Decoding prescriber behaviour: Insights from PurpleLab

Launching a new pharmaceutical product is a high-stakes endeavour. Over the past decade, nearly 40% of launches have fallen short of expectation, often at a significant financial loss.

During the recent webinar, Decoding Physician Prescribing Behaviour: A Data-Driven Journey, sponsored by PurpleLab, the company's VP of Advertising Partnerships and Strategy, Ted Sweetser, painted a clear picture of the stakes. "If you're thinking about ploughing a half billion or a billion dollars into your go-to-market, if you look at the weighted average of outcomes there, four out of 10 times, it's just not going to work out."

To improve the odds of success, pharmaceutical companies must shift from traditional methods of prescriber targeting to a more data-driven approach. Together with fellow PurpleLab panellists – Matt Ryklin, Director of Solution Engineering and Amy Crowe, VP of Go-To-Market Enablement – Sweetser highlighted the potential of such strategies to address the underlying causes of launch failures.

"What it ultimately comes down to is being able to understand not just which physicians to engage, but how to engage them, as well as drawing the circle broadly enough that you're actually influencing all of the decision-makers involved in a patient journey, from diagnosis to treatment," he said.

Strategic targeting: Beyond the high-decile approach

Traditional strategies in pharmaceutical marketing have long revolved around high-decile prescribers, those who see the most patients and write the most prescriptions. However, as Ryklin explained, this approach may miss significant opportunities. "You're potentially missing a lot of patients and a lot of providers who may not specialise in that area, might not write a tonne of volume compared to their peers, but you might find more success there," he said.

For Sweetser, the focus isn't just on who prescribes, but how they are influenced.

"We need to break from just the standard, 'Let's find the people who have the most prescriptions written and go after them,' or 'Let's just go after the specialists,' and start to take more of a networked approach to understanding the relationship between the patient, their specialists, and other providers that they see on a more frequent basis for the managed care of their conditions," he explained. This shift in focus is particularly important in precision medicine, where the patient populations are often smaller and more specialised.

Ryklin highlighted the importance of including non-traditional care team influencers, like nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs), who he noted may have the greatest touch point with the patient. "One activity you could do based on the claims data is look at somebody's claims activity and say, 'I know you're listed as a general nurse practitioner, but 40% of the claims you're engaging in are within the oncology space. Perhaps we should actually be calling you a nurse practitioner specialising in oncology,’” he said, as such a position holds influence in prescription drug decisions, recommending treatments to prescribing physicians, communicating treatment information or advice to patients, and providing feedback on treatment outcomes.

Adapting to a digital-first landscape

The increasing adoption of digital tools in healthcare has opened up new avenues for engagement. However, as the panellists emphasised, a blended approach that combines digital and in-person engagement remains essential. "I think that face-to-face interaction is still important as a lot of these drugs cost a lot of money, and there's a lot of education that goes behind them," said Crowe.

At the same time, Sweetser noted the limitations of relying solely on in-person detailing, particularly in an environment where many physicians are less accessible. "If, say, 50% or so of physicians are no longer accepting calls from reps, and you're using a playbook that says that you needed X number of reps to engage all of those physicians, then you're probably wasting about 50% of your sales investment," he said.

"The approach is not to adhere to some orthodoxy for one or the other. It's not like you should design your entire strategy to be in-person promotional versus non-contact, but actually, in a true omnichannel approach, you want to hit the providers in any way that you can," added Ryklin.

Alongside established digital channels, advanced technologies like large language models (LLMs) can also enhance engagement strategies. As Ryklin highlighted, "LLMs open up a greater sense of specificity and segmentation," allowing companies to create tailored messaging for different groups of prescribers.

Measuring the impact of these strategies is another critical factor in their success. Sweetser emphasised the importance of adopting a "test-and-learn" approach, where data is used to quickly assess and refine tactics. "The lower the testing cost and the faster the feedback cycle to get information on the performance of that test, the more you're able to find the most successful strategy," he said.

Building a cohesive strategy for success

To succeed in today's digitally-enabled pharma landscape, companies must craft strategies that are as dynamic as the markets they serve, using a carefully crafted plan that blends data-driven insights, omnichannel engagement, and a deep understanding of prescriber networks and patient pathways.

The data is key. Claims data, in particular, offers a goldmine of insights, allowing companies to identify not just high-volume prescribers, but also the broader network of influencers within a diverse care team. As Ryklin explained: "If two providers are sharing the same patient consistently within a seven-day, 14-day, 21-day time span, you can start to infer that there's probably a relationship there." Such insights empower companies to expand their focus beyond traditional high-decile targets to a more nuanced and inclusive strategy.

Flexibility also plays a vital role, noted Crowe. Companies must adopt a "test-and-learn" mindset to refine their strategies in real-time. "Having a mix [of solutions] and being flexible and changing your strategy over time" ensures that the approach remains dynamic and responsive to evolving market conditions, she explained.

Ultimately, success lies in connecting every piece of the puzzle. As Sweetser concluded, "being able to draw the circle broadly enough that you're actually influencing all of the decision-makers involved in a patient journey from diagnosis to treatment" is what transforms data into actionable, impactful strategies that align with the realities of today's healthcare landscape.

These are just some of the highlights from Decoding Physician Prescribing Behaviour: A Data-Driven Journey. For more insights from the panel, please check out the full webinar.

About PurpleLab

PurpleLab is a healthtech company with a mission to make healthcare speak a single unified language to drive better outcomes. HealthNexus, our no-code healthcare analytics platform, empowers life sciences, payers, providers and other stakeholders with real-world evidence to solve conventional and emerging challenges faster and more cost effectively.