When the Commercial Team Comes Knocking: The 5-Day Evidence Crisis Protocol

Betsy's Note: There's a fine line between pushy and effective. And I’ve learned to dance on it... in heels. Which is why the plaque on my desk says: Lead, follow, or get out of the way. I've spent my career doing all three -but mostly leading.  And that's how you earn the reputation for GSD (getting sh*t done). This article is a behind-the-scenes look at what that actually means. And I know it works, because I’ve lived it.

(3 Min Read)

It's Monday morning. You've barely had one sip of coffee when the commercial lead busts into your (virtual?) office.

Perhaps it's an email with one of those red exclamation points. Or a TEAMS chat in all caps.

She says:

"Why don't we have any data showing that our product has fewer complications?"

You take a deep breath, and calmly ask: "Is there a particular comparison that you're thinking about?"

(You and she both know that data on AEs is available from the clinical trial and being collected in the ongoing long-term studies, but clearly waiting another year won't cut it.)

She shares more:

"Company X is eating our lunch at every forum. The field teams are telling me how the X reps are just trashing our product and showing all these new studies where our product has a much higher complication rate. Where did these studies come from? You said all long-term data wouldn't be available for another year. We need to have a new study published ASAP!"

What NOT to Do

This isn't the time to explain that peer-review publications can take 12 to 18 months.

Or add a caveat that any new study (even IIS) could take at least two years from start to publishing outcomes.

It's also not the time to pull out the spreadsheet and point to all of the current plans.

This is the time to mobilize your cross-functional team and get creative.

The Five Steps You Can Take Immediately

Step 1: Set the Terms of Engagement

Let the commercial lead know that you'll have key recommendations and an action plan delivered by the end of the week if she can do 2 immediate things for you.

First: The commercial lead needs to block time Friday to meet with you.

Second: Give you access to a field rep, marketer, and any market research or competitive intel on X's product messages. These folks also need to clear their schedule and be available for 1-2 cross-functional meetings this week.

Step 2: Assemble Your Team (Today)

Once agreed upon, schedule a brief call in the next few hours where you have these leads from commercial, plus key colleagues in clinical/medical, RWE/statistician and HEOR commit themselves or a delegate to this urgent challenge.

You need them to prepare for and attend:

• A 3-hour working session (schedule for Wednesday)
• A 1-hour resource alignment session (schedule for Thursday)

Get the dates and times confirmed while everyone is on the line. Be insistent and push it through, the relationships you've built and the endorsed priority will enable this to happen.

Step 3: Assign the Pre-Work (Due Wednesday)

Next, give each function a clear assignment of what they can bring to the table for Wednesday's workshop. It can be messy, but they need to be ready to roll up their sleeves and put their thinking caps on.

Marketing/Market Research: Share the latest CI and a sense of what might be presented at the next external meeting by X to set the stage.

Medical: Bring a summary of both products' data and what is currently planned or in the works.

RWE Team: Bring a summary of how complications can be assessed in existing data, and how many patients treated with each drug are available to evaluate.

HEOR: Share other outcome comparisons and how complications fit in current disease models and cost analyses available for our product and/or for competitors.

Field Lead: Bring a short list of KOLs willing to provide feedback and work with the team on short notice, as well as a list of the competitive messages.

You: Bring an agenda and organize key objectives to get this team aligned on what we're hearing, what we think the situation is, and what we can do to address the gap in comparative outcome data before the next abstract deadline.

Step 4: Lead the Workshop (Wednesday)

Prepare and lead this workshop.

Following the session, create a 1-slide executive summary of the challenges and recommended actions the group discussed.

Share a template for each function to fill in the detailed tactics and resource needs to meet the shared goal of peer-reviewed presentation and KOL engagement for the next Congress.

Use Thursday's time to review this action plan and confirm that each leader will endorse the resource ask.

Note: Now is the time to ask for support!

If you have a key external partner (if not, call Alkemi ) that can support you, confirm that budget and engage them to support facilitation of these sessions, create the action plan, and/or come in to drive implementation of this strategic plan across functions.

Step 5: Deliver the Plan (Friday)

Finally, you are ready and can use Friday's time with the commercial lead to share your airtight one-pager and get endorsement to move this plan forward.

I've done this many times, you can too.

Need help executing it? Or ready to stop needing it altogether?

Either way, let's talk.

Book a call with me and my team - Schedule a Call

Betsy J. Lahue is CEO of Alkemi, where she helps life sciences companies solve acute value & access challenges and address emerging competitive threats. Her insights on market access and commercialization have guided successful launches across therapeutic areas.

Alkemi - HEOR & Market Access Consulting For Pharmaceutical & Life Sciences Companies

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