The year 2020 marked a turning point for the KOL Mapping business in Life Sciences. Until then KOL Mapping was typically a lengthy and costly undertaking for Medical Affairs based on bespoke research projects with specialized service providers.
With the rapid developments in big data processing and analytics, as well as AI/ML/NLP technology, this has changed completely. Companies like Monocl, H1 or Veeva have embraced the technological opportunities and developed syndicated KOL databases covering millions of HCPs/KOLs globally across all therapeutic areas.
Subscription models for pharma customers with immediate access to real/near-time updated KOL profiles for all relevant therapeutic areas eliminated the need to run custom KOL research projects and wait weeks for the results, all relevant KOL information all of a sudden was readily available at the users´ fingertips.
Investors and service providers got excited:
- PE company Inflexion completed the buyout of US based Pharmaspectra in 2019
- US based H1 closed a Series B round with $58M end of 2020
- Swedish company Monocl was acquired by US based Definitive Healthcare in 2020
- Veeva Systems launched Veeva Link Oncology in 2020
A few years later KOL subscription databases have been implemented broadly by the pharmaceutical industry beyond the early adopters. What are the key learnings?
In order to understand the market dynamics and customer value created for the different Pharma user groups from KOL data subscriptions let’s define the standard KOL Data use cases:
Strategic use case:
Typically a one-off requirement in Medical Affairs, drug is in Phase II/III, the indication is new to the company and MedAffairs need to get a more detailed overview of the KOL landscape in a country, region or globally, very often to identify KOLs for an Advisory Board.
Tactic use case:
Drug is pre-launch or already launched and MSLs and other functions regularly engaging with KOLs want to stay informed about scientific activities of the KOLs they work with.
The customer value a syndicated, big data subscription KOL offering can create in a strategic use case situation compared to the custom approach is limited. The information need can be defined as:
- not time sensitive
- highly specific
- typically not recurring
…the opposite of the subscription KOL data product attributes:
Readily available information on a large number of HCPs which is regularly updated
In addition in can be quite difficult to find the right individuals in a database with millions of HCPs:
- The business requirements need to be translated in an “Archetype KOL Profile” and a “Targeted Search Strategy”
- The filters in the KOL database need to allow for very detailed searches and users must be well trained to be able to successfully work in the database and find the right HCPs
To illustrate the two points above here is a tangible case study:
A national MedAffairs Manager wanted to identify established KOLs for an Advisory Board to help with the product positioning strategy.
That’s a very common business need, so how does that translate into a target KOL profile and the related search criteria?
If as a MedAffairs Manager you are not super experienced in KOL research you might find this task not easy and even if you have managed to translate your business need in a targeted search strategy, you still need to find the right individuals in the subscription database which can be a challenge if you are only using it once in a while and you are not super familiar with the different filters and search technology.
In addition a good enough country and indication coverage as well as overall data quality (name matching accuracy, included data sources etc.) of the KOL database is crucial.
So from a “Strategic use case” perspective the value aspect of a subscription KOL database is not super compelling for the typical MedAffairs user.
The “Tactic use case” is more favourable for the syndicated subscription products. Having an (ideally CRM integrated) source of information for the scientific activities of KOLs a company is engaging with, can be a huge productivity lever. MSLs for example do not need to spend time searching for recent publications etc. in preparation for a KOL meeting, they have all this information readily available at their fingertips and can have better informed engagements with their KOLs.
From an ROI perspective however this benefit is hard to quantify. Yes, there is research on how many hours per week MSLs google KOL information on the web and this time can be saved, but that’s only a “theoretical” value. In reality it is very difficult to determine the magnitude of value generation (apart from potential cost savings and provider standardization benefits in the procurement process) from an enterprise license for a therapeutic area or x amount of subscription database seats on the user side.
So, if
• the ROI is difficult to assess, particularly for the “Tactic use case” scenario
• there is only limited value in the “Strategic use cases”
What can be done from an enterprise perspective to scale and maintain user adoption (main KPI for a successful KOL data subscription roll-out) after the initial excitement following the launch of a KOL data subscription?
Here are 3 practical tips:
- Enrich KOL Profiles with customer proprietary information to create user value beyond syndicated profile data
- Integrate KOL Platform in standard workflows/systems to minimize operational burden for the users
- Introduce PUSH alerts/mails/notifications/newsletters to keep the service top of mind
The technological foundation for enterprise wide, up to date KOL information is there; the next challenge is to tap the full potential of these platforms by driving adoption across all relevant user groups and use cases.
About the author:
Marcus Bergler is a globally recognized thought leader in KOL Identification, Profiling, and Network Mapping.
Before joining D2L Pharma Research Solutions as Global Vice President of Sales and Strategy in November 2017 he served as General Manager Europe for Veeva’s KOL business unit (now Veeva Link) after Veeva’s acquisition of Qforma’s/Mederi’s Global KOL business in 2014 where he was also responsible for the EU KOL and Targeting business. Prior to joining Qforma in August 2013, he was VP Sales and Marketing at Cegedim Customer Information (CCI) providing nomination-based KOL Identification and Network Mapping to major life sciences customers.
Before he accepted the CCI assignment in March 2010, Marcus held positions as Consulting Principal and Sales Team Leader at IMS Health, Germany. From January 2003 until December 2006 Marcus was responsible for the business development of Rogers Medical Intelligence Solutions, New York (now Pharmaspectra) in the German market and for selected headquarter clients, providing innovative competitive intelligence and medical education services to pharmaceutical companies.
Prior to that Marcus gained consulting experience of 10 years in the healthcare/pharmaceutical industry. Marcus holds a degree in Economics from Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich.
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