The Australian launch of VYTORIN on behalf of Merck Sharp & Dohme / Schering Plough. PRIA submission for Prescription Medicines category (# 14)

Transcription

1 The Australian launch of VYTORIN on behalf of Merck Sharp & Dohme / Schering Plough PRIA submission for Prescription Medicines category (# 14) Prepared by Burson-Marsteller July 2006

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Executive Summary 4 2. Situation Analysis 4 3. Goals and objectives 5 4. Research 6 5. Target publics 7 6. Communications strategy 7 7. Communications Implementation 8 8. Budget Results Evaluation 11 APPENDIX A: National Consumer Media Release Coronary Heart Disease Backgrounder VYTORIN Backgrounder Third Party Liaison Letter Examples of VYTORIN Media Coverage Medical Observer Retail Pharmacy Australian Journal of Pharmacy Manly Daily The Reporter (Brisbane) News Mail (Bundaberg) Ninemsn ( Page 2 of 12

3 APPENDIX A CD ROM: VYTORIN National Television Coverage Channel Nine News 1 February 2006 Channel Ten News 1 February 2006 Channel Nine News 1 February 2006 Channel Seven News 1 February 2006 APPENDIX D: Budget (confidential) Page 3 of 12

4 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY It was a challenging and often difficult project, however Burson-Marsteller achieved an exceptional result well above our expectations Rob Brightwell, Customer Relations Director, Merck, Sharp & Dohme Burson-Marsteller (B-M) was commissioned by Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) and Schering Plough (SP) to design and implement a communications campaign to support the Australian launch of VYTORIN, their new cholesterol-lowering treatment. VYTORIN is the first medication to combine two proven cholesterol-lowering treatments into one tablet. The media campaign to announce its introduction was designed to highlight its availability on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). Four months before launch, B-M faced the unforeseen challenge of the PBS listing being accelerated by two months. B-M promptly re-shaped the campaign in a matter of days - over the Christmas period - facilitated the lengthy global approval of all materials, and mobilised the vital campaign elements to ensure all was in place by the PBS listing date of February 1. As a result, the media launch: reached over 6.3 million Australians contributed to 97% total awareness of the product by GPs within three months of launch played a significant role in VYTORIN s successful introduction into the Australian marketplace. 2. SITUATION ANALYSIS Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is the single largest cause of death in Australia with approximately 71 people dying from CHD every day. Factors shown to increase the risk of CHD include age, sex (male), high cholesterol, high blood pressure, being overweight or obese, smoking, physical inactivity, diet and diabetes. Nothing can be done about some of these risk factors, such as age and sex, however high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 Page 4 of 12

5 diabetes and diet are modifiable risk factors and can be managed by an individual s lifestyle changes or medical therapies to reduce the overall risk. Emerging data in Australia has indicated that additional cardiovascular benefits could be gained by high-risk patients when their LDL (or bad ) cholesterol is reduced to levels below those currently recommended. As a result of this, Australian lipid management guidelines were placed under review and there was increased speculation that more aggressive cholesterollowering therapy would be required to encourage patients to lower targets. VYTORIN is a combination of two existing products, Ezetrol, (first cholesterol absorption inhibitor) and simvastatin (statin). As VYTORIN treats both sources of cholesterol in the body simultaneously (known as dual inhibition) it allows greater cholesterol reduction than statin treatment alone. While the combination has clinical advantages, it is not new, so presented few news angles. B-M developed a vibrant, local research-based launch strategy; however, the shortened timeframe did not allow the implementation of many proposed activities, which heightened the challenge of creating media interest in VYTORIN. 3. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES B-M s role was to maximise communications outcomes to help achieve MSD/ SP s objective for a successful introduction of VYTORIN : Communication objectives: Maximise awareness of VYTORIN s availability amongst GP/specialists and consumers and encourage GP/specialist uptake Establish understanding of VYTORIN s unique mode of action Drive discussion of cholesterol management Encourage consumers taking cholesterol-lowering medication to have their cholesterol checked and discuss VYTORIN as a treatment option. Communication outcomes: Page 5 of 12

6 B-M and MSD/SP agreed the following communications outcomes in order to measure the success of the PR activities: Reach 1 million+ Australians Ensure 80% of coverage mentions the availability of VYTORIN on the PBS PR to contribute to a > 80% total awareness of the brand by GPs within three months of launch Ensure media coverage includes discussion of: o VYTORIN s unique mode of action and benefits in cholesterol lowering o The call to action for consumers already taking cholesterol medication to have their cholesterol checked and discuss VYTORIN as a treatment option 4. RESEARCH With the shortened timeframe resulting from the accelerated PBS listing, the originally proposed Australian physician research plans had to be abandoned. Instead, B-M gathered and utilised existing research to support the implementation of the campaign. This research included the following: Attitudinal change: The most recent data indicated that additional cardiovascular (CV) benefits are gained in high-risk patients when their LDL cholesterol levels are reduced to below current recommendations. As such, Australian Lipid Guidelines are currently under review. Desk top research: B-M undertook desk top research to provide further evidence to support the introduction of VYTORIN and the potential impact it can make towards reducing the incidence of CHD in Australia: 71 people are dying of coronary heart disease (CHD) every day over 44% of patients taking a statin aren t reaching target cholesterol levels, therefore are remaining at risk of a CV event Physician Survey: Page 6 of 12

7 B-M utilised the data from the 2005 pan-european Physician Survey to highlight: - 8 in 10 cardiologists believe cholesterol management of CHD and diabetic patients with uncontrolled levels of LDL cholesterol, is better achieved with dual inhibition. - More than 7 in 10 cardiologists prefer to use a cholesterol treatment with better tolerability than a high dose statin. 5. TARGET PUBLICS The key target audiences were: Healthcare professionals: Cardiologists, lipidologists, endocrinologists GPs Consumers: Third party consumer health organisations: Diabetes Australia, National Heart Foundation, Heart Support Australia People taking cholesterol-lowering medication, (including people with diabetes or those who ve had a heart attack or stroke) 6. COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY B-M s strategic approach and scope of recommended activity had to be streamlined to accommodate the shortened lead time. The Australian Physician Survey, key message testing and key opinion leader (KOL) media training workshop all could not proceed. Rather, preparing the basic elements of the media campaign became the immediate priority. The strategic approach involved: Positioning VYTORIN as a solution to the need for more aggressive cholesterol lowering to enable patients to lower LDL targets. Utilising KOL relationships, to provide comment in support of the benefits VYTORIN can provide Australian patients with high cholesterol. KOLs with prior media experience were specifically chosen, in light of the inability Page 7 of 12

8 to undertake formal media training given the January holiday period, and lack of approved materials. Engaging Heart Support Australia to support the launch and provide the patient perspective. Timing: B-M had identified the challenges of timing a launch announcement to coincide with a major PBS listing date, however, without an additional news hook, B-M recommended proceeding with February 1 as: PBS listing day now represented the strongest news hook. There was a wide availability of KOLs. A spokesperson from Heart Support Australia was available. A Wednesday launch provided more time for media sell-in. 7. COMMUNICATIONS IMPLEMENTATION B-M undertook the following activities: Preparation: KOL briefings: B-M undertook 1:1 telephone briefings with all state-based KOLs with the aim to be able to provide local relevance to the announcement of VYTORIN. The KOLs included: Dr Greg Fulcher (NSW), Prof David Sullivan (NSW), Dr David Lim (NSW), A/Prof Karam Kostner (QLD), A/Prof Richard O Brien (VIC), Dr Rod Pearce (SA), Prof Gerald Watts (WA), Mr Richard McClusky (Heart Support Australia) (see appendix A). B-M rapidly developed a strong relationship with Heart Support Australia to provide the patient perspective for the introduction of VYTORIN. B-M briefed all KOLs on key messages, media materials/media plan and all were provided with copies of their relevant state-based press release. This ensured ample credible endorsement was in place to add support for the introduction and need for VYTORIN, and maximise opportunities for media coverage nationwide. Page 8 of 12

9 VNR: A video news release was developed featuring leading Endocrinologist Dr Greg Fulcher, Royal North Shore Hospital and A/Prof David Sullivan, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, who both discussed the: significance of the CHD problem in Australia importance of reducing and managing high cholesterol traditional management of high cholesterol importance of VYTORIN for patients. Roll-out: In order to maximise media opportunities, B-M developed a comprehensive media plan and began the process of distributing materials under embargo and contacting media two days prior to launch. In liaising with media, B-M highlighted the significance of the announcement and offered KOL interviews. By the end of the day before launch, B-M had secured two national television news health reporters with film crews to interview A/Prof David Sullivan and Dr Greg Fulcher on launch morning; and secured a number of radio interviews. Media material distribution included: Media alerts were disseminated to all broadcast media offering target media spokespeople availability, alerting to VNR/ANR opportunities. - Video News Release (VNR) distributed to all relevant television journalists - Audio News Release (ANR) all radio news desks were alerted to ANR featuring comment from Dr Fulcher National media materials B-M disseminated a national media release quoting Dr Fulcher and A/Prof Kostner and a tailored press release with local KOL comment to each state. These were supported by backgrounders on CHD and VYTORIN (see appendix A). Medical Media B-M distributed a specific medical press release to GP, nursing and pharmacy press, with backgrounders on CHD and VYTORIN (see appendix A). Page 9 of 12

10 New Product Placements B-M secured a series of new product placements in leading medical and pharmacy publications to enhance the editorial campaign with branded and controlled coverage (see appendix A). Third Party Liaison Letters In recognition of the importance to keep key stakeholders informed, B-M developed a letter providing information about the launch of VYTORIN. A target list was developed in conjunction with MSD/SP and nine letters were sent accompanied by the media release, VYTORIN Product Information (PI) and Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) (see appendix A). 8. BUDGET The overall PR budget for the VYTORIN launch activity can be found in Appendix D (confidential). 9. RESULTS The scale and quality of media coverage resulting from the VYTORIN PBS announcement was outstanding, exceeding all expectations and helping deliver strong business results. Despite the accelerated listing date, which resulted in incredibly tight deadlines, a well-managed plan and strong, strategic media liaison resulted in a very successful campaign, with messages about the PBS availability of VYTORIN delivered extensively. The campaign reached over 6.3 million Australians through 127 stories (see appendix A for selected pieces of coverage): Television 68 Radio 40 Medical media 10 Print 9 Further, six new product placements reinforced the messages contained in editorial coverage in the leading medical and pharmacy trade publications. In addition, working relationships with KOLs were strengthened and a positive association with Heart Support Australia was forged. These strong Page 10 of 12

11 relationships can now be nurtured and utilised by MSD/SP in any future activity. Communications outcomes: Audience reach was six times higher than target Over 90% of consumer coverage mentioned the PBS listing (exceeding 80% target) Over 75% of consumer coverage mentioned the benefits of VYTORIN in cholesterol lowering Business results: MSD/SP undertook post-launch GP research that revealed: 97% of GPs had total awareness of the brand. Over 50% of GPs had tried VYTORIN in at least one patient so far. In addition to the GP research, anecdotal feedback that has been provided to MSD/SP GP sales representatives found that: Many GPs had learned of the launch and PBS availability of VYTORIN on TV news as a result of the PR campaign. 10. EVALUATION B-M s launch campaign for VYTORIN greatly contributed to the successful introduction of the product onto the Australian market, reaching well over six million people with information about the benefits of the medication and it s availability on the PBS. By adopting a flexible and strategic approach to the adjustment of the launch plan, B-M successfully overcame the numerous challenges in the lead up to launch and ensured the desired outcomes were achieved beyond expectations. In addition, the relationships with key influencers and stakeholders were strengthened during the process, ensuring the ongoing support for VYTORIN s role in the battle to reduce the burden of CHD in Australia. Page 11 of 12

12 The launch of VYTORIN is an important milestone for MSD and Schering Plough and the media exposure Burson-Marsteller achieved has provided the best possible introduction of VYTORIN to doctors and patients in Australia. James Jones, Director of Marketing, Schering Plough Word Count: 1,991 Page 12 of 12