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Excerpted from Chapter 1, Section 1: "Co-Promotion Management Structure and Investment
Management Team Communication." 

Counterparts on either side of a co-promotion value meetings and communication that occur as frequently as possible. It is easier for them to understand all the issues at play if they have a solid idea of their counterparts’ opinions and positions on a subject.

Moreover, face-to-face meetings are critically important. Via telephone or email, it is impossible to pick up the nonverbal cues that show how a counterpart may truly view a situation. It is also easier to avoid key issues. In person, however, counterparts are more likely to tackle tough questions and more fully understand each other.

Establishing open communication is critical early in a co-promotion’s life, when counterparts must constantly check in with each other to move the project forward. Though contact may drop to monthly or bi-weekly intervals once a partnership has been established, younger deals demand continual contact among stakeholders on both sides of the deal.

In more formalized communications, counterparts meet regularly to update each other on progress, review issues and make action plans for the immediate and long-term future. This kind of contact occurs at every level of the deal, from involved senior management to daily project leaders to, in some cases, field-based operatives in the sales forces.

For Co-Promotion 1, introduced in the previous section, the product management team conducts meetings on a regular basis. Weekly meetings often occur among groups and sub-teams representing both sides, and monthly meetings are a given. It is critical that both sides of the co-promotion consult each other, since the partnership is a 50-50 undertaking that requires the input of both parties.

Members of one co-promotion team are in constant contact with each other. Daily tasks are the subject of constant communication between both companies. Inter-company emails and telephone calls are a regular occurrence for members of the co-promotion at all levels. Occasional face-to-face meetings, critical to all partnerships, are just the final layer in the many levels of constant communication between both organizations.

This contact is not limited to a particular element of co-promotion operations. Changes in sales aids and promotional tools require the attention of both sales teams, of course, and it is common for leadership in both promotional organizations to consult each other. Non-promotional issues, however, also demand equal energy from both companies. One particular product is the subject of ongoing clinical work, and both companies are fully involved in clinical program oversight and communications with the FDA. When regulatory communications occur, they have the full approval of management groups within both companies.

This full-partnership approach benefits the field-based activities, since neither company feels it has greater ownership of the product. Since the product’s core decisions are being made by both companies, reps and field managers from both sides of the co-promotion are fully engaged in promoting the product. It is clear that the drug is at the center of a 50-50 partnership.
The same situation is true of another co-promotion. At higher levels, a larger steering group meets twice per year to review progress. On the ground, there are standing marketing meetings and medical committee meetings. Compliance meetings occur on an as-needed basis.
Within the marketing organizations, counterparts have weekly status meetings for the sole purpose of updating each other. This is the medium for discussion of emerging issues. Much communication is done over the phone, but the groups have many face-to-face meetings and use web communication tools such as WebX.

In another deal, the partners meet by teleconference and in monthly face-to-face gatherings. In another deal, sales leadership talks monthly, if not bi-weekly...

…To read more, please see Chapter 1 of Pharmaceutical Co-Promotion Management

 

Excerpted from Chapter 3, Section 3: Identifying and Converting Co-Promotion Opportunities

Marketing Partnership Capabilities
New partnership opportunities will rarely come through the door unless a company broadcasts its willingness to listen. For this reason, most major pharmaceutical companies develop marketing campaigns for their business development function.

Business development marketing can take many forms, often similar to basic product marketing. Business development and licensing personnel often speak at conferences, generate publications and oversee web-based marketing to draw new opportunities to the company.

Pharmaceutical companies use the web to promote past alliance success. Many sites highlight current and recent deals that benefit research pipelines. Web-based marketing enables prospective partners to follow proper protocol when approaching large pharmaceutical companies. Some alliance functions have even posted new opportunity applications on their web sites to enable potential partners’ information to be processed more quickly.

Three years ago, Company K came to a realization: it had a strong record of in-licensing and marketing products, but had not taken full advantage of its skills and experience. With increasing competitive force in the market, Company K knew it had to exploit this strength.

Company K started by reshaping the way it utilized the business development function. Rather than wait for deals to come their way, the business development personnel began marketing Company K’s successful partnership experience…

…To read more, please see Chapter 3 of Pharmaceutical Co-Promotion Management