For 10+ years, MDOutlook has been helping clients to fight the battle to better understand how new clinical data drives treatment decisions. Early this summer, we completed a study that exemplifies how a data presentation at major medical meeting impacts oncologists’ treatment decisions.
As shown in Figure 1, we project that the star of the new data presentation, “Product X,” will see major increases in its usage. These increases will come primarily at the expense of the 2 current leaders: Treatment A & Treatment B. Tx A and Tx B are the 1st and 2nd most used treatment approaches in the sample geography, except one. In fact, Product X will become the leader or 2nd most used treatment in this setting in 5 of the 6 major countries researched (Figure 2).
Certainly, those with Product X are pleased with these projections, and those with Tx A and B are worried and need to act immediately to prevent this loss of share. But what if Treatment C or D is your responsibility? In fact, their usage is going to be relatively unaffected by Product X. Granted, these treatments are used in smaller selected subsets of patients, but the treatment of these patients will continue as before (data not shown).
Before this data presentation, only a few physicians were using Product X in their practice, likely as an investigational approach or in an “off-label” decision. After the presentation, most physicians said they would be using it (Figure 3). However, notice the proportion who would continue using Tx A and B. By and by, there really won’t be wholesale losses in the number of physicians using these products. For the main three treatments, pretty much almost everyone will be using all three in their practice (with, of course, some country-specific variations, which are always important to understand!).
Looking further into Tx C and D, only a relatively small group of physicians is using these treatments (Figure 3); these proportions do not change from the baseline measurement (data not shown). Moving forward, Product X does not appear to impact overall usage of Tx C and D, used selectively by a subset of physicians in a specific patient subgroup. Therefore, if you are managing Tx C or D, you should not really be concerned about the impact of the data announcement compared to those responsible for Tx A and B.
Taking everything together, what’s the real outcome of this data presentation? Well, Product X will have a major impact on treatment selection. And this impact is best understood as a patient segmentation event: the main group of patients will be split into those being treated with Product X and those remaining with Treatments A & B. Treatments C & D will remain the preferred option for the selected subsets of patients currently receiving them and not impacted by Product X.
Whether you are Product X, or Treatments A-D, shouldn’t you want to know what will happen to your product’s usage? Don’t you think it is critical for your success to understand which physicians and how many will be using your product, and in which subsets of their patients? Whether the new data is a presentation at a major meeting, a publication in a peer-reviewed journal, or an announcement of regulatory approval/label-expansion, knowing and understanding sooner rather than later is half the battle!
Contact us NOW to learn how we can help YOU drive success in today’s rapidly changing environment, for instance with data announcements at upcoming meetings such as ESMO and ASH.
