Medicology: NHS Training Courses

Marketing Consultancy & Interim Support

The utmost competence in international strategic marketing – gets the job done, delivers results

Examples

The following is a brief synopsis of some of the projects I have worked on in either an employed or consultancy basis. For confidentiality reasons, no client names have been included.

European product launch of a new injecting medical device supporting an intramuscular biotech product
Organised a high profile, European launch of a new injecting device for a product that was largely undifferentiated from its competition by any other means.

Timed launch to coincide with European Society meeting in Florence
Sourced memorable venue - majestic Italian villa in the surrounding hills
Organised an event programme & entertainment
Co-ordinated give-aways & launch materials, including agency management
Invited key opinion leaders
Managed all publicity to other potential attendees, including a CD-based invitation with Italian music

Launch was delivered with significant impact, resulting in high recall of the event, its purpose i.e. to launch this device, and a continuous post event increase in sales.

International booth management
Have managed international booth & exhibition attendance for a variety of events, from initial planning through to production, agency management, materials management & giveaways and actual booth attendance/ representation, complete with follow up from enquiries.

World HIV Congress (Geneva)
European Society for Paediatric Research (Copenhagen, Belfast)
Paediatric Academic Societies (Baltimore)
International Workshop on Surfactant Replacement Therapy (5 times, all over Europe)
International Society for Paediatric Audiology (Milan)

and numerous other regional or local events, on time, to budget and with clear product objectives to achieve.

US opinion leader development & trials formulation for the US partner of a European manufacturer
Over a period of 6 - 9 months I engaged in the development of the US market for an Italian manufacturer with specific emphasis on developing relationships with a series of opnion leaders that could be utilised to leverage product introduction and growth, as well as the development of a trials strategy to differentiate from the competition. The activities I utlised were:

Face-to-face meetings to discuss scientific aspects of the product
Creation of symposia, utilising KOLs as speakers but also bringing in European, product-friendly speakers
Development of innovative trial protocols, organisation of steering committees and sourcing KOLs to head those committees
Examining new ways of integrating the product into practice so as to further exclude the competition and using KOLs to develop these

Ultimately, my work involved creating sound, ongoing relationships that could be handed over to the US partner and utilised to further develop sales in that market.

US launch strategy for a neonatal respiratory product
Worked as US liaison & marketing support to the US partner of an Italian manufacturer, including a wide range of tasks including:

Management of the relationship between US partner & Italian manufacturer
Development of launch strategy in conjunction US marketing staff
Ensured brand values were respected and reflected effectively
Ensured that European successes were effectively utilised to leverage US sales
Developed a trial strategy to establish the brand and differentiate it
Conducted medical writing in brochure production process
Transfered knowledge & skills from Europe to the US
Prepared the sales force for launch

This was a challenging assignment as the product was entering the US market with no US trial data, against two established, US-grown products. The US partner was not experienced in niche marketing (was a branded generics company) and the relationship required the utmost cultural sensitivity. At one stage I was offered direct employment by the US company but decline on conflict of interest grounds.

Training & development of US field force selling a neonatal respiratory product (selling skills, product & market knowledge)
Fully trained and managed the ongoing development of a new field force to promote the above neonatal respiratory product, including the following:

Sales training in relation to this market & target group
Psychology of the target physician audience
Market & therapy area knowledge
How best to manage KOL relationships in this market
Translation of European success factors to the US market
Introductions to US KOLs

I worked with this field force for a period of around 5 months, as part of a whole series of support I was providing in the US.

Market analysis of European neonatal respiratory market, resulting in re-acquisition of an outlicensed brand
I was engaged to conduct a full market appraisal of the European neonatal respiratory market for the purposes of establishing whether to re-acquire a previously outlicensed brand. This involved:

Defining market size, key target audiences
Product performance in each market
Competitive analysis of each market
Creation of a marketing strategy to drive performance
Infrastructure, personnel and marketing requirements to effectively promote the product
Analysis of supply chain issues for a refrigerated product
Identification of possible key personnel
Training & development requirements

The brand was re-acquired and I assisted with the implementation of the plan I had developed. The brand subsequently gained further market share, going on to a market dominating position and returned revenue well beyond the cost of reacquisition of the product in the first 18 months and is still going strong.

Marketing input & representation on an international product development team for an adult respiratory product
Acted as marketing input on the development team for a recombinant protein product in the field of adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Product has yet to reach market. Assignment over 12 months included:

Attendance at monthly development meetings
Market analysis & insight useful to the development process
Building the marketing story or product journey
Starting the product positioning process
Engaging in market liaison and communication planning

Training & development of UK field force selling a neonatal respiratory product (selling skills, product & market knowledge)
Organised a week-long intensive induction training programme, utilising myself and outside KOLs for the establishment of a new sales force in the neonatal field, including:

Product knowledge, including benefit, communications, publications, science etc
Market knowledge, including who, their psychology, how to approach them, building rapport
Pharmaceutical sales skills

This small field force went on to drive sales to a market share of some 85%+ over the coming two years against 2 further, cheaper competitors.

European product & market support for a neonatal respiratory product
Acted as European Senior Product Manager for a neonatal product for a Swiss Biotech company including:

Brand management
Redefining brand values & communication guides
Running an International KOL group
Managing design & roll out of new, centralised (locally tailored) materials, brochures & presentations
Trial development for license extention
Supplies estimating, including managing a manufacturing shortage
Direct training & support of subsidiaries
Management of subsidiary marketing team

This role was partly a consulting role and partly an employed role with a total duration of 2+ years and included the challenge of converting the organisation from a geography-based, sales-led organisation to one organised by global therapeutic area. It required much cultural sensitivity, particularly with shifting power bases from localities to head office. It also encompassed establishing a robust marketing planning process designed to make the organisation more market-focused. Much change!

Development-stage market analysis & liaison for a recombinant lung protein
Acted as marketing support & market liaison for a venture-backed, small biotech company developing a novel protein in the field of lung inflammation, including:

Market analysis, dynamics & market size
Building the product story & journey
Translating complex inflammatory pathway information into digestible language
Market liaison with KOLs, both US & European
Engaging some particularly important but sceptical KOLs in the development process
Seeking a European development/ outlicensing partner, including prospectus production

The key challenge here was the level of market/ KOL sceptism about the role of the protein in the inflammatory pathway, requiring particular attention & sensitivity to market communications and KOL engagement.

Setting up & running of a high level International drug development board of opinion leaders in Chronic Lung Disease
Set up and managed a transatlantic drug development KOL board of absolute leaders in their field to drive forward development of a new protein for chronic lung disease and neonatal brain injury, including:

Identification and invitation of key board members
Production of background information
Management of all physical arrangements, travel etc
Facilitation of the board itself
Follow up and flow of information into the drug development process

The group have continued to work together on numerous projects since this engagement, demonstrating how proper formation & management of a group of KOLs can have lasting effects on market dynamics.

Sourcing & evaluation of European distribution partners for a US device company in the hearing screening field
I was engaged to seek and evaluate further European partners for a US manufacturer of hearing screening equipment, which had strong US sales but poor penetration into Europe. IN actual fact, I developed a controversial, slightly off-the-wall, strategy that would have delivered wider international penetration which they did not take up at the time. However, subsequent to my contract, the board changed post IPO and the strategy I had proposed now seems to have been implemented with international sales far outstripping US sales for growth. Perhaps I was ahead of my time!

Organisation of a UK supporting educational & seminar programme for US device company
In an employed capacity I established a full educational programme designed to support the development of market share penetration for a US range of devices at a critical time in the UK market. This involved:

Designing a controversial programme aimed at increasing discussion of product issues
Promoting the programme, engaging a significant number of UK staff in this area
Managed all venue finding & delegate management

The challenge here was that the market was moving to a technology that effectively excluded this type of equipment without solid grounds to do so. This formed part of a behind-the-scenes PR strategy to change opinion. The device now enjoys significant market share.

Creation of an international opinion leader group to formulate a standardised data collection system for neonatal data
A one-off project to create a database, supported by respected KOLs for the collection of base data across Europe, that coule be subsequently utilised in clinical trials, demographic baseline information and other key tasks. My role included:

Identification of all key parties to be involved
Invitation & relationship management of key parties
Project management
All physical arrangements for regular international meetings of the steering group
Reporting & liaison with the sponsoring company

Training of a UK-based medical device sales force to assist them building better rapport within critical care, neonatal medicine, paediatric intensive care & anaesthetics
I was engaged to develop the skills of this team in how they engaged with a variety of clinical targets, including:

Increasing their understanding of psychology in the sales process
Adapting their style to better fit that of their target physicians
Tailoring their product benefits for better acceptance by target physicians

I took the team through a process of understanding their own behaviours & style and how this impacts on those with a different style. This allowed them to become more flexible in approach, achieving greater sales success and developing stronger relationships with their audience.

Due dilligence marketing support on a number of acquisitions in the fields of neonatal medicine, paediatrics & adult respiratory distress
I have engaged in a number of due dilligence projects for product acquisition in a variety of fields, some leading to licensing and some resulting in rejection. My role has varied but included:

Market analysis, especially market size and penetration estimates
Testing of market assumptions
Capability analysis
Proposed marketing strategy
Sales infrastructure analysis
Rationale & market perceptions
Product journey analysis

Each case has been somewhat unique, perhaps the nature of due dilligence!

This is not designed to be a complete list of assignments and tasks but provides some details of the type of work I have engaged in. Always I have been engaged as either a stand alone consultant or part of an internal team, at a variety of levels including:

International Product Management
International Marketing Management
Head of Therapy Area
International Business Management

I am happy to provide further details but will not release client details or break confidentiality agreements where the information is not in the public domain. I am sure you would expect the very same of me.

For more information, please contact me directly on +44 7775 646947 or email at

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