Disease Awareness Program Excellence in CNS / Neurology: Structure, Activities, and Resources Needed for Effective Pipeline Support

Industries Profiled:
Pharmaceutical; Biotech; Manufacturing; Biopharmaceutical; Public Relations; Chemical; Health Care; Communications


Companies Profiled:
Adamas Pharmaceuticals; Biogen; Catalyst Pharmaceuticals; FleishmanHillard; Genentech; Genzyme; Indivior; Merck KGaA; NexGen Healthcare

Study Snapshot

Best Practices, LLC conducted this benchmarking research by engaging 9 leaders from 9 life sciences organizations specializing in CNS therapies. In addition to quantitative input, several participants shared deeper operational perspectives through one-on-one interviews. Relevant secondary research is incorporated to provide additional context.

Key topics covered in this report include:

• Disease awareness program structure
• Timing of disease awareness activities
• Budget and resource planning for CNS campaigns
• Partnering with Advocacy Groups and Legal
• Leveraging social media for CNS education

• Budget and Funding: Launch year and launch -1 year are the peak periods for disease awareness spending.

• Social Media Activities: Top-ranked social media activities to generate disease awareness in CNS / neurology include: (1) Social media listening, (2) online physician communities, and (3) online patient communities.

• Effectiveness of CNS-focused disease awareness initiatives
• Key practices supporting success in CNS disease awareness efforts
• Common missteps and barriers observed in CNS disease awareness campaigns

• Organizational structure of CNS / neurology disease awareness programs – Total benchmark class
• Organizational structure of disease awareness programs – Large pharma vs. Mid-small pharma, Global teams vs. Country level teams, Single brand teams vs. Portfolio teams
• Functional involvement and leadership in CNS / neurology disease awareness programs
• Prevalence of dedicated CNS disease awareness teams

• Start and endpoints for disease awareness resourcing – Total benchmark class
• Start and endpoints for disease awareness resourcing – Large pharma vs. Mid-small pharma
• Start and endpoints for disease awareness resourcing – Global teams vs. Country level teams
• Start and endpoints for disease awareness resourcing – Single brand teams vs. Portfolio teams
• Start and endpoints for disease awareness resourcing – Highly competitive market vs. Less competitive market
• Interview narratives around the dividends from disease awareness programs
• Timing and utilization of CNS disease awareness activities
• Most utilized CNS disease awareness activities

• Timing of disease awareness investment across development and launch cycle
• Total budget for CNS / neurology disease awareness initiatives, activities and programs – Large pharma vs. Mid-small pharma
• Peak year CNS / neurology disease awareness investment – Large pharma vs. Mid-small pharma
• Total budget for CNS / neurology disease awareness initiatives, activities and programs – Global teams vs. Country level teams
• Total budget for CNS / neurology disease awareness initiatives, activities and programs – Single brand teams vs. Portfolio teams
• Factors influencing the amount of resources dedicated to disease awareness programs on a product-by-product basis – Total benchmark class
• Factors influencing the amount of resources dedicated to disease awareness programs on a product-by-product basis – Large pharma vs. Mid-small pharma
• Factors influencing the amount of resources dedicated to disease awareness programs on a product-by-product basis – Single brand teams vs. Portfolio teams
• Functions providing funding for CNS-focused disease awareness programs
• Disease awareness investment for new CNS treatments addressing unmet clinical needs

• Interview narratives around patient advocacy group relationships
• Importance of each patient advocacy group activity and support service from a disease awareness program perspective – Total benchmark class
• Importance of each patient advocacy group activity and support service from a disease awareness program perspective – Global teams vs. Country level teams
• Importance of each patient advocacy group activity and support service from a disease awareness program perspective – Single brand teams vs. Portfolio teams
• Best approaches to support disease awareness activities with patient advocacy groups
• Importance of highly effective patient advocacy group activities and support services from a disease awareness program perspective – Global teams vs. Country level teams
• Importance of highly effective patient advocacy group activities and support services from a disease awareness program perspective – Highly competitive market vs. Less competitive market
• Timing of disease awareness activities with patient advocacy groups
• Level of involvement of legal department in each of the listed disease awareness program areas – Total benchmark class
• Level of involvement of legal department in each of the listed disease awareness program areas – Global teams vs. Country level teams
• Level of involvement of legal department in each of the listed disease awareness program areas – Single brand teams vs. Portfolio teams
• Interview narrative around managing successful programs with legal groups

• CNS / neurology disease awareness activities conducted on social media and timing of first initiation of each activity – Total benchmark class
• CNS / neurology disease awareness activities conducted on social media and timing of first initiation of each activity – Large pharma vs. Mid-small pharma
• Utilization ranking of social media activities for generating disease awareness in CNS / neurology
• Interview narrative around ensuring patient access via social media
• Interview narrative around getting direct feedback and insights
• Total investment in social media disease awareness activities – Total benchmark class
• Total investment in social media disease awareness activities and percentage of overall disease awareness budget spent on social media – Mid-small pharma
• Total investment in social media disease awareness activities and percentage of overall disease awareness budget spent on social media – Country level teams
• Total investment in social media disease awareness activities and percentage of overall disease awareness budget spent on social media – Single brand teams

• Geographic and marketing perspective of participants represented in the study
• Job titles of benchmark participants