Uniting R&D and Marketing for Integrated Early-Stage Market Preparation

Summary

Bridge the structural, cultural, process and communications gaps between R&D and marketing in early-stage drug development:

Early-stage product commercialization continues to challenge even the most skilled and highly respected marketing and drug development organizations. Changing government regulations, pharmacoeconomics, health care practices, and scientific innovations have transformed the drug development landscape in the past decade. As patent protection narrows on many companies' top-selling brands, the race to market profitable products in record time is intensifying. These transformations have been met concurrently with rising drug development costs and diminishing R&D productivity.

These business drivers require organizational and cultural changes within drug companies in order to unite R&D and marketing - and to direct them toward shared objectives early in development. Injecting market input into drug discovery and early clinical development enables marketing and R&D to focus limited resources on the most promising drug candidates. With market information, R&D can develop drug target libraries and hone in on endpoints with the greatest likelihood of fulfilling unmet medical needs. Ultimately, a continuous exchange of information between R&D and marketing enables companies to make more informed portfolio decisions, to serve their markets better, and to achieve higher profits.

This report covers the critical areas in which R&D and marketing need to work together, including portfolio planning, resource allocation, product hand-offs and ownership, and project and product team structures. Best practices and case studies illustrate numerous tools, tactics, organizational structures and strategies used by top-performing pharmaceutical and biotech companies to bridge the gaps between R&D and marketing in early-stage drug development

Best practices and case studies illustrate a variety of tools, tactics, organizational structures and strategies used by top-performing pharmaceutical and biotech companies to bridge the gaps between R&D and marketing in early-stage drug development. This report covers all the critical areas in which R&D and marketing need to work together, including portfolio planning, resource allocation, product hand-offs and ownership, and project and product team structures.

Contents

• The following Case Studies and Best Practices Are Included in The Report:
• Portfolio Planning & Resource Allocation:
  • How resource allocation processes come to exist in drug companies
  • Resource allocation process differences between business unit/franchise and matrixed organizations
  • Connecting portfolio review to long-term commercial resource allocation planning
  • Case Study: Company J emphasizes cross-functional input to build a comprehensive view of all development projects
  • Case Study: Company H's high-level, cross-functional portfolio review/steering committee conducts annual portfolio assessments
  • Case Study: Company F performs quarterly portfolio assessments but sets marketing budgets annually
  • Risk assessments engender objectivity in marketing resource allocation planning
  • Strategies for winning resources to support early-stage commercialization
  • Bridging the Culture Gap to Unite R&D and Marketing
  • Blending marketing insights with discovery and development
  • Assigning a marketing manager to the development team
  • Assembling and integrated early-stage commercial development team
  • Strengthening the global R&D-marketing interface
  • Overcoming the R&D-marketing cultural gap
  • Incorporating market research and competitive intelligence in clinical trial planning and label development
  • Transitioning product ownership from R&D to marketing
  • Structural Integration of R&D and Marketing
  • Early-stage marketing organizational structure
  • Case Study: Company A coordinates early marketing activities through marketing sub-teams
• Early-Stage Product Development and Commercialization: Evolving from Project Management to Product Marketing Teams
  • Phase 1: The trial management team forms to oversee clinical trials and marketing
  • Phase 2: The emergence of the product marketing team
  • Phase 3: Commercial strategic sub-teams form to complete tactical transition from R&D to marketing
• Coordinating among Multiple Functions on Project Management Teams
  • Case Study: Company D empowers the project management function to coordinate pre-launch commercial development activities
  • Case Study: Company B manages project team personnel transitions
  • Case Study: Company E balances matrixed project management team with dedicated resources
• Early-Stage Commercialization Activities
  • Case Study: Company A's phase-by-phase marketing activities for the early development stages
• Strategies, Tools and Tactics for Cross-Functional Coordination of Early-Stage Commercialization Activities
  • Case Study: Company B leverages its matrixed structure for functional expertise
  • Case Study: Company E builds knowledge-sharing centers of excellence
  • Case Study: Company B utilizes a common language to facilitate cross-functional communication
  • Case Studies: Companies use IT tools to inject competitive intelligence into marketing and R&D collaborations
• Communication Is The Key to Coordination in Early Development
  • Case Study: Company C gathers input from support functions to inform early commercial team decisions
  • Case Study: Company G engages key players to identify market needs and characteristics
• Stage-Gate Decision Making Process
  • Case Study: Company C's stage-gate decision-making process