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Ian Baer, Founder and Chief Soothsayer, Sooth, discusses their recent data and research about some massive behavioral shifts occurring across Gen-Z, and how pharmaceutical companies and healthcare advertising agencies can adapt their strategies to attract the ever elusive generation.

Ian Baer, Founder and Chief Soothsayer of the strategic insights platform and pharma marketing consultancy Sooth, has been solving marketing’s greatest challenges for over three decades. He has spent his career helping major biotech and pharmaceutical brands achieve extraordinary success and challenger brands box above their weight class in leadership roles with Publicis Groupe, TBWA, Rapp, Deutsch, and others. He is a contributing writer for industry-specific and national publications including Adweek, Forbes and Digiday along with a frequent speaker at leading national conferences including Advertising Week, Social Media Week, Digiday, DMA Annual, Marketing Forum, and the 4A’s.

 bring you the latest commercial insights to master the science of success. Podcast episodes examine current trends, key conferences, and critical topics in the bio/pharmaceutical industry.

Podcasts

Ian Baer, Founder and Chief Soothsayer, Sooth, discusses how pharmaceutical companies and healthcare advertising agencies can adapt their strategies to attract Gen-Z.

Gen-Z Influence on Pharma M&A

In the podcast, Mohit Manrao, the SVP and head of US oncology at AstraZeneca, shares his journey from growing up in Northern India with aspirations of becoming a doctor, to leading oncology initiatives at AstraZeneca in the US. A central strategy to ultimately eliminate cancer includes ensuring that the latest scientific advancements are accessible to patients in every zip code and the necessity of integrating the patient perspective at every stage—from early discovery to commercialization, recognizing the importance of diverse patient needs, non-invasive diagnostics, and alleviating challenges in access to screenings and treatments.

Mohit Manrao, Senior Vice President, US Oncology Business Unit, AstraZeneca is responsible for leading commercial strategy and maximizing performance of AstraZeneca’s expansive oncology portfolio. Prior to assuming his current role in 2022, Mohit served as Vice President, Global Franchise Head Lung Cancer since 2020. Mohit joined AstraZeneca in 2012, holding various roles at the market-, regional-, and global-levels across geographies, including Head of UK Oncology and Head of Daiichi Sankyo Alliance Europe.

The editors of Pharmaceutical Executivebring you the latest commercial insights to master the science of success. Podcast episodes examine current trends, key conferences, and critical topics in the bio/pharmaceutical industry.

Join us as Mohit Manrao, SVP and head of US oncology at AstraZeneca, shares his patient-centered approach to transforming cancer care, bridging the gap between innovative science and tangible patient outcomes across all populations on a global scale. 

Transforming Cancer Care: Data, AI, and Patient-Centered Care   

Welcome to a riveting episode of the Pharm Exec podcast, where we dive headfirst into the transformative world of AI in healthcare with Sharlene Jenner, vice president of engagement strategy with the award-winning agency Abelson Taylor. This enlightening conversation traverses the advancements and potential risks of AI, the revolution it is stirring in pharmaceutical marketing, and its game-changing role in understanding complex protein structures. Amid the rapid innovation, we explore the urgent need for ethical guidelines and regulations to keep pace with technology.

Sharlene Jenner, vice president of engagement strategy with Abelson Taylor, has over 18 years in the strategy and digital field and is an industry speaker and coach/mentor. Jenner teaches a course on "Artificial Intelligence and Personalization for Digital Marketers" for Southern Methodist University. She is passionate about developing interactions through emerging technologies that bridge gaps, creating opportunities and helping companies leverage their strengths for success. She has leadership experience in a variety of industries including hotel/hospitality, consumer goods, small business, retail marketing, domestic manufacturing, staffing and health care. This diverse past gives her a unique perspective when it comes to translating marketing strategy to its digital components for all kinds of consumers. Jenner is an empathetic servant leader who focuses on creating high performing teams and helping others succeed. She was named a Top Woman Leader in Dallas in 2022. Jenner has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from University of Texas-Dallas and a master’s degree in business administration from Texas A&M University-Commerce.

Senior editor Fran Pollaro chats with Sharlene Jenner, vice president of engagement strategy, Abelson Taylor about the transformative impact and ethical considerations of AI in the pharmaceutical industry, emphasizing its potential in data analysis and marketing, while also highlighting the pioneering work of AI companies in advancing drug discovery.

AI Frontiers: Navigating the Risks, Rewards, and Regulations

This Pharma 50 companion episode delves into the vital topic of trust within the pharmaceutical industry. Morten Nielsen, senior partner for the life sciences practice at Wittkieffer, dissects the concept, drawing on parallels to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and discusses practical methods for measuring and operationally improving trust. This episode is a must-listen for those interested in understanding the current state and future evolution of trust in the pharmaceutical sector, an industry where trust forms a fundamental pillar for delivering on its mission statement.

A senior partner for the Life Sciences Practice at WittKieffer, Morten Nielsen (he/him) has more than three decades of direct, relevant industry experience. Most recently he has spent over 10 years in executive search, including various global leadership responsibilities. He has recruited board directors, CEOs, and other C-level executives across most functional areas inclusive of R&D, medical, clinical, commercial, operations, quality and regulatory affairs for organizations in healthcare, medical device, diagnostic, pharmaceuticals and biotech.

Prior to entering the executive search industry, Morten spent over 20 years working within the healthcare and life sciences industries. Approximately half of his industry career was spent in Europe. He began his career with Pharmacia Diagnostics (now GE), where he held Account Representative and Product Specialist roles. He also held roles in marketing with Baxter, general management roles with Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (now Sanofi), and Wyeth (now Pfizer) prior to moving into medical devices with Boston Scientific. His last role in the industry before moving into executive search was as Corporate Vice President and Group President, Life Sciences with STERIS Corporation.

Morten currently serves as Chair, Emeritus of the global board of directors of the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC).

The editors of Pharmaceutical Executive bring you the latest commercial insights to master the science of success. Podcast episodes examine current trends, key conferences, and critical topics in the bio/pharmaceutical industry.

Senior editor Fran Pollaro and Morten Nielsen, senior partner for the life sciences practice at Wittkieffer, embark on an insightful exploration of trust in the pharmaceutical industry, discussing its measurement, improvement, and critical role in governance, culture, leadership, and organizational structure, while offering practical advice for industry leaders on embedding transparency, inclusion, and accountability into daily operations. 

The Trust Imperative: Defining and Building Trust in Pharma

In this episode of the Pharmaceutical Executive Podcast, we dive into a conversation with Frank Watanabe, president and CEO of Arcutis, a medical dermatology company with a patient-first approach. Discover how Arcutis is transforming the dermatology landscape with its innovative product offerings, such as FDA-approved Zoryve for topical treatment of plaque psoriasis and their upcoming products for seborrheic dermatitis and atopic dermatitis. Learn about the company's guiding principles, the importance of keeping patients at the forefront of decision-making, and the need for further innovation in the dermatology sector after decades of stagnation.

Frank Watanabe has been the president of Arcutis since 2016, and chief executive officer since 2017. Prior to joining Arcutis, he was co-founder and chief operating officer of Kanan Therapeutics, a cardiovascular drug development company, and before that, was vice president of strategy and corporate development at Kythera Biopharmaceuticals.

Watanabe was an executive at Amgen, Inc. from 2005 to 2013, where he was involved in the development of Repatha® for hyperlipidemia and Aimovig® for migraine and worked on the US marketing of Enbrel® in both dermatology and rheumatology. Previously, he was an executive with Eli Lilly and Company, and an official in the US government. He was also a commissioned officer in the US Navy Reserves for 25 years. He formerly served on the board of Amunix Pharmaceuticals. Watanabe earned his MA in national security studies, and his BA in international relations, both at Georgetown University.

Join host Fran Pollaro as he delves into the world of patient-centric dermatology innovations with Arcutis president and CEO Frank Watanabe in this Pharmaceutical Executive Podcast episode.

Exploring Arcutis’s Patient-Centric Dermatology Innovations

Cathi Ahearn is a seasoned biotechnology leaders with formative stints at Genentech, Roche, and now at Bristol Myers Squibb, as SVP of worldwide commercial portfolio strategy. Cathi is focused on one goal: shortening the path between creating medical innovation and getting that innovation to patients. Cathi chats with senior editor at Pharmaceutical Executive about her experiences in the past 20+ years and most importantly, the power of cross-functional collaboration, bringing different teams together and tearing down silos that limit the impact new innovations can have for patients.

Cathi joined Bristol Myers Squibb in December 2021 to lead Worldwide Commercial Portfolio Strategy, including responsibility for commercial development of pipeline assets, global marketing of in-line brands, and optimized management of the established brands franchise. She is a seasoned biotechnology leader who spent 22 years in roles of increasing responsibility and scope at Roche/Genentech, primarily in oncology. Her strategic, results-driven mindset led to demonstrated successes building and developing successful teams. Most recently, she led the GI & GU and Cancer Immunotherapy franchises within Roche’s worldwide commercial organization. Cathi led the cross-functional lifecycle & franchise teams for Tecentriq, Roche’s anti-PDL1 program, from the time of its entry into clinic through its global licensing and commercialization. Cathi held a broad range of US sales, marketing, and strategic roles on the Avastin program, and in the cardiovascular and asthma/allergy disease areas.

Cathi holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from UCLA and a Master of Business Administration from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

The editors of Pharmaceutical Executive bring you the latest commercial insights to master the science of success. Podcast episodes examine current trends, key conferences, and critical topics in the bio/pharmaceutical industry. 

Fran Pollaro talks with Cathi Ahearn, senior vice president, worldwide commercial portfolio strategy, Bristol Myers Squibb about impediments and solutions to break down silos in order to get medications in the hands of patients faster.

Tearing Down Silos to Usher Innovative Medicines to Patients Faster

In his position, Faruk Capan leads thousands of employees around the globe with a focus on bold innovation—one can imagine how excited he is about Chat GPT, which set the record for fastest-growing user base in history. Senior editor Fran Pollaro and Faruk go back and forth about positives, negatives, hopes, and fears attached to generative AI for us as regular humans, and as pharma marketers. The pair delve into content creation, creative, video production, research, sales and marketing…it’s clear that we’re on the precipice of life-changing innovation.

Faruk Capan is the CEO, EVERSANA INTOUCH & Chief Innovation Officer, EVERSANA. Faruk began his first business at age nine and went on to create MSWatch.com, the first and largest online community for people living with multiple sclerosis ­– before founding Intouch in 1999. Today, he leads thousands of employees around the globe with a focus on bold innovation in a people-first environment. He is equally passionate about sports and shoes.

Fran Pollaro talks with Faruk Capan is the CEO, EVERSANA INTOUCH & Chief Innovation Officer, EVERSANA about the arrival of Chat GPT and generative AI in the public consciousness. This is just the beginning.

The Explosive Arrival of Chat GPT and Generative AI

We’re coming out of a period of hyper-accelerated digital and virtual growth, a positive born out of the COVID-19 pandemic — many in the business are wondering how the sales force is going to look, and how they’re going to communicate effectively with HCPs and patients. Pratap Khedkar, CEO of ZS discusses that with senior editor Fran Pollaro as well as the implications associated with the Inflation Reduction Act, the focus and importance of patient-centricity, what we might see in 2023 in the sales & marketing vertical, and more.

Pratap Khedkar was elected CEO of ZS in July 2021. Prior to this, he led the firm’s global pharmaceuticals practice for nine years, as well as a practice focused on the dynamics of healthcare ecosystems. He founded and led its advanced data science capability track, which focuses on AI. He has also served on ZS’s board since 2012.

Pratap has advised numerous leading companies in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries on a wide range of sales and marketing issues, including market access and managed care, using AI for multichannel marketing, marketing mix, sales force strategy and incentive compensation. More recently, his work has focused on developing effective strategies and analytics for changing customers in the new healthcare ecosystem.

A recognized healthcare industry expert, Pratap regularly contributes his insights to publications including The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek, Business Insider, Fortune, Medical Marketing & Media, NPR, Pharmaceutical Executive and others. His thought leadership work focuses on topics as diverse as healthcare policy; life sciences companies’ new commercial and organizational models; and the evolving relationships between patients, providers and payers and the life sciences organizations that serve them.

Pratap holds a PhD in artificial intelligence from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.Tech in computer science from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.

 bring you the latest commercial insights to master the science of success. Podcast episodes examine current trends, key conferences, and critical topics in the bio/pharmaceutical industry. 

Pratap Khedkar, CEO of ZS, a management consulting and technology firm focused on transforming global healthcare, shares his perspective on what 2023 holds for the sales and marketing vertical.

In Flux: The Sales & Marketing Outlook for 2023

In this episode, Marcella Milliet Sciorra, Chief Marketing Officer at DeepIntent, discusses Connected TV, or CTV, how it differs from over the top, and how CTV fits into the future of pharmaceutical marketing.

Senior Editor, Fran Pollaro, also talks to Milliet Sciorra about:

CTV being one of the hottest marketing channels available today

The role of TV today for pharma and patient perception

What data tell us about the overall CTV landscape, CTV audiences, and their viewing preferences

In episode 122, Marcella Milliet Sciorra, Chief Marketing Officer at DeepIntent, discusses Connected TV, or CTV, how it differs from over the top, and how CTV fits into the future of pharmaceutical marketing.

Tuning Into CTV - Real Time Data For Marketers

Sarah McKinnon, Senior Art Director at The Grey Group, discusses her entrance into the advertising world through blending art and science in school, understanding the connection between human health and storytelling, her own experiences as a patient, along with a healthy dose of grit and passion, to inform her audiences and her career.

Sarah McKinnon, Senior Art Director at The Grey Group, discusses her entrance into the advertising world through blending art and science in school, understanding the connection between human health and storytelling, her own experiences as a patient along with a healthy dose of grit and passion¾to inform her audiences and her career.

Behind the Creative…..Inspiring Award Winning Creative with Sarah McKinnon

The Big Pharma commercialization playbook doesn’t work for emerging life sciences companies bootstrapping their way up. Exploring three strategies that could be the ingredients of a winning formula for startups.

‘Selling a Vision’: Today’s Playbook for Startups 

Practical ways product teams can leverage the benefits of generative artificial intelligence as a strategic advantage in pharmaceutical and life sciences commercialization.

AI: A Value Advantage? Maximizing Your Brand Outreach  

Respondents showed concern for cost increases and changes to benefits.

eHealth Survey Reveals Concerns Prior to Medicare Enrollment

Laura Johnson, senior director, sales, life sciences, Loftware, discusses scenarios where unclear labeling led to challenges for patient outcomes. 

Challenges of Unclear Product Labeling on Patient Outcomes

Daiichi Sankyo’s head of US oncology business discusses the company’s first DTC television campaign for Enhertu.

Thursday Night DTC Marketing: Q&A with Dan Switzer

Amanda Powers-Han, Chief Marketing Officer, Greater Than One and Pharmaceutical Executive Advisory Board Member identifies marketing trends you expect to be big right away in 2025.

Pharma Marketing Trends to Expect in 2025

 Amanda Powers-Han, Chief Marketing Officer, Greater Than One and Pharmaceutical Executive Advisory Board Member discussed the importance of patient engagement in pharma marketing. She emphasized the need for personalized marketing strategies that build trust and ensure data privacy. The use of AI and advanced analytics tools was highlighted as crucial for extracting meaningful insights from healthcare data. Powers-Han also addressed the evolving regulatory landscape and the importance of ethical marketing practices in the digital age. Additionally, conversation was had surrounding the challenges of measuring ROI in the pharmaceutical industry and the potential of personalized audio and video content in future marketing efforts.

What are some marketing trends you expect to be big right away in 2025?

One of them is the topic that we were pushing on a little bit earlier in terms of data and omni channel. Omnichannel is something that all of our clients are working very hard to build in terms of what is that omnichannel customer experience, and how do we actually enable that to take place? Different degrees of maturity depending on the client that we're working with, but it is one of the key challenges that every one of our clients is trying to figure out, and something that we're helping them with. The other is big bets on Google and Tiktok, those are going to be huge decisions that are coming up. And depending on the outcome of those decisions, we believe there's going to be some really great positive disruptions that could come from it. 

And then in terms of format, and just as we think about, you know, channels and marketing mix, the power of video is just undeniable. And while you know, traditionally, the larger brands were developing TV spots, now there is a huge opportunity for even the smaller niche brands products to invest in video content in so many exciting ways for us to deploy and distribute that video content in the world of digital that we believe that doubling down on video content is both where the industry is headed and it's going to be great for the brands that we support. And then the last one is, you know, as we think about the way that content is created and developing the best customer experience as possible, it's all about fusing content in media and technology to bring those great experiences forward. 

So, we believe that in 2025 there's going to be a lot of great work that will continue to be done, and even more so than this year, creating and crafting content for the develop for the environment that it's living in, versus the traditional, you know, create one campaign idea, and then just pull it through in a very direct way across channel. So, I think the more we can do as marketers to think about what customers need and build content that's crafted for the environment is going to make a huge difference in a trend that we're going to see in 25 and it just, it's, you know, this business is more fun than it's ever been. There's just so many new opportunities and innovations that are just, you know, really right for us all to dig into, to lean into, and to figure out together. So, we're excited.

Videos

In this part of her video interview, Amanda Powers-Han, Chief Marketing Officer, Greater Than One and Pharmaceutical Executive Advisory Board Member identifies marketing trends you expect to be big right away in 2025.

Amanda Powers-Han, Chief Marketing Officer, Greater Than One and Pharmaceutical Executive Advisory Board Member discusses how personalized audio will be utilized within the pharma marketing industry in 2025.

Will Pharma Increase Use of Personalized Audio Use in Marketing?

How do you think we will see personalized audio utilized within the pharma marketing industry in 2025?

We do quite a bit of this already, both in the context of patient, caregiver, and healthcare professionals. We incorporated in many of the campaigns, primarily when it comes to education. So, it is a great medium for narration and storytelling and education, both from the standpoint of educating on a condition and or educating on symptoms, because, as you know, in the context of rare disease, which is approximately 50% of our business. So many of those rare diseases go undiagnosed for a decade or more. So, it is a great medium to be able to drive deeper education and even in some cases, awareness, and adherence. So, what I would say is that it's already a good part of many of our marketing campaigns. And in 2025 I would see that increasing even more, you know, almost, if we go back to social media and perhaps, you know, audio is, is the next channel or opportunity that brands will continue to lead into, lean into, I should say.

In this part of her video interview, Amanda Powers-Han, Chief Marketing Officer, Greater Than One and Pharmaceutical Executive Advisory Board Member discusses how personalized audio will be utilized within the pharma marketing industry in 2025.

Amanda Powers-Han, Chief Marketing Officer, Greater Than One and Pharmaceutical Executive Advisory Board Member discusses how CMOs effectively measure the return on investment (ROI) of their marketing efforts in the pharmaceutical industry, particularly in light of the long-term nature of drug development and approval processes.

Measuring the ROI of Marketing Efforts

How can CMOs effectively measure the return on investment (ROI) of their marketing efforts in the pharmaceutical industry, particularly in light of the long-term nature of drug development and approval processes?

That's the Holy Grail, isn't it? If in how we connect all of the marketing and the investment to the true business outcomes on the back end, there's a number of ways that we can get at that. Of course, when it comes to the leading indicators of advertising and content, we look very careful. At KPIs that we in the client together agree are the most representative of the behaviors that then will lead to those longer term outcomes in terms of brand choice and RX, we also are pushing in the context of HCP marketing to connect all of the campaigns and media to NPI level data. So, as you know, every healthcare professional has an NPI number. All of the NPP programs that we're running, we have the ability to get the NPI level data back, so we see what physicians have been exposed and what physicians have actually engaged with that content. And we have a product that we've developed greater score that creates a weighted scoring system with that NPI level data, so that we can use that data to further optimize our NPP programs. We're feeding that data back into the CRM programs with our clients, and that data is being deployed to the sales team, so that the sales team and NPP are very closely connected and synchronized. 

So, the conversation that we're having create the halo effect and the connectivity ultimately that will drive those HCPs to make RX decisions that hopefully support our brands and businesses. And then, of course, there's the actual RX data. When we have the HCP level NPI data, we can, in fact, connect it to the claims data and the writing behavior. And using our own methodologies, collaborating with clients, we're able to now connect the dots between NPP program, exposure, and engagement to what is being driven in terms of script behavior at the physician level, and with confidence, define and prove the role that NPP has in terms of driving those prescribers to prescribe more the patient, caregiver side is harder. So of course, there's, you know, all of the third party studies, and we work with many of the leading third parties to be able to look at Audience Quality analyzes and then media mix modeling. And ultimately, in many cases, we can get very close to right, what is the business impact that those programs have had, but just in terms of that one to one connection that I teed up on the HCP side of the business, of course, that's not possible in terms of privacy when it comes to caregivers and patients,

In this part of her video interview, Amanda Powers-Han, Chief Marketing Officer, Greater Than One and Pharmaceutical Executive Advisory Board Member discusses how CMOs effectively measure the return on investment (ROI) of their marketing efforts in the pharmaceutical industry, particularly in light of the long-term nature of drug development and approval processes.

Amanda Powers-Han, Chief Marketing Officer, Greater Than One and Pharmaceutical Executive Advisory Board Member explains how pharmaceutical companies can effectively navigate the evolving regulatory landscape and ensure that their marketing activities comply with ethical standards and industry best practices.

Navigating Social Media Regulatory and Ethical Standards

With the rise of social media and digital platforms, how can pharmaceutical companies effectively navigate the evolving regulatory landscape and ensure that their marketing activities comply with ethical standards and industry best practices?

It's so interesting, if we rewind three or four years ago with clients, we were having to build a case for social media to be a part of our plans, and now it's part of absolutely every plan. So, whether that is a broader social media and marketing strategy that includes organic and paid or if it's more limited to, you know, piloting and or investing just in a couple of key platforms in terms of paid advertising, the first thought would be, choose your platforms wisely. There are some social media platforms we trust and there are others that we do discourage our clients from participating on that landscape is changing by the minute, but ultimately, it's really important to know what platforms you're going to be participating in and be comfortable with the privacy and the way that they're run. Back to the idea of targeting in data equally as important, right? We need to make sure that we are leveraging privacy compliant targeting techniques, first party data, third party trusted data providers. You know, contextual targeting, again, in some ways, but just that we are very much above board and also aligned with our clients to make sure that they're comfortable and their internal regulatory teams are aware of and supportive of the techniques that we're using. 

And then it's just again. I mean, in the world of social, even more so than many of the other environments that a brand shows up in, we have to be authentic. We have to create something that is purposeful, that we're, you know, connecting to a customer and solving a problem for them, or giving them something of value, creating content in interactions that help them. And what's really interesting is that in the world of social we can be very nuanced in terms of the content that we're developing and that we're deploying, and so thinking very carefully about, you know, how do we connect the content and the context? What is that great experience that we're building and then ultimately learning very quickly from the engagement that we're seeing from those customers and pivoting and evolving and looking at content as something that is dynamic versus static. So, we think about content and ideas in a way that they come to life when we put them into the hands and onto the screens of customers. And it's something that we think very hard about, not only in terms of how we're building the content up front, but how that content needs to evolve, and how we can make it better and better over time. And when we think about that, and we focus very much on the experience that we're creating for those patients, for those caregivers, and HCPs in those environments, they lean into us, because we're not thinking about only the brand. We're thinking about the purpose and the meaning that the brand is delivering back to them and ultimately building that trust and loyalty.

In this part of her video interview, Amanda Powers-Han, Chief Marketing Officer, Greater Than One and Pharmaceutical Executive Advisory Board Member explains how pharmaceutical companies can effectively navigate the evolving regulatory landscape and ensure that their marketing activities comply with ethical standards and industry best practices.

Amanda Powers-Han, Chief Marketing Officer, Greater Than One and Pharmaceutical Executive Advisory Board Member discusses how CMOs can leverage artificial intelligence and other advanced analytics tools to extract meaningful insights and optimize marketing strategies.

Using AI and Advanced Analytics Tools to Optimize Marketing Strategies

As the volume and complexity of healthcare data continue to grow, how can CMOs leverage artificial intelligence and other advanced analytics tools to extract meaningful insights and optimize marketing strategies?

I don't believe I've had a client conversation over the last few months that didn't include AI in some way, shape or form. It is just, it is at the heart of our business, and has just exploded with generative AI and just all of the opportunities that that's opened up, some of the ways that we're leveraging AI is back to the idea of precision targeting. We're also internally building AI into many of our own workflows, which is driving efficiencies. And we're seeing a lot of really exciting innovations when it comes to AI driven content development, though we would say that in those cases, we are being very careful and cautious to make sure that it's the humans and those of us working with AI technologies and more of a kind of copilot relationship versus letting AI Drive content decisions. 

What's interesting is, outside of the individual AI platforms, we're seeing that AI capabilities are being built into so many of the tools that we already use, which is wonderful for us, because it creates a really seamless way for us to be able to leverage the technology within and back to the idea of Audience Insights, one of the tools that we use allows us to build segments of rare disease patient populations, and then from that segment be able to tease out what are the media consumption behaviors of those specific populations. And it has an AI capability which helps summarize the insights, and it saves us a tremendous amount of time. And then the other area that we're exploring, that we believe there's a lot of potential, is building our own proprietary products with the help of AI. So, a couple of those are forecasting the right level of investment so that brand marketers know how much they're going to need to spend in order to achieve their business goals, and also connecting the dots so that we can actually look at how the investment is driving business outcomes versus just digital metrics.

In this part of her video interview, Amanda Powers-Han, Chief Marketing Officer, Greater Than One and Pharmaceutical Executive Advisory Board Member discusses how CMOs can leverage artificial intelligence and other advanced analytics tools to extract meaningful insights and optimize marketing strategies.

Amanda Powers-Han, Chief Marketing Officer, Greater Than One and Pharmaceutical Executive Advisory Board Member discusses how pharmaceutical companies can effectively balance personalized marketing efforts with maintaining data privacy and ensuring patient trust.

Balancing Personalized Marketing and Maintaining Data Privacy

Given the increasing emphasis on patient engagement, how can pharmaceutical companies effectively balance personalized marketing efforts with maintaining data privacy and ensuring patient trust?

The first thing that I and we think about is the relationship that we create between the brand and the customer. It has to be relevant, and it has to have meaning. So, when we think about the interactions and ultimately, how we're engaging customers, we think about content versus advertising and bringing forward something that is truly going to help them. So, when we do that, it's connecting the content right, great, either educational information and or, you know, branded information that will help them with the right context, or, in other words, the media environments right the places that the content lives, that creates a patient or an HCP experience that truly matters. And by doing that, you build trust in terms of data and privacy. 

I would say that targeting is at the heart of that, and we are very careful. And all marketers in the healthcare space need to be very careful in terms of the targeting techniques that they are deploying. And some of the ones that we use are contextual targeting, which, of course, is where we're connecting to those relevant environments based on the content pre-qualification, which is a great experience, where we're addressing whether or not that patient is, in fact, one of the qualified patients that then should continue in terms of the branded experience. And we also have doubled down on first party data. And then the last thing, as far as privacy. And what we're seeing is we are seeing the industry step forward some voluntarily to make sure that their privacy practices are exactly what they need to be, and in some cases, right the industry and the government is pushing so we're watching very carefully the case between Google and the DOJ.

In this part of her video interview, Amanda Powers-Han, Chief Marketing Officer, Greater Than One and Pharmaceutical Executive Advisory Board Member discusses how pharmaceutical companies can effectively balance personalized marketing efforts with maintaining data privacy and ensuring patient trust.

Ensuring That Product Labels Are Easily Understood

Drug labeling has become a key issue in the pharmaceutical industry. Mislabeling has frequently led to providers prescribing the wrong medications to their patients. In an interview with 

 Laura Johnson, senior director, sales, life sciences, Loftware, discussed key challenges of drug labeling, ensuring that labels are easily understood, unclear labeling, and the role of digital passports.

PE: How do you ensure that product labels are easily understood by healthcare professionals and patients alike?

My personal opinion is that the labels need to be very simple from the standpoint of color coding and highlighting different information that should be looked at closely, such as allergens or reactions. I think there's a little bit of a challenge where a manufacturer puts a lot of information, time, and effort into the product label that appears on the packaged good. When it comes to a pharmacy in the United States, it's taken out of that primary packaging and put into an amber vial. When that is distributed to a patient, a lot of that content is often missed or discarded. So, it is a challenge. In my mind, it's a gap between how we produce the information on the primary packaging versus what the patient actually walks out of the pharmacy with and into their home. Keeping that data and that information aligned is a big challenge.

The pharmaceutical industry faces significant challenges regarding drug labeling, with mislabeling or misunderstood labeling potentially leading to serious consequences, such as injuries or hospitalizations. One key issue is patient comprehension, especially for those with low health literacy. Many patients may not fully understand the purpose of their prescriptions, potential interactions, or adverse effects, especially when dealing with multiple medications. This highlights the importance of clear, comprehensive labeling that goes beyond the physical bottle to include all necessary prescribing information, warnings, and adverse effect details. However, this information is often overlooked, leading to gaps in patient understanding and safety. A major challenge arises from the disconnect between manufacturer labeling and what patients receive at pharmacies, particularly when medications are repackaged. Inconsistent transfer of important information, such as expiration dates or allergens, can cause confusion and even lead to medications being discarded, as happened with certain COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic. Innovations in labeling, such as electronic labeling (e-labeling), present opportunities to improve patient outcomes. With technologies like barcodes or QR codes, patients and caregivers can access detailed information online, which ensures the most up-to-date data is available. Additionally, digital passports are seen as a promising tool for tracking a drug's lifecycle, ensuring compliance, and preventing counterfeit medications. While the implementation of such digital solutions is still evolving, their potential to enhance traceability and safety in drug administration is substantial, particularly in regulatory compliance and security.

Laura Johnson, senior director, sales, life sciences, Loftware, discusses ways to ensure that product labels are easily understood universally. 

Video Series

Carlos Doti 10 Years Lynparza

PE: Since LYNPARZA® (olaparib) was first approved in 2014, it has been expanded to eight indications across breast, prostate, pancreatic, and ovarian cancers. Can you discuss the unique aspects of the treatment that has made it the PARPi with the most FDA-approved indications?

LYNPARZA inaugurated this unique class of PARP inhibitors. This molecule was brought to market in that first indication by AstraZeneca 10 years ago on a mechanism of action that was probably disregarded, and it changed completely a lot of things for us. It was the first approval that we have in AstraZeneca and what we call the “new oncology”, although we have a legacy in oncology in breast cancer and prostate cancer that goes back 30 years ago in monotherapies like ZOLADEX and FASLODEX. We made a conscious decision to come back in oncology, and LYNPARZA was our first launch. That was the first thing for us, very important which is coming back into oncology in a different capacity.

Second thing is, we inaugurated two very relevant and important things with this class which is, the first approval was maintenance in ovarian cancer, so something that was never done before. Before that, in solid tumors, you would just go with chemotherapy, you get a response, and then you wait. And here we were able to prove that by adding LYNPARZA at the back end of that chemotherapy, you extend progression free survival and overall survival for these patients.

The third thing, which is very close to me because I didn’t mention this but I'm a hematologist by training, is that we inaugurated this new model of testing patients, not only for prognosis and treatment strategy for themselves, but actually to identify patients at risk within the family group. So, all of those challenges were the first for LYNPARZA. I think that was one of the reasons this has been such a successful brand.

It was established in a smaller indication but very relevant because of the unmet need. It brought benefit to patients first and second line and then in first line, but more relevantly, also benefit to patients that could have been impacted by those 

 mutations in the future, and if they were not being identified that by that initial case. So, all incredible things. Beyond that, once we realize that it has potential in these specific sub-segments of patients that have homologous recombinant rearrangements that make them feasible to use LYNPARZA, we expanded our presence from first form variant cancer, as I mentioned before, and then went into the other places that 

 has a role, which includes breast cancer with two indications there and prostate cancer, also two indications there and pancreatic cancer.

So all in all, I think it is the best part, because it was the first and because it has a unique safety profile. I think the proof of time, which is in these 10 years, and with all these indications serving more than 40,000 patients, we have seen that it works, it's safe, and it brings benefit to patients across tumor lines.

In an interview with Pharm Exec Associate Editor Don Tracy, Carlos Doti, VP, head of medical affairs, US oncology business unit, offers his thoughts on the evolution of Lynparza across indications such as breast, prostate, and pancreatic cancers. 

AstraZeneca VP, Head of Medical Affairs, US Oncology, Discusses 10 Years of Lynparza Across Eight Indications

Amanda Powers-Han, Chief Marketing Officer, Greater Than One, discusses what other tactics healthcare marketers can utilize to connect with diverse audiences

Going Beyond Visuals to Connect with Diverse Audiences

While representation in marketing materials is important for DE&I, what other tactics can healthcare marketers utilize to ensure their outreach goes beyond visuals and truly connects with diverse audiences on a deeper level?

I think that, you know, is still within the context of marketing materials in great content and engaging audiences effectively, you know, even beyond what we can do as a marketing organization and developing those experiences that go direct to those customers, is how we can also find creative ways to make an impact with some of the broader organizations that are also trying to advocate for that incredible change. So, you know, back to the rare disease context, again, there are advocacy groups that are working tirelessly to try to help people with rare diseases, both in terms of you know, their journey to diagnosis, their journey to treatment, and ultimately, you know, supporting them bringing them together in creating these tight communities so that they feel that they have a group of folks that they can really count on. So, working with the advocacy organizations, investing in them as much as we can, and supporting some of their broader causes is something that is very near and dear to our heart. And in fact, one of the ways that we not only, you know, talk about the need for change, but deliver an act upon it, is through our 501c3, which is greater good. And greater good has an arm called honeycomb health. And honeycomb health is our purpose-built solution to help people with rare diseases by offering free storefronts to any advocacy group that wants one. So, we build the storefront, we have all the merchandise up in the store, and then they're able to generate revenue to support their cause by selling all of this great material online. So that's something we're pretty proud of. I'd love to show you a video in a minute. Through the Manny awards, we've just earned a nomination for the heart award. So, we pulled together a video clip to be able to share at the award ceremony and it just does a really nice job and kind of telling the story and one of the ways that that we're delivering on, you know, how we can truly help versus just talk about it. We really believe in the act of change.

A couple of other thoughts just on the broader question around what we can do beyond marketing materials, is the way that we build our own teams, and the marketing groups that are working on the marketing materials and the work that we're building to try to engage these groups effectively. And that is making sure that our marketing teams are diverse. And also, if possible, even creating an advisory board in some cases where people have a deeper understanding of the people that we're trying to engage in much more so from kind of the grassroots ground level versus us having to try to come up with those great insights on our own. We've done that a couple of times, and it's been pretty effective. And it's also you know, without having to invest hundreds of 1000s of dollars in research, sometimes more of a qualitative way that you can have the right level of thinking and that sensitivity on the marketing team itself.

In this Pharmaceutical Executive video interview, Amanda Powers-Han, Chief Marketing Officer, Greater Than One, discusses what other tactics healthcare marketers can utilize to connect with diverse audiences on a deeper level

Amanda Powers-Han, Chief Marketing Officer, Greater Than One, discusses healthcare marketing strategies for reaching diverse audiences

Crafting Culturally Sensitive Messages to Reach Diverse Audiences and Improve Patient Outcomes

With an ever-increasing focus on DE&I, how can improved DE&I in healthcare marketing strategies not only reach diverse audiences more effectively but also contribute to improved patient care outcomes?

The first really important point that I will share is just how critical this is to us advancing healthcare as an industry, and ultimately helping all of the people that deserve to live their fullest lives. You may know this already, but Greater Than One is a women owned business and also LGBTQ certified. So, it is at the heart of our DNA and something that we live and breathe every day. And kind of simply put, the better job we do breaking down some of these barriers, the more people are going to be reached effectively, the more people are going to seek care and the quality care that they need. And then ultimately, the better the care experience, the better the outcomes. So, I just wanted to say that right off the bat. And then in terms of how we can engage and address this really important issue.

First and foremost, we need to understand the individual audiences, the cultural sensitivities, and ultimately the needs of each of these groups and the broader group collectively, so that we can develop content and engage them effectively. And that's something that you know, is not a one size fits all approach at all. It takes hard work, it takes investment. And it takes some real effort in understanding the individuals and what's going to motivate them, support them, and ultimately help them be healthier on an ongoing basis. And there's a couple of examples that we have seen. The first that I'll share with you, is in the sickle cell disease space specifically. So, as you may know, sickle cell disease impacts people of color much more than it do others. And their experience in the healthcare system has an incredible bias against them. And so, as we think about building programs for sickle cell disease, we have to put ourselves in the shoes of those customers and recognize the experience that they have in the healthcare system is not always a very positive one in the context of what they suffer from, and their incredible pain going into the emergency department and truly needing help from those doctors and healthcare staff. Sometimes they don't get it because there's this incredible bias against them from the top. So that's just an example of something that is not fully solved for yet, but really important for us to understand that experience as we develop marketing campaigns and engage them. And then one other example, if I may, is in the context of rare diseases.

Rare diseases, as you may know, they are under research, they are underfunded. And we do a tremendous amount of work in the rare disease space about 50 or 60% of our business is in rare diseases specifically. And so, as we think about building marketing programs and solutions for rare disease, patient populations, and the healthcare professionals that support them, we think about the importance of precision targeting and getting to those individual patients, finding the patients first and foremost, so that they are exposed to that great content, and they can educate themselves and then ultimately advocate for themselves as they're going through their diagnosis in their treatment journey.

What challenges do healthcare marketers face in crafting culturally sensitive messages that resonate with diverse audiences and address their specific healthcare needs?

We have to understand the specific audiences and the individuals first in in a very rich in a deep way. So, putting ourselves in their position, leveraging different forms of research and ultimately having a deep understanding of what they need, what makes them tick, what drives them what they're afraid of behaviorally, of course, in how, through that incredible understanding, we then have an opportunity in a much better chance to create something that's going to resonate with them. And great insight is not sometimes easy to find. So, it's not a data point, it's something that is much deeper, that we can latch on to deliver something truly special that's going to connect with them both in terms of their heart, their heart and in their head. Because that's when we do the best work. That's when people are motivated to advocate for themselves. And ultimately, that's when you know, we are able to drive the better outcomes that we're all after. Another challenge is budget. So, creating content, and segmenting audiences can sometimes be more expensive. There are, of course, really interesting technology solutions now that are coming forward, that are helping us build content much more efficiently and effectively. And then in the context of that idea, also, as we think about the need to sometimes translate materials into other languages, so from English to Spanish, as an example, it's usually not just a direct translation, there are cultural sensitivities, and the need to take what has been developed in English as an example, and to work with professionals and experts that then can help develop and translate that content not only through machinery, but ultimately the right human touch so that we get it culturally right.

In this Pharmaceutical Executive video interview, Amanda Powers-Han, Chief Marketing Officer, Greater Than One, discusses how improved DE&I in healthcare marketing strategies can not only reach diverse audiences more effectively but address their specific healthcare needs

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