RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC − Early investments in market research are critical to help companies reveal brands’ true market potential. If market research can identify a distinct unmet need in a market, for example, a company has a better chance of adapting their brand to fulfill these unmet needs and have more success in the marketplace.

Cutting Edge Information, a pharmaceutical business intelligence leader, published a new report that analyzes six drug brands in Phase IIIa, Phase IIIb and their launch year.

During Phase IIIa, profiled brands spent an average 17% of their launch year spending on market research. During Phase IIIb, market research spending received a slight increase to an average 18% of the launch year budget. This market research work revealed crucial information about diverse sub-groups of patients, doctors, nurses, caregivers and payer organizations.

Two brand teams invested between $2 and $3 million each on early market research and competitive intelligence. This early investment was wise because both discovered that there was a great market opportunity to address patients’ unmet needs. One brand discovered that its market exhibited a strong need for improved dosage convenience while the other brand noticed that its competitors did not offer a delivery system that addressed patients’ unique requests. Both these teams used this information to develop their delivery systems in ways that differentiated their products in already crowded markets.

“Investing in decision support activities early in product development and certainly during Phase III can be instrumental in helping the brand team identify key market drivers that are unique to their product,” says David Richardson, senior analyst for Cutting Edge Information. “A brand’s success then rests on the brand team’s ability to capitalize on these opportunities.”

In “US Launch: Phase IIIa, Phase IIIb and Launch Year Brand Commercialization,” brand profiles provide a comprehensive breakdown of brand promotional spending for the time periods examined, excluding sales force budgets. The report details the most critical areas of brand investment, including:
• Advertising and Promotion (e.g. detail aids, samples, journal ads, patient education programs, DTC ads, speaker programs)
• Medical Affairs (e.g. thought leader development, thought leader programs, medical education, medical information)
• Decision Support (e.g. market research, competitive intelligence)
• Market Access (e.g. pricing strategy and analysis, pharmacoeconomics, reimbursement)

To view a summary of this report, visit www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/uspharmalaunch/index.htm. For more information or to learn about other Cutting Edge Information research, contact David Richardson at david_richardson@cuttingedgeinfo.com or 1-919-433-0216.

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