based on the principle that organizations can chart a course to superior economic performance by studying the best business practices, operating tactics, and winning strategies of world-class companies. For more information, visit bestinclass.com. RON BRAND. Group director sales force effectiveness consulting, IMS Health, Fairfield, Conn.; IMS Health, with headquarters in Plymouth Meeting, PA., is a global source of business intelligence about pharmaceutical and healthcare markets. For more information, visit imshealth.com. RON CALDERONE. Chief information officer, Reliant Pharmaceuticals LLC, Liberty Corner, N.J.; Reliant is a privately held pharmaceutical company. For more information, visit reliantrx.com. PHIL DESCHAMPS. President, Gerbig, Snell/Weisheimer, Westerville, Ohio; GSW is the full-service healthcare advertising division of inChord Communications Inc. For more information, visit gswa.com or inchord.com. KEN DIETEL. VP, strategic marketing research, The Conectics Group, Parsippany, N.J.; The Conectics Group, a unit of CommonHealth, provides healthcare research, planning, development, and media services. For more information, visit commonhealth.com. GEORGE GLATCZ. General manager, Health Process Management,Westerville,Ohio.; HPM, a division of inChord Communications Inc., is a data analytics company located in Doylestown, Pa. For more information, visit hpmdata.com. JULES KORZENIOWSKI. President, The Conectics Group, Parsippany, N.J.; The Conectics Group, a unit of CommonHealth, provides healthcare research, planning, development, and media services. For more information, visit commonhealth.com. JUSTINA LAMBERT. VP, marketing, Sigma Tau Pharmaceuticals Inc., Gaithersburg, Md.; Sigma Tau is a pharmaceutical company that specializes in the sales and marketing of orphan drugs. For more information, visit sigmatau.com. PHILIP PATRICK. President, PharmaStrat Inc., Flemington, N.J.; PharmaStrat provides pharmaceutical companies with market research, consulting, training, and educational services focused on the unique needs of managed care customers. For more information, visit pharmastrat.com. JOHN TROMBETTA. Senior VP, Thomson Advanced HealthMarket Research, Secaucus, N.J.; Thomson Advanced Health Market Research, a division of Thomson Physicians World, provides customized, actionable market research for the healthcare industry, offering a range of qualitative and quantitative market research activities for profiling current practices, assessing brand equity, identifying market segments, evaluating new products, and developing e commerce strategies. For more information, visit AHResearch.com. RICHARD B.VANDERVEER, PH.D. CEO,V2 Inc., Blue Bell, Pa.;V2 is an international pharmaceutical marketing research and consulting company that conducts qualitative and quantitative research projects and provides marketing and salesforce support services. For more information, visit vanderveer.com.

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9 Effective Pharmaceutical Marketing Strategies (with Examples and 4Ps)

Pharmaceutical marketing comes with its unique challenges and opportunities. And we know that your aim, as a pharmaceutical marketing professional,  is to craft strategies that not only comply with regulations but also effectively reach and engage your target audience. 

In this article, we will provide you with 9 proven pharmaceutical marketing strategies, incorporating the latest trends and examples to guide your campaigns, besides the 4Ps of marketing for pharmaceutical companies and products.

What Are the 4Ps of Pharmaceutical Marketing?

Before diving into the strategies, it’s crucial to grasp the foundational 4Ps of pharmaceutical marketing: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion . 

These elements will act as your compass in navigating the pharmaceutical landscape.

The product lies at the core of the pharmaceutical marketing strategy. Regarding this P, the key is to differentiate the product and articulate a clear value proposition . 

You should address the specific needs and expectations of the target audience, emphasizing clinical effectiveness and safety to medical professionals for prescription drugs, and highlighting benefits and ease of use to consumers for over-the-counter products​.

A pharmaceutical pricing strategy should reflect the value your product delivers , taking into account market demand, factors such as development costs, and the needs of patients and healthcare providers. 

In this industry, addressing affordability is crucial, as many patients may struggle with the cost of medications.

Ensuring the product is accessible where your target customers are most likely to look for it is a vital component of your strategy. Distribution channels play a key role in ensuring pharmaceutical products are accessible to target customers. 

Whether through pharmacies, hospitals, or direct sales to patients, choosing the right distribution channel involves considering the product’s characteristics and the preferences and needs of the target audience. For instance, prescription drugs are usually distributed through wholesalers and pharmacies, while vaccines might be distributed through government agencies​.

Creative promotional strategies are crucial for communicating the benefits of pharmaceutical products, which include advertising across various media, working with the media for positive publicity, promotions, and direct marketing to healthcare professionals and patients.

Additionally, you should be sure that your promotion strategy adheres to regulations and ethical considerations to maintain trust and safety. For example, pharmaceutical companies must avoid misleading claims.

A great example of effective promotion through digital advertising is the work done by Hallam for Sygnature Discovery. By restructuring their Google Ads account and leveraging machine learning and automated bidding, Hallam achieved remarkable results for Sygnature, including a 182% increase in leads and an 85% decrease in cost per lead. This showcases the impact of well-executed digital advertising strategies in pharmaceutical marketing.

What Are the Main Challenges in Pharmaceutical Marketing?

The pharmaceutical marketing landscape in 2024 presents numerous yet manageable challenges due to the industry’s dynamic nature and regulatory constraints. 

Among these challenges, the need for qualified professionals to sustain innovation and growth comes first. And the complex process of collecting and the large volumes of data required to be analyzed are next in line.

The pharmaceutical industry is also called to increase transparency in its operations, from clinical trial data to drug availability , while data security remains a huge concern as companies store patient and research information, facing threats from cyber-attacks​.

These challenges underline the importance of a well-thought-out approach to pharmaceutical marketing, where innovation and ethical considerations lead marketing professionals to form strategies that are not only effective but also responsible and patient-centric.

9 Proven Pharmaceutical Marketing Strategies

You can elevate your pharmaceutical marketing strategy and stay ahead of your competitors in these ways:

1.Share News

Sharing news effectively is one of the central elements of pharmaceutical marketing. It is all about striking a balance between transparency and actively engaging with your target audience. 

You should share regular updates about the latest advancements, research outcomes, and introductions of new products. This way, you will open a direct line of communication while increasing your credibility among healthcare professionals and patients.

For example, pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer and Novartis have mastered this strategy through their dedicated newsrooms. 

These newsrooms act as both a source of the latest scientific discoveries and an educational tool. By consistently providing valuable information, these companies ensure they are seen as reliable and authoritative voices in the health sector.

2.Develop a Helpful App

By developing a helpful application, you can demonstrate your forward-thinking approach to pharmaceutical marketing strategies, aiming to seamlessly connect complex medical insights with accessible digital platforms. And, you won’t miss out on the chance to reach out to a larger audience through the app stores. A successful app will improve your engagement with both healthcare providers and patients by offering them valuable resources through applications. 

A notable example of this strategy is Pfizer’s iGrow app, which educates parents about Growth Hormone Deficiency in children. Moburst helped Pfizer achieve remarkable success with the app by executing a 48-hour media burst. This highly targeted campaign resulted in iGrow reaching the top three most downloaded free apps within 48 hours. The strategic hyper-segmentation reduced the cost per install by 50%, leading to significant organic downloads and exceeding Pfizer’s expectations.

Another example is of this strategy is Novartis, which has introduced an app specifically tailored for healthcare professionals. 

This app gathers essential medical information and resources in a user-friendly format, aiding in the clinical decision-making process. 

Developing a pharmaceutical app reflects a keen understanding of the varied needs of its users, prompting pharmaceutical companies to craft applications that focus on both healthcare professionals and the general public. For the former, features might include access to pharmaceutical databases, the latest clinical trial findings, and interactive educational tools for patient consultation. And for the latter, the focus could be on functionalities like medication reminders, health tracking interfaces, and customized health guidance.

3.Increase Your Organic Traffic with SEO

Crafting an effective healthcare SEO strategy is about fine-tuning your website and content so they rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). By doing so, you will increase visibility and engagement from healthcare professionals and patients alike.

To start, keyword research is fundamental. It involves identifying the words and phrases your target audience typically uses to find medical information or products online. By embedding these keywords naturally in your content, titles, and meta descriptions, you make your site more discoverable to those queries. Local search optimization is also key for attracting potential patients or professionals within specific regions.

Content quality is also one of the most important elements that you should consider. Search engines do favor content that is truly informative, accurate, and user-friendly , which means it is easy to read. This requires you to craft detailed and helpful content that directly addresses the questions and needs of your audience. 

Besides the quality of the content, you should also update your website regularly with fresh and authoritative content. This way, you can signal to search engines that you’re a relevant and up-to-date source of medical information, which can elevate your SEO standings.

Technical SEO should also be a key player in your pharmaceutical marketing strategy. A mobile-friendly, quick-loading, and secure website (using HTTPS) provides a better user experience, a factor that significantly influences how search engines rank sites. Additionally, by implementing structured data markup, you help search engines understand your site’s content more effectively, potentially enhancing your visibility in search results.

Last but not least, with a solid backlink profile established through links from reputable and related external sites, you can also significantly increase your website’s authority and search rankings. And active participation in community discussions, guest posting on esteemed sites, and forming partnerships with healthcare entities are strategies that you can use to enrich your backlink profile, which will boost your overall SEO efforts.

4.Influence and Attract People on Social Media

You can bridge the gap between pharmaceutical companies and diverse audiences with the help of healthcare social media marketing .

Platforms like Instagram serve as vital channels where companies like Sanofi and Bayer excel at making complex health information more accessible and relatable through healthcare marketing campaigns . 

The key to the pharmaceutical social media marketing approach lies in its ability to not just broadcast information but to invite the audience into a real dialogue and create a space where interactions feel more like conversations among community members than a one-way flow of information. 

For instance, when Sanofi highlights the achievements and aspirations of its scholars, it puts an emphasis on the importance they give to inclusivity in healthcare and invites its audience to be a part of this story. 

Bu gönderiyi Instagram'da gör Sanofi (@sanofi)'in paylaştığı bir gönderi

Bayer, through its focus on sustainability efforts like The Nutrient Gap Initiative, showcases a commitment to addressing global health challenges through innovation, and leads its audience to engage with their content.

Bu gönderiyi Instagram'da gör Bayer (@bayerofficial)'in paylaştığı bir gönderi

In short, to have such a strategic use of social media, you should provide valuable health information, demonstrate social responsibility, and engage with followers in a meaningful way. 

5.Make Your Medical Web Design User-Friendly

An effective medical web design should effortlessly lead visitors through their healthcare exploration, ensuring they can find what they’re looking for without any hassle. This includes making information, resources, and support readily accessible with a clear and intuitive layout.

A well-designed website is never limited to being visually appealing, as it should create an environment where users feel informed, supported, and guided. You should ensure that your site is responsive and easy to navigate on various devices, from desktops to smartphones. For example, Johnson & Johnson provides its website visitors with an easy-to-use website both on desktop and mobile.

Such attention to detail not only leaves a lasting positive impression but also significantly enhances the overall experience of your audience, encouraging them to return and engage with your content more deeply.

6. Optimizing Marketing Strategies with Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics enables pharmaceutical companies to forecast trends and patient responses, ensuring that their marketing strategies are both relevant and innovative . By predicting market dynamics and customer behaviors, you can fine-tune your campaigns, just like 93% of healthcare executives state, and better meet the needs of the market, while increasing engagement.

7.Content Marketing and Education

A successful content marketing strategy involves the creation of informative content such as blog posts, whitepapers, and webinars. With such content, you can establish yourself as a thought leader and trusted information source. 

A strong focus on high-quality, educational content helps build trust and credibility with both healthcare professionals and patients, which are essential for long-term brand loyalty.

8.Leveraging Virtual and Augmented Reality

The use of VR and AR in pharmaceutical marketing offers an innovative way to engage and educate both healthcare professionals and patients. These technologies provide immersive experiences that can explain complex mechanisms of action or offer virtual tours of manufacturing facilities, making the information more accessible and understandable. By incorporating AR smartphone apps like the one used by Pfizer for patient education and the app created by ETHOSH to raise awareness about glaucoma, pharmaceutical companies can further personalize healthcare experiences and empower patients to better understand their conditions and treatment options.

9.User Generated Content in Pharma

User-generated content (UGC) is a great way of connecting with the audience on a more personal level through a variety of content types, such as testimonials, reviews, and social media posts. With the help of UGC, you can build trust and credibility with your audience.

One way to encourage UGC is to create campaigns leading users to share their experiences with a particular product or treatment. For example, a pharmaceutical company could create a hashtag campaign on social media asking users to share their success stories using a specific medication.

Pfizer has been developing a variety of hashtag campaigns on social media channels and letting people tell their own stories.

Programs like Meet Meningitis, @QuittersCircle, and Story Half Told allow patients to share their stories. https://t.co/jT4XQKrPm4 #LifeInFocus #PatientsInFocus pic.twitter.com/ydbOi4BrgE — Pfizer Inc. (@pfizer) June 29, 2018

When exploring one of Pfizer’s storytelling campaigns, the presentation of unique stories showcasing individuals benefiting from the pharmaceutical company’s products warmly engages the audience.

Life at the Campisanos. Mom has #MetastaticBC but keeps on rolling. See more https://t.co/8SKANIaUFo #StoryHalfTold pic.twitter.com/Jc7ODS30m3 — Pei Ketron (@pketron) October 27, 2015

Pharmaceutical Marketing Trends

Following the latest trends in the pharmaceutical marketing field requires a keen understanding of the fast shifts influenced by technological advancements, regulatory changes, and shifts in consumer behavior. 

As the field of pharma continues to evolve, marketers must stay informed and agile to position pharmaceutical products and services effectively.

Digital Transformation in Marketing for Pharmaceutical Companies

The digital transformation is revolutionizing the way pharmaceutical companies connect with healthcare professionals and patients. 

This trend involves the comprehensive integration of digital technologies into all facets of business operations, fundamentally altering how companies operate and deliver value to their customers. Embracing digital tools and platforms enables more personalized, efficient, and impactful engagements.

The Rise of Patient-Centric Pharmaceutical Marketing 

Patient-centric marketing has emerged as a key strategy, placing the patient at the heart of all marketing efforts. This approach focuses on understanding and addressing the specific needs, preferences, and behaviors of patients, aiming to tailor marketing strategies to enhance patient outcomes and overall satisfaction. By prioritizing the patient experience, companies can foster stronger relationships and build lasting loyalty.

Artificial Intelligence in Marketing for Pharmaceutical Products

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a valuable tool in pharmaceutical marketing, offering unprecedented capabilities to analyze data, personalize interactions, and streamline customer communications. AI can predict market trends, optimize marketing strategies, and enhance user engagement with personalized content, thereby transforming the landscape of pharmaceutical marketing with its advanced analytical and predictive prowess.

How to Create a Pharmaceutical Marketing Plan

Creating an effective pharmaceutical marketing plan requires a strategic approach that covers understanding the market, defining clear objectives, and implementing tailored strategies. 

Here are the key steps to developing a comprehensive pharmaceutical marketing plan:

1.Market Research

Conduct thorough market research to understand the target audience and current trends in the pharmaceutical industry.

2.Define Marketing Objectives

Clearly define what you want to achieve with your marketing efforts, such as increasing brand awareness, boosting product sales, or improving customer retention.

3.Develop Targeting Strategies

Identify and segment your target audience based on demographics, behaviors, and needs. Tailored messaging and marketing tactics will be more effective in engaging these segments.

4.Choose Appropriate Channels

Determine the most effective pharmaceutical marketing channels for reaching your target audience, whether through digital media, face-to-face interactions, or traditional marketing methods.

5.Budget Allocation

Allocate your marketing budget based on the expected return on investment (ROI) from different channels and tactics. Be sure to monitor spending and adjust as needed to maximize your marketing budget’s impact.

6.Implement and Monitor

Roll out your pharmaceutical marketing strategies and monitor their effectiveness. Use metrics and analytics to track progress and make adjustments to your plan as necessary.

7.Compliance and Ethical Considerations

Ensure all marketing activities comply with industry regulations and ethical standards. This includes transparent communication, protecting patient privacy, and avoiding misleading claims.

8.Integration Across Platforms

Integrate your marketing strategies across various platforms to ensure a cohesive and unified brand message. This includes aligning your online and offline marketing efforts for a seamless customer experience.

9.Feedback and Continuous Improvement

Collect feedback from customers, healthcare professionals, and other stakeholders to inform your marketing strategies. Use this feedback to make continuous improvements and stay responsive to the needs of your target audience.

Instead of following the latest trends and applying pharmaceutical marketing strategies,, you can adopt your strategic approach with a healthcare digital marketing agency that can significantly enhance pharmaceutical marketing efforts. Such collaboration will ensure that your strategy is expertly tailored to engage and resonate with the intended audience, and you will foster deeper trust and engagement within the sector.

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Pharmaceutical Marketing Strategies: Navigating Marketing in the Pharma Industry

The pharmaceutical industry is a highly regulated and competitive landscape, making marketing strategies crucial for success. With the constant evolution of the industry, pharmaceutical companies need to navigate the unique challenges and opportunities in marketing their products effectively. This article will explore the various factors and key components of successful pharmaceutical marketing strategies , as well as delve into the role of data and the future trends shaping the industry.

Understanding the Unique Challenges of Pharma Marketing

Pharmaceutical marketing presents a distinct set of challenges compared to other industries. One of the major hurdles is the regulatory constraints that heavily govern the marketing practices in the pharmaceutical sector.

Regarding pharmaceutical marketing, the landscape is heavily shaped by regulatory bodies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States. These regulatory constraints are in place to ensure the safety and efficacy of pharmaceutical products, as well as to prevent misleading or false advertising. Marketers in the pharmaceutical industry must navigate through a complex web of guidelines to ensure compliance with regulations related to product claims, promotion, and advertising methods.

The FDA, for example, requires pharmaceutical companies to provide substantial evidence of a drug’s safety and effectiveness before it can be marketed to the public. This means that marketers must work closely with their research and development teams to gather and present data that supports their product claims. Additionally, they must carefully craft their promotional materials to accurately reflect the approved uses and potential side effects of the medications.

Regulatory Constraints in Pharmaceutical Marketing

The regulatory constraints in pharmaceutical marketing extend beyond the FDA . In many countries, there are strict guidelines in place to ensure that pharmaceutical advertising does not mislead or deceive consumers. These guidelines often dictate the language, visuals, and overall tone of marketing materials.

For example, in the European Union, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) sets forth guidelines that pharmaceutical companies must follow when advertising their products. These guidelines require companies to provide balanced and accurate information about their medications, ensuring that potential risks and benefits are communicated.

These regulatory constraints can pose significant challenges for pharmaceutical marketers. They must find creative ways to effectively communicate the benefits of their products while adhering to strict guidelines. This often requires a deep understanding of both the science behind the medications and the regulations that govern their marketing.

Ethical Considerations in Pharma Marketing

Pharmaceutical marketing also involves ethical considerations. Marketers must balance the need to promote their products with the responsibility of providing accurate and unbiased information to healthcare professionals and the public.

One of the key ethical considerations in pharmaceutical marketing is transparency. Marketers must provide clear and honest information about their products, including potential side effects and limitations. This transparency helps to build trust between the industry and its stakeholders, including healthcare professionals and patients.

Another ethical consideration is the promotion of off-label uses. While pharmaceutical companies are only allowed to promote their products for approved uses, healthcare professionals may sometimes prescribe medications for off-label uses based on their clinical judgment. Marketers must be careful not to encourage or promote off-label uses in their marketing materials, as this can lead to potential harm to patients.

The Role of Medical Professionals in Pharma Marketing

Medical professionals play a pivotal role in pharmaceutical marketing. Establishing strong relationships with healthcare providers is essential for gaining endorsement and promoting brand loyalty.

Pharmaceutical marketers often collaborate with healthcare professionals to educate them about new medications, provide clinical data, and offer support for patient care. These collaborations can take various forms, such as organizing educational events, sponsoring medical conferences, or providing resources for healthcare professionals.

However, marketers must be mindful of the ethical boundaries when engaging with healthcare professionals. It is important to ensure that their interactions remain unbiased and do not unduly influence prescribing practices. By maintaining a focus on patient well-being and providing evidence-based information, marketers can foster a mutually beneficial relationship with medical professionals.

In conclusion, pharmaceutical marketing presents unique challenges due to regulatory constraints and ethical considerations. Marketers must navigate through complex guidelines to ensure compliance while promoting their products. Building trust with healthcare professionals and maintaining transparency are key factors in successful pharmaceutical marketing. By understanding and addressing these challenges, marketers can effectively promote their products while upholding ethical standards and ensuring patient safety.

Key Components of Effective Pharmaceutical Marketing Strategies

Successful pharmaceutical marketing strategies are built upon several key components that enable companies to differentiate themselves from competitors and capture the attention of target audiences.

One important component of an effective pharmaceutical marketing strategy is product differentiation. With a myriad of therapeutic options available, marketers must highlight the unique features and benefits of their products to differentiate them from competitors. This can involve emphasizing factors such as efficacy, safety profiles, convenience of use, or additional supportive services.

Moreover, in the digital era, leveraging digital channels has become imperative for pharmaceutical marketing success. Companies can utilize websites, social media platforms, and online advertisements to reach their target audience effectively. Digital marketing allows for precise audience targeting, personalized messaging, and real-time feedback, enabling companies to engage with patients, healthcare professionals, and other stakeholders more efficiently.

Furthermore, building and maintaining strong relationships with healthcare providers is crucial for pharmaceutical companies. By establishing trust and credibility, companies can secure endorsements, advocacy, and prescription support. This can be achieved through a multi-faceted approach, including face-to-face interactions, educational programs, and collaborations with medical associations.

Additionally, another key component of effective pharmaceutical marketing strategies is conducting thorough market research. This involves analyzing market trends, competitor strategies, and consumer preferences to identify opportunities and develop targeted marketing campaigns. By understanding the needs and desires of their target audience, pharmaceutical companies can tailor their messaging and promotional activities to resonate with potential customers.

Moreover, an effective pharmaceutical marketing strategy also includes a comprehensive branding and positioning strategy. This involves creating a strong brand identity that reflects the company’s values, mission, and unique selling proposition. By establishing a clear and compelling brand image, pharmaceutical companies can differentiate themselves from competitors and build brand loyalty among their target audience.

Furthermore, an integral component of successful pharmaceutical marketing strategies is compliance with regulatory guidelines. The pharmaceutical industry is highly regulated, and companies must ensure that their marketing activities adhere to all relevant laws and regulations. This includes accurately and transparently communicating product information, avoiding false or misleading claims , and complying with guidelines related to advertising, labeling, and promotional activities.

Lastly, ongoing evaluation and measurement of marketing efforts is essential for optimizing pharmaceutical marketing strategies. By tracking key performance indicators, such as sales, brand awareness, and customer satisfaction, companies can assess the effectiveness of their marketing activities and make data-driven decisions to improve their strategies. Regular monitoring and analysis of marketing metrics allow companies to identify areas of improvement, capitalize on successful tactics, and adapt their strategies to evolving market dynamics.

The Role of Data in Pharma Marketing

Data plays a pivotal role in informing and shaping pharmaceutical marketing strategies. By leveraging data effectively, companies can gain valuable insights that drive decision-making and enable targeted marketing efforts.

In today’s digital age, the pharmaceutical industry is increasingly relying on data to gain a competitive edge. With the abundance of information available, companies have the opportunity to harness data to understand their target audience better, optimize marketing campaigns, and ultimately improve patient outcomes.

Utilizing Market Research for Strategic Planning

Market research provides pharmaceutical companies with a comprehensive understanding of the market landscape, patient needs, and competitor activities. By conducting market research, companies can identify potential market segments, assess the competitive landscape, and tailor their marketing strategies accordingly.

Through market research, companies can gather data on various factors such as patient demographics, treatment preferences, and healthcare trends. Armed with this information, pharmaceutical marketers can develop targeted strategies that address specific patient needs and preferences. For example, if market research reveals a growing demand for a certain type of medication among a particular demographic, companies can adjust their marketing efforts to target that group specifically.

Moreover, market research can help pharmaceutical companies stay ahead of the competition. By analyzing competitor activities and market trends, companies can identify gaps in the market and develop innovative marketing strategies to capitalize on those opportunities. This data-driven approach ensures that pharmaceutical companies are not only meeting patient needs but also staying ahead of the curve in a highly competitive industry.

Data-Driven Personalization in Pharma Marketing

Data-driven personalization allows pharmaceutical companies to deliver targeted marketing messages to specific audience segments. By analyzing patient demographics, preferences, and behavior, companies can create personalized marketing strategies that resonate with individual patients. This approach not only increases engagement but also enhances patient satisfaction and adherence.

With the help of data analytics tools, pharmaceutical marketers can gain insights into patient behavior patterns, medication adherence rates, and treatment outcomes. By understanding these patterns, companies can tailor their marketing messages to address specific patient concerns and motivations. For example, if data analysis reveals that a certain demographic of patients is more likely to be concerned about side effects, companies can develop marketing campaigns that emphasize the safety profile of their medications.

Data-driven personalization also extends to digital marketing efforts. By leveraging data from online platforms and social media, pharmaceutical companies can create targeted advertisements that reach the right audience at the right time. This not only maximizes the impact of marketing campaigns but also ensures that patients receive relevant information that is tailored to their needs.

In conclusion, data plays a crucial role in pharmaceutical marketing. Companies can develop effective marketing strategies that resonate with their target audience by utilizing market research and embracing data-driven personalization. The use of data not only enhances decision-making but also improves patient outcomes by delivering personalized and relevant information. Data will remain a key driver of success in marketing efforts as the pharmaceutical industry evolves.

Future Trends in Pharmaceutical Marketing

The pharmaceutical marketing landscape continues to evolve rapidly due to advancements in technology and shifting patient expectations. As the industry moves forward, several trends are shaping the future of pharmaceutical marketing.

The Rise of Patient-Centric Marketing

One of the major trends in pharmaceutical marketing is the shift towards patient-centricity. Pharmaceutical companies increasingly focus on understanding patient needs and preferences to deliver personalized experiences. By adopting patient-centric approaches, companies can foster stronger patient relationships, improve patient outcomes, and differentiate themselves in a competitive market.

The Impact of Technological Innovations on Pharma Marketing

Technological innovations like artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and telemedicine are revolutionizing pharmaceutical marketing. These advancements enable companies to gather real-time data, automate processes, and develop targeted marketing strategies. By embracing these technologies, companies can enhance their marketing effectiveness, improve patient engagement, and drive better health outcomes.

Sustainability and Social Responsibility in Pharma Marketing

Nowadays, sustainability and social responsibility are becoming increasingly important in all industries, including pharmaceuticals. Companies are expected to demonstrate a commitment to environmental stewardship, ethical sourcing, and corporate social responsibility. By incorporating sustainable and socially responsible practices, pharmaceutical companies can build a positive brand image, strengthen customer loyalty, and contribute to the betterment of society.

In the ever-evolving world of pharmaceutical marketing, navigating the industry’s unique challenges is essential for success. Pharmaceutical companies can establish a solid foundation for their marketing strategies by understanding regulatory constraints, incorporating ethical considerations, and building strong relationships with healthcare providers. By utilizing data effectively, embracing digital channels, and keeping an eye on future trends, companies can adapt to the changing landscape and truly excel in marketing their products in the pharmaceutical industry. Improve your marketing strategy by scheduling a FREE consultation with one of our Senior Chief Marketing Officers today.

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Emerging from disruption: The future of pharma operations strategy

In the past, many pharmaceutical companies (pharmacos) deprioritized operations strategy in the face of competing business pressures. This is now changing. Factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, geopolitics, new therapeutic modalities, and new ways of working make it vital for pharmacos to carefully reconsider their long-term choices in sourcing, manufacturing, and supply chain.

Now is exactly the right time for this renewed emphasis on operations strategy, as pharmacos emerge from two years of intense firefighting. Succeeding in pharma under these new and challenging conditions will require succeeding in operations.

The focus for operational leaders may need to shift from the prevailing emphasis on continuous improvement—including cost savings, quality assurance, and constant readiness to deliver—to longer-term external challenges. These include high inflation and an increase in complexity and risk, as well as the compounding effects these forces have on each other.

Pharma operations leaders now have an opportunity to deliver even greater value to their organizations by achieving this shift in focus, but they must act quickly to keep abreast of the challenges confronting the industry. The effort will require enormous mobilization and thoughtful prioritization. This task will fall to leadership; only the CEO and head of operations are in the right positions to make it happen.

This article explores the challenges facing pharma leaders and the steps they can take to develop a more strategic, long-term, and integrated approach to operations strategy. It presents questions leaders can ask as they design the solutions needed to make sure operations can protect enterprise continuity while still delivering to patients.

A perfect storm of external challenges

The pharma industry is facing a multitude of challenging trends (Exhibit 1). Global demand is growing rapidly, and the unprecedented need for COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics has put additional pressure on the industry. The industry’s ability to find innovative solutions to deliver COVID-19 vaccines while still meeting overall demand is a remarkable achievement, but rising global demand is still a significant challenge for the industry in the long term.

The product landscape also is changing swiftly. New modalities, such as cell and gene therapy and mRNA vaccine technology, have increased from 11 to 21 percent of the drug development pipeline—the fastest growth ever seen in the sector. This change is likely to bring more fragmentation of technology, new supply chains, and unique product life cycles.

In addition to these industry-specific trends, pharma has also been affected by broader global trends, such as supply chain pressures. While the pharma industry is considered somewhat protected by its high inventory levels and long-standing dual sourcing, over a given ten-year period, the likelihood of supply chain disruptions still represents a potential loss of 25 percent of EBITA . Inflation has risen in recent months to levels not seen for decades, leading to increasing costs for labor, raw materials, and transportation. This is over and above the persistent price pressures pharma is already facing, particularly in generics. Since pharma customers are not expected to fully absorb these cost increases, profit margins are under pressure.

Meanwhile, increased state interventions and protectionist trade policies are creating new pressures on manufacturing networks and could drive increased regionalization. This would be a capital-intensive exercise: to regionalize just 10 percent of current vaccine trade in one particular geographical region, governments would need to invest an estimated $100 million.

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The pharma industry is also facing talent shortages linked to wider labor market trends, including the 20 percent increase in demand for STEM-related roles across the life sciences industry in the United States. The current pool of pharma digital talent is at least 14 percent lower than demand, and many companies are finding it challenging to recruit technical talent. Compounding this challenge is the rise of remote working, which has increased employee expectations for flexibility. In response, nearly all pharmacos are experimenting with hybrid working models.

A few major trends point to an industry tailwind; one of them is the advancement of digital and analytics tools. Digital tools, robots, and sensors are becoming cheaper and easier to access, and they can be used to capture all manner of raw data. In addition, edge computing and cloud analytics are providing real-time optimization and transparency. Pharmacos are working to leverage the power of data to become more agile and resilient. However, to date, no pharmaco has emerged as a true global leader in this field.

The pharma industry is facing a multitude of industry-specific and global trends. But a few major trends point to an industry tailwind; one of them is the advancement of digital and analytics tools.

Each of these global trends represents significant challenges in and of itself, and the trends may be compounded and strengthened through their interactions. This compounding effect can add to the complexity of evaluating an effective strategic response.

Major implications for pharma

These global trends have six major implications for pharmacos: rising operational complexity, increasing risk, shifting capability requirements, higher capital expenditure requirements, variable-cost increases, and opportunities for savings (Exhibit 2).

Operations leaders may need to become comfortable navigating a more complex ecosystem as they respond to increased operational complexity. Risks may increase due to rising environmental, social, and governance (ESG) expectations and skills gaps, while new modalities and digital acceleration will also likely lead to a shift in capability requirements. This could necessitate reskilling and upskilling of staff, as well as a renewed focus on recruiting from outside of the pharma industry.

From a cost perspective, the pharma industry may see significantly increased capital expenditure requirements related to the construction of new sites and new digital infrastructure. Increases are also likely in variable costs in areas such as raw materials, transportation, and employee attrition, reskilling, and salaries.

Future of pharma operations

Pharma companies are experiencing a wave of innovations – from new treatment modalities, to smart machines, advanced analytics, and digital connectivity.

Although these implications are challenging, they may represent possible opportunities for savings in several areas. For example, ESG commitments on waste reduction could reduce costs, as could successful digital implementation. However, the challenge lies in monetizing these cost savings, given that the industry has long created value largely through revenue expansion rather than through cost savings.

Rising to the challenge: Actions to deliver value

To respond to these challenges, pharmaco leaders may now need to emphasize the importance of their operations strategy. They should consider taking a longer-term view and scaling activity across four key themes: network strategy and resilience, digital, operating model, and talent.

Expand focus on longer-term, transformative solutions

Operations leaders can address these challenges through several short-term and long-term responses. For example, problems associated with a more unpredictable supply chain could be addressed with a short-term approach of increasing inventory or a long-term initiative to establish an end-to-end supply chain digital nerve center.

Short-term levers can be an important part of the total response but are insufficient to fully mitigate the challenges facing the industry. To respond effectively, companies may need to accelerate new ways of working and embrace long-term thinking. This will require concrete action with a focus on making sure that strategies are put in place to weather the long-term headwinds the industry is facing.

Accelerate and scale responses across four strategic domains

To identify the actions that pharmacos could take, it may help to group these in terms of four strategic domains: network and resilience, digital strategy, operating model and ecosystem, and talent strategy (Exhibit 3). While these themes are likely to be familiar to any business leader, they now require a substantial shift in mindset. Acting on them also calls for a large investment of resources.

• Plan for and manage future resilience and reliability needs . Recent supply chain disruptions have pushed supply chain resilience up corporate agendas. Companies have been forced into reactive modes that employ short-term levers like building inventory. However, companies could better position themselves by solving multiple variables and building resilience into their operations strategy through longer-term actions like network design and dual sourcing.
• Scale end-to-end adoption of digital and automation . Digital has proven itself highly valuable to pharma operations. However, many companies struggle to move from targeted, single use cases to a fully scaled suite of solutions. And while the adoption of full-scale digital solutions can require heavy investment—around $50 million to $100 million per year for two to three years—the rewards can include significant cost savings, improved quality, and increased resilience, as well as greater employee effectiveness. Companies that truly scale and implement digital can better protect themselves from the pressures of the forces increasing costs for the industry. More and more companies are moving toward network-wide and end-to-end digitization; to date, the World Economic Forum has recognized 103 as “lighthouses,” based on their advanced application of digital technologies . Johnson & Johnson, for example, has successfully launched multiple Industry 4.0 lighthouses, including some focused on end-to-end patient connectivity and order fulfillment.
• Expand adoption of end-to-end partner ecosystems . Companies could also consider changing their operating model from a traditional hub configuration around originators to an end-to-end ecosystem of true strategic partners. More than 50 percent of companies already expect to intensify their collaboration models with other industry players through, for example, service agreements, joint ventures, or eco­systems. Some are already in motion; examples include Pfizer and BioNTech, which have already established a strategic partnership in mRNA technology discovery, and AstraZeneca and Huma, which are collaborating to scale innovation for digital health. These partnerships are indicative of increasing collaborations throughout the industry across functions.

Automation, centralization, and new job requirements may affect nearly 90 percent of today’s workforce, and to deal with this challenge, companies could adopt effective long-term strategies. Retaining talent is challenging in the present environment, with the share of workers planning to leave their jobs in the next three to six months standing at 40 percent since 2021 . 1 Aaron De Smet, Bonnie Dowling, Bryan Hancock, and Bill Schaninger, “ The Great Attrition is making hiring harder. Are you searching the right talent pool? ” July 13, 2022. Strategies for talent retention should therefore be broad and focus on more than just salary.

A viable long-term solution to talent shortages may need to involve more than increasing wages to attract people. To solve structural talent gaps, companies could ensure long-term reskilling and upskilling of the existing workforce. For example, Roche runs an operations rotational program to attract top talent with bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Novartis launched a “choice with responsibility” policy to improve overall employee experience.

Successfully developing a robust operations strategy is complex and requires dedicated resources with the ability to focus on the medium to long term. This means the C-suite will need to prioritize efforts and provide adequate resourcing. Only the CEO and head of operations can set the appropriate direction for their organization, steer their company’s effort, gather the right skills and teams, and manage complex interdependencies and resource-intensive interventions.

Are companies doing enough?

As COOs look to emerge from the disruption of the past two years, reflecting on several questions could help them evaluate their organizations’ level of preparedness to respond to the trends affecting the industry. The process could provide foundational answers to inform a renewed operations strategy.

• Have you projected the impact of today’s current trends on your business?
• Do you have a focused, skilled, and scaled operations strategy team that identifies, prioritizes, and deploys initiatives across different horizons?
• Are your resilience measures proactive and dynamic, and are they being built on talent and digital capabilities to achieve greater agility and reliability?
• Have you experienced greater access to innovation and flexibility as a result of expanding your services and strategic partnerships?
• Has your digital strategy created benefits across your network and transformed your operation from digitally enabled to digitally driven?
• Have you achieved ESG improvements, and do you have a broad, long-term road map for ESG commitments (beyond net zero)?
• Has your operating model been agile enough to adapt to rapidly changing operations requirements, such as new modalities and potential disruptions?
• Have you successfully transformed your operations workforce and comprehensively improved the employee experience?
• Do you have an established governance process that incorporates past lessons into future strategy?

Although the pharma industry has performed a remarkable feat in delivering COVID-19 vaccines while also meeting growing demand, current trends create a challenging environment for pharma­ceutical companies. Companies face greater costs, complexity, and risk.

Now is the time to rethink operational strategy to respond to these trends and remain competitive. Such change may have associated challenges and will require bold and innovative leadership. But if companies successfully implement new strategies, they could position themselves to take advantage of the industry’s remarkable growth.

Hillary Dukart is an associate partner in McKinsey’s Denver office, Laurie Lanoue is a partner in the Montreal office, Mariel Rezende is a consultant in the Miami office, and Paul Rutten is a partner in the Amsterdam office.

The authors wish to thank Joe Hughes and Jean-Baptiste Pelletier for their contributions to this article.

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• Premium Statistic Revenues of top 10 global pharmaceutical markets 2022
• Basic Statistic Top pharmaceutical products by sales worldwide 2023

Revenue of the worldwide pharmaceutical market from 2001 to 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)

World pharmaceutical sales 2020-2023 by region

Global pharmaceutical sales from 2020 to 2023, by region (in billion U.S. dollars)

World pharmaceutical market distribution by submarket 2014-2023

Distribution of the total global pharmaceutical market sales from 2014 to 2023, by submarket

Revenues of top 10 global pharmaceutical markets 2022

Revenues of leading 10 national pharmaceutical markets worldwide in 2022 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Top pharmaceutical products by sales worldwide 2023

Leading pharmaceutical products by sales worldwide in 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)

• Premium Statistic Top therapy classes by spending global market 2027 forecast
• Basic Statistic Global pharmaceutical revenue by technology 2012-2026
• Basic Statistic Worldwide Rx drug sales excluding generics and orphan drugs 2012-2026
• Basic Statistic Projection of global revenue for orphan prescription drugs 2016-2028
• Basic Statistic Worldwide generic prescription drug sales 2012-2026
• Premium Statistic Revenue of the OTC pharmaceuticals industry worldwide 2018-2029
• Premium Statistic Global oncology spending 2013-2024

Top therapy classes by spending global market 2027 forecast

Projected top therapy areas worldwide in 2027, by spending (in billion U.S. dollars)

Global pharmaceutical revenue by technology 2012-2026

Global pharmaceutical revenue distributed by technology from 2012 to 2026 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Worldwide Rx drug sales excluding generics and orphan drugs 2012-2026

Prescription drugs sales worldwide excluding generics and orphan drugs from 2012 to 2026 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Projection of global revenue for orphan prescription drugs 2016-2028

Global prescription orphan drug sales from 2016 to 2028 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Worldwide generic prescription drug sales 2012-2026

Worldwide generic prescription drug sales from 2012 to 2026 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Revenue of the OTC pharmaceuticals industry worldwide 2018-2029

Revenue of the OTC pharmaceuticals market worldwide from 2018 to 2029 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Global oncology spending 2013-2024

Global oncology spending from 2013 to 2024 (in billion U.S. dollars)

• Premium Statistic Top 50 pharmaceutical companies - Rx sales and R&D spending 2023
• Premium Statistic Top 10 biotech and pharmaceutical companies based on market cap 2024
• Basic Statistic Global pharma market share by top companies 2022
• Premium Statistic Pfizer's total revenue 2006-2023
• Premium Statistic Roche Group's total sales 2006-2023
• Premium Statistic Johnson & Johnson's total sales 2005-2023
• Basic Statistic AbbVie's revenue 2010-2023
• Basic Statistic Projected top pharmaceutical companies based on new sales 2023

Top 50 pharmaceutical companies - Rx sales and R&D spending 2023

Leading 50 global pharmaceutical companies by prescription sales and R&D spending in 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Top 10 biotech and pharmaceutical companies based on market cap 2024

Leading 10 biotech and pharmaceutical companies worldwide based on market capitalization as of 2024 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Global pharma market share by top companies 2022

Leading pharmaceutical companies worldwide based on market share in 2022

Pfizer's total revenue 2006-2023

Pfizer's total revenue from 2006 to 2023 (in million U.S. dollars)

Roche Group's total sales 2006-2023

Total sales of the Roche Group from 2006 to 2023 (in million Swiss francs)

Johnson & Johnson's total sales 2005-2023

Johnson & Johnson's total sales from 2005 to 2023 (in million U.S. dollars)

AbbVie's revenue 2010-2023

AbbVie's revenue from 2010 and 2023 (in million U.S. dollars)

Projected top pharmaceutical companies based on new sales 2023

Leading pharmaceutical companies worldwide based on projected sales increase during 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)

R&D, patents, new products

• Premium Statistic Total global pharmaceutical R&D spending 2014-2030
• Basic Statistic Global top pharmaceutical companies based on R&D spending 2026
• Premium Statistic Patent expiration risk for total worldwide global Rx drug revenue 2024-2030
• Basic Statistic Worldwide Rx drug revenue - market at risk from patent expiration 2024-2030
• Premium Statistic Pharmaceutical industry - number of new substances 1998-2023
• Basic Statistic Pharma companies worldwide with active R&D pipelines 2001-2024
• Premium Statistic Number of novel drugs approved annually by CDER 2008-2023
• Basic Statistic Projected most valuable R&D projects based on net present value 2023

Total global pharmaceutical R&D spending 2014-2030

Total global spending on pharmaceutical research and development from 2014 to 2030 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Global top pharmaceutical companies based on R&D spending 2026

Global top 10 pharmaceutical companies based on projected R&D spending in 2026 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Patent expiration risk for total worldwide global Rx drug revenue 2024-2030

Forecast of total prescription drug revenue at risk worldwide from patent expiration from 2024 to 2030 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Worldwide Rx drug revenue - market at risk from patent expiration 2024-2030

Projected share of global prescription drug revenue at risk from patent expiration from 2024 to 2030

Pharmaceutical industry - number of new substances 1998-2023

Number of new chemical or biological entities developed between 1998 and 2023, by region of origin

Pharma companies worldwide with active R&D pipelines 2001-2024

Total number of pharmaceutical companies with active R&D pipelines worldwide from 2001 to 2024

Total number of novel drugs approved by CDER from 2008 to 2023

Projected most valuable R&D projects based on net present value 2023

Selected top pharmaceutical R&D projects based on net present value (NPV) as of December 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)

• Premium Statistic World pharmaceutical sales by region forecast 2027
• Premium Statistic Global spending on medicines 2010-2027
• Premium Statistic CAGR by product type in pharmaceutical markets forecast 2023-2027
• Basic Statistic Country comparison in spending on medicine 2026
• Basic Statistic Top global biopharma drugs by lifetime sales up to 2028
• Basic Statistic Sales forecast of top pharmaceutical companies worldwide 2028
• Premium Statistic Sales forecast of top selling drugs worldwide 2028

World pharmaceutical sales by region forecast 2027

Projected global pharmaceutical sales for 2027, by region (in billion U.S. dollars)

Global spending on medicines 2010-2027

Global spending on medicines in 2010, 2022, and a forecast for 2027 (in billion U.S. dollars)

CAGR by product type in pharmaceutical markets forecast 2023-2027

Projected pharmaceutical spending CAGR worldwide between 2023 and 2027, by market and product type

Country comparison in spending on medicine 2026

Projected spending on medicine of selected countries worldwide in 2026 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Top global biopharma drugs by lifetime sales up to 2028

Projected leading 10 pharmaceutical products worldwide based on lifetime sales as of 2028 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Sales forecast of top pharmaceutical companies worldwide 2028

Sales forecast of leading 10 pharmaceutical companies worldwide in 2028 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Sales forecast of top selling drugs worldwide 2028

Projected best selling pharmaceutical drugs worldwide in 2028 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Focus: COVID-19 response

• Basic Statistic Biotechs: duration of COVID-19 response compared to previous health threats 2003-2019
• Premium Statistic BARDA funding for the development of COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. 2021
• Premium Statistic Shareholdings at select COVID-19 vaccine companies by investor 2021
• Premium Statistic Top companies by COVID-19 treatment vaccines in development June 2022
• Basic Statistic Comparison of select COVID-19 vaccines 2022, by efficacy
• Premium Statistic Distribution of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide by mechanism and phase 2022

Biotechs: duration of COVID-19 response compared to previous health threats 2003-2019

Duration of biotech companies' response to COVID-19 pandemic compared to other health threats between 2003 and 2019 (in months)

BARDA funding for the development of COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. 2021

BARDA funding for the development of COVID-19 vaccines in the United States as of March 2021 (in million U.S. dollars)

Shareholdings at select COVID-19 vaccine companies by investor 2021

Major shareholdings at select COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers as of 2021, by investor

Top companies by COVID-19 treatment vaccines in development June 2022

Leading companies by number of COVID-19 drugs and vaccines in development as of June 3, 2022

Comparison of select COVID-19 vaccines 2022, by efficacy

Comparison of select COVID-19 vaccines worldwide as of 2022, by efficacy

Distribution of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide by mechanism and phase 2022

Distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in the R&D pipeline worldwide as of 2022, by mechanism of action and phase

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