RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – A recent study highlights the unique challenges that medical device companies face when contracting with thought leader consultants. According to Cutting Edge Information, medical device companies must often pay double the average hourly rate for thought leader consultants compared to their pharmaceutical industry counterparts.

The average hourly rate for a top tier thought leader within any therapeutic area is $578, according to the study. Medical device companies, however, can easily pay more than $1200 an hour to work with that same top tier thought leader. The discrepancy is due to medical device companies’ need to invest more in attracting thought leaders’ attention, which is often focused on the pharmaceutical sphere.

“We designed part of our study to address the struggles that many medical device companies have when working with thought leaders,” said Elio Evangelista, a research team leader at Cutting Edge Information. “The questions we raised address how medical device companies can compete with their pharmaceutical cousins who have far greater reach and far greater resources at their disposal.”

Cutting Edge Information’s new report, Pharmaceutical Thought Leaders 2007: Determining Fair-Market Value and Measuring Performance, includes detailed spending benchmarks and segmentation criteria for five tiers of thought leaders. With more than 400 data sets included in the report, companies can compare their fee schedules to industry and therapeutic area standards.

Medical device companies often find themselves in direct competition with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to work with respected thought leader consultants. The pharmaceutical industry’s ability to pay more to build thought leader relationships often leaves medical device companies in the dust.

Pharmaceutical Thought Leaders 2007: Determining Fair-Market Value and Measuring Performance  is one tool that medical device companies can use to determine fair-market value for their opinion leader and relationships. Aside from in-depth metrics, the report also provides solutions to the top challenges faced by thought leader management teams, including:

- Performance measurement
- MSL staffing per thought leader
- Identifying and recruiting opinion leader candidates
- Effective tools for KOL management

For more information or to learn about other Cutting Edge Information research, contact Elio Evangelista at 919-433-0214.

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