The benefits of value creation and value capture for pharma companies

The see-saw (aka teeter-totter) is my most dreaded childhood playground contraption. My fear developed as a bigger child forced all their weight on their side, leaving me teetering on the hard, splintered wood, my grip tight, feet dangling, as if running through the air. Most of the older kids were benevolent and lowered me softly while others jumped off, leaving me to slam to the ground.  

Pharmaceutical manufacturers face a similar balancing act between value creation and value capture. At its best, it’s a highly coordinated dance, two children extending to their tippy toes, one going airborne as the other stabilizes, their hair in the breeze, sunlit clouds in the background. It’s a loud slam at its worst, wasting money and resources. 

The diverse paths that pharmaceuticals (US and global) go from awareness to patient usage are unlike those in most industries. Salespeople don’t throw dirt on an unsuspecting consumer’s carpet the way door-to-door vacuum salespeople once did before closing the sale. Here, the value and demand creation are executed by a separate team that never prices or contracts with the end consumer, the patient. Money and resources go to waste when demand creation doesn’t align with market access strategy and execution that doesn’t result in placement on critical contracts. Conversely, market access efforts are minimized on drugs with little patient demand. Both are hard slams on the see-saw. How are pharmaceutical manufacturers to manage separated value creation and capture teams?  

Align on platforms  

Look for platforms that support both your value creation and value capture efforts. The ability to support the unique requirements of optimizing a large field force and the intricacies of creating complex and emerging market access programs. Can the data move seamlessly from field input to the market access team? Further, build your patient access programs on the same platform, capturing real-time patient interactions and adherence data. Are there accessible and known integration patterns with your third-party prescription data? 

Focus on competitive data 

Harness your field force’s real-time patient feedback and competitive threats from HCP interactions. Confirm those experiential learnings with prescription data and enact it with adaptable market access strategies. Are patients reacting well to your therapies? Price and position your products optimally on the formulary based on that feedback. Amend your position year over year as new competitors emerge. Make your information accessible and consumable for the market access teams.   

Sync your value creation and capture efforts 

Back to our see-saw analogy, this should be a carefully orchestrated dance. Synchronize organizationally and systems-wise to ensure that the field force increases their efforts and refines their messaging as new tenders or formulary renewals approach or as formulary positions welcome or exit new competitors. Ensure that market access teams are most focused on new product launches and adjust accordingly to shifts in product direction.  

Create agility in pricing and contracting systems 

With a heightened sensitivity to market forces and patient outcomes (discussed above), respond quickly to tenders and RFPs and capture the value that your team created. Move seamlessly from formulary bids to selected positions and contracts. Respond promptly to competitive threats with pricing positions and unique programs. Create new outcomes-based programs and adapt quickly to customer feedback. Restructure those programs as execution yields different results than expected.  

To learn how Conga can help pharmaceutical companies balance value creation and value capture amid the changing dynamics of the healthcare sector, visit our healthcare industry solutions page.