Case Studies

Strategic application of evidence based medicine to address perceived clinical inferiority.

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Situation

A major UK pharmaceutical company was required to produce a submission to NICE in the UK for their drug combination, which is used to treat a serious cardiovascular condition in a large market. Commercially this drug languished behind the market leader, which had a broader indication and superior marketing support. Whilst this company's product was less expensive than the market leader by a considerable margin, this only supported the view in the minds of clinicians at least that it may be the clinically inferior alternative. A status quo between the competing companies had established itself, which was in danger of becoming commercially disastrous.

Problem

The threat was that NICE guidance would cement this inferior position for the life of the product through an affirmation that the competitor compound was clinically more effective and at least as cost effective.

HERON's Solution

HERON applied their expertise and experience in systematic review and meta-analysis to 'split' the data across key clinical sub-groups and used advanced analytical techniques to generate a new strategic evidence based position.
HERON had to persuade the submission team 'buy into' the repositioning and to empower them with knowledge and arguments to gain endorsement from senior and global management.

The Outcome

The project culminated in NICE guidance, which repositioned the market leading competitor as a 2nd line option, creating a platform of commercial opportunity not imagined by the client before the submission.