Dragging Big Pharma into the 21st Century before they become extinct – Part 2

In Part I of this blog I discussed how Pharma was being outmaneuvered.
 
I am constantly amazed at the low level of sophistication of analytics at work in Pharma to get to the core of the issues. Analytics is transforming most other industries and yet so many Pharma are still focused on basic ROI. I was really interested in that once too – back in the 90’s!
 
Since then we have moved on to far more interesting analytics which provide real-world results. Why hasn’t all of Pharma? And while I am on my soapbox, while working in market access analytics recently, I had exposure to pricing analytics (e.g. the Garbor-Grainger model, the Conklin and Murphy model, the van Westendorp model, and conjoint tradeoff models) and I realized how even so much of the pricing analytics are so far behind the times and so basic. I know my team could do a much better job using prescriptive analytics. Why is it so difficult for Pharma and many of their agencies to just ‘get it’?
 
The future of Pharma is being all about health – and giving valuable products bundled with services that people really want – if Pharma are willing to go for it. By people I mean all stakeholders – patients, physicians, payers, Pharmacists, etc.
 

Is Apple sending all their staff to India to save money? No. If a drug and its bundled services hit the stakeholders’ sweet spots in terms of their real underlying drivers, price will be only one of several factors considered.
Think about it. If you want something enough, don’t you come up with strong rational arguments why you should get it? Why do so many people have iPhones when other companies make cheaper equivalents?
We want the Apple brand because it hits our drivers better. We rationalize an argument for an iPhone to ourselves. By implementing analytics on the aspects involved in the decisions for stakeholders, to really uncover the underlying drivers for them, one can accumulate evidence on the specific levers that would get all stakeholders desiring the drug due to its patient outcomes as well as its bundle of services (like an iWatch that senses your blood glucose, your cholesterol, your stress, whatever is relevant to your condition – and maybe to all conditions). Then you improve patient adherence (think of the extra money gained there – it could easily fund the process) because they can see their issues. You have buy-in because they are being proactive about their health. You have a whole host of things that Pharma just don’t seem to even be considering.
Instead of thinking like Steve Jobs, many in Pharma can’t see beyond their fears – “how can I cut costs?”, “how can I survive?” – and beyond their blockbuster fantasies.

Just do it!

Change the game. Become leading players in health. Use analytics to understand what should be done to get stakeholders excited and wanting what you offer. Build a competitive advantage.
A friend of mine was the CEO of an ad agency in Hong Kong (a global agency but she was CEO of their Hong Kong office) and they had the Nike account. Nike was being frustrating: every day they would change their mind on the creative.

Then one day, one of the creative team members was so frustrated with Nike, he came into the office with his head shaved and on his skull was a tattoo: “JUST F*&KING DO IT”. I am not quite at the tattoo on the skull phase yet, but I feel fairly close.

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To learn more about how Eularis can help you find the best solutions to the challenges faced by healthcare teams, please drop us a note or email the author at abates@eularis.com.

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