Marketing Mid-Tier Pharmaceutical Brands: Winning Resources for Near-Blockbusters (PH84)

The mid-level brands profiled in this study all fall short of reaching the $1 billion benchmark set by blockbuster drugs. However, global brand teams in charge of these drugs often reach their peak annual sales by investing far less money than their blockbuster counterparts. In many cases, mid-level, or sub-blockbuster drugs, are more profitable than blockbusters.

Some mid-level brands face a Catch-22 scenario – they never reach blockbuster status, therefore they do not receive blockbuster-level commercialization investments; on the other hand, the fact that they receive lower investments could be the reason they never reach blockbuster sales.

Cutting Edge Information developed this research to assist mid-level brand teams in maximizing their peak annual sales. The benchmarks included within provide context for mid-level teams to request budgets and staffing increases throughout each stage of development and post-launch. Furthermore, our analysts have outlined challenges that mid-level brand face when launching into the European and US markets.

The following recommendations and conclusions were among Cutting Edge Information’s top study findings:

Mid-level drugs thrive in underserved markets and, therefore, must prepare for inevitable competition and generic entrants

Some of the most successful mid-level brands have branded themselves in markets where few competitors exist or have done poor jobs of commercializing their drugs. While pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies can capitalize on the opportunities these markets present, this situation leave many mid-level brands vulnerable to competitive threats, especially generic drugs. With relatively low resource to draw upon, mid-level drugs are susceptible to losing their market share rapidly, even prior to patent expiration...

Promotional infrastructures limit mid-level brands from becoming blockbuster sellers.

An underdeveloped promotional organization and limited commercialization resources hold brands back at launch. For both European and US commercialized products, companies struggle to institute favorable promotional infrastructures for their products. Brands suffer most at launch from companies’ weak presence and lack of experience. Of the European and US brands surveyed in this report, more than half had an average or unfavorable promotional infrastructure…

Mid-level drugs must optimize their budgets and headcounts by consistently shifting resources between major functions

It is not uncommon to find mid-level brands shifting resources between support functions throughout the development process. Although none of the global-level brands neglected any major support functions, many re-prioritized their allocations at each development stage to focus on different goals…

Balance brand priorities to commercialize mid-level drugs in Europe

Brand teams commercializing products with mid-level revenue expectations balance their investments to address key challenges, and they often sacrifice one avenue of resource allocation for another. Each of the mid-level brand teams that market drugs in Europe received conservative investments either in marketing spending or staffing throughout development. The brand teams managing these drugs made difficult resource decisions as they backed different approaches to launch…

Intelligent commercialization choices lead to blockbuster-level aspirations for mid-level products, while mislaid resources can enormously hinder potential sales.

Mid-level brands tended to face uncertainty at launch. In their total expenditures and mix of key marketing expenditures, the group of six brands in this chapter reflects this uncertainty as many companies wait until Phase III to heavily dedicate resources…

Published 2006, 181 Pages, 400+ Metrics, 100+ Charts and Diagrams, Format: PDF
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