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Post by mnholdem on Jun 30, 2016 8:46:34 GMT -5
This is an article from April - shortly after CEO Matt Pfeffer hired Mike Castagna as Chief Commercial Officer for MannKind Corporation. Since 3rd Quarter begins tomorrow, when MannKind can take over all marketing & sales for Afrezza, I think that this article may serve as a good review of Castagna's plan for marketing and selling Afrezza.
Source: www.fiercepharma.com/marketing/mannkind-refocuses-on-endocrinologists-to-give-afrezza-launch-a-jolt
Excerpts:
Castagna, now a month into the job, has hired the advertising agency PrecisionEffect -- which recently changed its name from LehmanMillet -- and begun mapping out the new marketing direction for Afrezza.
First up are endocrinologists. While Castagna said he wouldn't critique Sanofi's strategy, he noted that its main target audience was primary care physicians treating Type 2 diabetics. MannKind's plan instead is to go directly to the 5,000 endocrinologists in the U.S. who care for both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes patients.
Many endocrinologists weren't specifically detailed on Afrezza, he said, so getting doctors up to speed on usage is important before launching any broader DTC campaign. But consumer ads are coming, likely within the next 12 months, he said.
When asked what a DTC campaign might look like, Castagna said planning has just begun. However, he did say, "This is about freedom for patients and them controlling their life as opposed to diabetes controlling their life. It's about bringing about that insight."
"I don't think telling people who are on insulin, 'Hey, try this' is going to work," Castagna went on to say. "I know people would say it's a no-brainer--it's inhaled versus an injection--but you've got to have that emotional connection that people are dealing with this disease every single day."
MannKind will maintain a consumer website in the meantime, he said, and may do some targeted direct-to-patient communications in larger markets that already have a core group of doctors and patients who understand the product.
Diabetes educators will play a role as well. Usually nurses, they will be employed by MannKind, Castagna said, and work similarly to medical science liaisons.
Insurance companies are also important, he said, noting that MannKind is already working to remove managed care barriers and he is pleased with the progress.
"The reason I took the job is that I've been in this industry 20 years and I've had lots of specialty brands, but I've never had a brand that had patient advocates like this one who aren't paid and have no real ties to the company, but they just love this product and are authentic advocates on how it's radically shifted their life in a positive way," he said.
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NOTE: I started highlighting key points, but then realized that when it comes to the specific actions that Castagna talked about to successfully commercialize Afrezza, your ideas of what actions may be the most critical may differ from mine. Therefore I decided not to emphasize any statements.
Feel free to tell everybody what YOU think is needed for the re-launch to be a success.
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Post by centralcoastinvestor on Jun 30, 2016 9:37:37 GMT -5
Just a suggestion: I think this topic belongs in the All About MannKind section. Even though this refers to an article, the article is only being used as a listing of success criteria to generate thoughtful discussion on the upcoming relaunch. IMHO
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Post by mnholdem on Jun 30, 2016 10:29:23 GMT -5
Done.  |
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Post by peppy on Jun 30, 2016 10:57:00 GMT -5
This is an article from April - shortly after CEO Matt Pfeffer hired Mike Castagna as Chief Commercial Officer for MannKind Corporation. Since 3rd Quarter begins tomorrow, when MannKind can take over all marketing & sales for Afrezza, I think that this article may serve as a good review of Castagna's plan for marketing and selling Afrezza.
Source: www.fiercepharma.com/marketing/mannkind-refocuses-on-endocrinologists-to-give-afrezza-launch-a-jolt
Excerpts:
Castagna, now a month into the job, has hired the advertising agency PrecisionEffect -- which recently changed its name from LehmanMillet -- and begun mapping out the new marketing direction for Afrezza.
First up are endocrinologists. While Castagna said he wouldn't critique Sanofi's strategy, he noted that its main target audience was primary care physicians treating Type 2 diabetics. MannKind's plan instead is to go directly to the 5,000 endocrinologists in the U.S. who care for both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes patients.
Many endocrinologists weren't specifically detailed on Afrezza, he said, so getting doctors up to speed on usage is important before launching any broader DTC campaign. But consumer ads are coming, likely within the next 12 months, he said.
When asked what a DTC campaign might look like, Castagna said planning has just begun. However, he did say, "This is about freedom for patients and them controlling their life as opposed to diabetes controlling their life. It's about bringing about that insight."
"I don't think telling people who are on insulin, 'Hey, try this' is going to work," Castagna went on to say. "I know people would say it's a no-brainer--it's inhaled versus an injection--but you've got to have that emotional connection that people are dealing with this disease every single day."
MannKind will maintain a consumer website in the meantime, he said, and may do some targeted direct-to-patient communications in larger markets that already have a core group of doctors and patients who understand the product.
Diabetes educators will play a role as well. Usually nurses, they will be employed by MannKind, Castagna said, and work similarly to medical science liaisons.
Insurance companies are also important, he said, noting that MannKind is already working to remove managed care barriers and he is pleased with the progress.
"The reason I took the job is that I've been in this industry 20 years and I've had lots of specialty brands, but I've never had a brand that had patient advocates like this one who aren't paid and have no real ties to the company, but they just love this product and are authentic advocates on how it's radically shifted their life in a positive way," he said.
---
NOTE: I started highlighting key points, but then realized that when it comes to the specific actions that Castagna talked about to successfully commercialize Afrezza, your ideas of what actions may be the most critical may differ from mine. Therefore I decided not to emphasize any statements.
Feel free to tell everybody what YOU think is needed for the re-launch to be a success.
It seems to me the MNKD Afrezza sales team have more they can talk about with the endocrinologist, in this regard. Sales team could say, as a way to treat type two afrezza works will with the ADA standard of care, metformin + basal + mealtime insulin. screencast.com/t/LwGgF1iVRxcpv
and they can show the endos the speed afrezza onset 7 mins lispro onset 25 mins and the unit conversions screencast.com/t/LwGgF1iVRxcp 4 u afrezza = 3.1 u lispro The sales team can talk about the abstracts. www.mannkindcorp.com/Collateral/Documents/English-US/Baughman%20poster%20100-LB%20FINAL%20X2.pdf
(Al Mann said 70% type two would not need basal) care.diabetesjournals.org/content/suppl/2015/12/21/39.Supplement_1.DC2/2016-Standards-of-Care.pdf
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Post by agedhippie on Jun 30, 2016 13:00:01 GMT -5
When asked what a DTC campaign might look like, Castagna said planning has just begun. However, he did say, "This is about freedom for patients and them controlling their life as opposed to diabetes controlling their life. It's about bringing about that insight."
"I don't think telling people who are on insulin, 'Hey, try this' is going to work," Castagna went on to say. "I know people would say it's a no-brainer--it's inhaled versus an injection--but you've got to have that emotional connection that people are dealing with this disease every single day." Perfect and great to see that properly stated. If you live with this from day to day the other aspects of Afrezza (predictable absorption, quicker onset, and such like) are far more important because they deal with the impact of diabetes on your life - delivery really doesn't. Focusing on the inhaled aspect really misses the point of Afrezza for me. |
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Post by matt on Jun 30, 2016 14:23:22 GMT -5
and they can show the endos the speed afrezza onset 7 mins lispro onset 25 mins and the unit conversions. The sales team can talk about the abstracts. I don't think they can say that Afrezza has a faster onset when that contradicts the black and white text of the label which specifically says that its onset is similar to Lispro. The abstracts can be distributed as information, but the sales force has to be extremely careful about making any unsubstantiated marketing claims and as far as the FDA is concerned, the label is gospel and everything else is unsubstantiated. With the handcuffs of a restricted label, there is no reason for an endo to switch a patient to Afrezza unless the case can be made that better compliance with insulin therapy leads to better Hba1C control, avoidance of the needle will lead to better compliance, and the benefits of better compliance are more important that the risk to lung function. It will be interesting to see what kind of arguments Mike and friends have come up with for those last two points, because the company will live or die depending on their ability to convince physicians on those points. |
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Post by centralcoastinvestor on Jun 30, 2016 14:42:55 GMT -5
and they can show the endos the speed afrezza onset 7 mins lispro onset 25 mins and the unit conversions. The sales team can talk about the abstracts. I don't think they can say that Afrezza has a faster onset when that contradicts the black and white text of the label which specifically says that its onset is similar to Lispro. The abstracts can be distributed as information, but the sales force has to be extremely careful about making any unsubstantiated marketing claims and as far as the FDA is concerned, the label is gospel and everything else is unsubstantiated. With the handcuffs of a restricted label, there is no reason for an endo to switch a patient to Afrezza unless the case can be made that better compliance with insulin therapy leads to better Hba1C control, avoidance of the needle will lead to better compliance, and the benefits of better compliance are more important that the risk to lung function. It will be interesting to see what kind of arguments Mike and friends have come up with for those last two points, because the company will live or die depending on their ability to convince physicians on those points. With your constraints in mind, can MannKind make a case that carries the following message: "This is about freedom for patients and them controlling their life as opposed to diabetes controlling their life." Can MannKind claim without violating an FDA constraints, Afrezza provides the freedom for diabetics to take control of their lives...? |
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Post by tingtongtung on Jun 30, 2016 15:43:34 GMT -5
I raised a point in this thread (http://mnkd.proboards.com/post/68585) a while back..
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Are they done giving free samples? How many did they give? What was the ROI on them? Should they send out more free samples? Too many questions..
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* Any idea about the conversion rate from the initial launch? Whats the typical number/s that indicates a good conversion rate from successful launches?
* Costs. I believe, they are including more doses (right term?) in the new free sample packs. How much more is it per sample pack compared to before? Can patients request free samples directly from MNKD (with prescription)?
Is it considered as "Marketing" along with Dr dinner/education/etc?
* Any estimate as to when a potential free sample turns into a paying customer? What's the typical time in the pharma world? Basically, when could we start seeing the change in weekly scripts?
It's fairly obvious that I'm not from Pharma circle, and know nothing about the practical issues of marketing it :-( Thanks for any info! I appreciate it..
I believe in MNKD, and have invested significant amount here.. I hope we get enough returns from MNKD :-)
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