CUSTOMER STORY

Digitizing Scientific
Communication
Medical affairs best practices and tools
to improve patient outcomes

The goal of scientific communication is to facilitate the swift spread of evidence-based ideas
into clinical practice and help improve patient outcomes. During times of emerging infectious
disease, like the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for rapid dissemination of approved scientificcontent is critical to support health care providers on the front lines. Life sciences companies
that embrace a tailored and personalized communication approach can better support theirscientific experts.

Acceleration of scientific invention
Massive R&D investments and unprecedented support to speed clinical trials is creating an avalanche of scientificcontent. For the novel coronavirus alone, over 1,500 interventional studies progressed to clinical trial in the firsthalf of this year.1 Overall, there are five times more clinical studies registered today than just 10 years ago.2

Cumulative Number of Registered Studies Over Time (January 2010 – January 2020)
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
02010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov

12ClinicalTrials.Gov (2020). Trend, Charts, and Maps. Retrieved from clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/ClinicalTrials.Gov (2020). Trend, Charts, and Maps. Retrieved from clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/resources/trends

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DIGITIZING SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATIONAs the volume of research in precision medicine grows, so does its complexity. The unprecedented pressure of
global epidemiology and specialty therapeutics compel pharma to innovate rapidly and along multiple paths.
As scientists push the frontiers of medical knowledge, they continually discover new targets, therapeuticclasses, new indications, and new diagnostics aligned with specific patient markers.

The knowledge dilemma and the valueof scientific communications
With 2,600 new medical articles indexed each day in the Medline database, it is increasingly complex for
physicians to stay current.3

Knowledge Dilemma

30M

Medical publications
in circulation

1.4M

Medical citations
per year

35K

Medical articles
referencing COVID

3.3B
PubMedsearches

Sources: National Library of Medicine, PubMed

This presents a knowledge dilemma for doctors. To keep up with the deluge of scientific advances, health care
professionals would need to spend over 29 hours a day reading.4 Time-constrained doctors simply cannot
remain on the forefront of scientific knowledge. Instead, they rely on a limited number of experts in specifictherapeutic areas to remain informed about new and better treatment options.
Despite the growing complexity and volume of science, studies indicate that a majority of treatment decisions
are made by community physicians. In the oncology space, for example, this amounts to 85% of all decisions.5
For the novel coronavirus, this number remains near 100% as physicians worldwide collaborate to understandand treat millions of new patients.

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National Library of Medicine, Retrieved from MEDLINE PubMed Production Statistics
Alpers, E. et al (2004). How much effort is needed to keep up with the literature relevant for primary care?
Retrieved https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC521514/
Veeva Systems (2019). BMS’ Approach to Meeting Physician Needs.
Retrieved from www.veeva.com/eu/precision-medicine-podcast- series-bms-approach-to-meeting-physician-needs/

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DIGITIZING SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION

Following Rogers’ principles of the adoption and diffusion of innovation,6 life sciences companies focus on
educating scientific experts during the development and launch phases of a drug’s lifecycle. Companies rely
heavily on data and real-world evidence to deliver actionable information related to the right treatment for theright patient at the appropriate time.7
In turn, experts are willing to engage deeper with biopharma companies that deliver scientific evidence andpersonalized content relevant to their needs. Whereas a commercial sales rep may be fortunate to get one or
two minutes with a doctor, experts actively seek MSL interactions.

The Value of Scientific CommunicationsConfirmation

Adoption
TryPersuasion
Awareness

Interest

Community Experts
Clinical Experts
Global and National Experts
Development

LaunchGrowthSource: Theory of Diffusion of Innovation (Rogers)

Prior to the pandemic, scientific experts in the oncology space averaged approximately seven interactions
with life sciences companies per month, and the top 20% indicate having 11-20 monthly interactions.8 These
encounters typically last more than 30 minutes, meaning that most experts dedicate 3.5 hours per month topharmaceutical interactions, and up to 10 hours at the high end.

Scientificcontent is effective when it is tailored to specific stages along
the physician journey. We need to focus on the needs of the physician at thatparticular moment.
– Fabio Ferfoglia, Incyte Pharmaceuticals

678Rogers, E. (2003). Diffusion of Innovations, 5th Edition. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-5823-4.
Veeva Systems (2019). Driving Scientific Engagement in the Era of Precision Medicine. Retrieved from go.veeva.com/oncology-white-paper
Veeva Systems (2019). European Oncology Expert Survey.

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DIGITIZING SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATIONCOMMUNICATING IN THE HCP’S PREFERRED CHANNEL

Just Send Methe EmailResearch indicates that a new generation of digitally savvy physicians prefers
digital communications over face-to-face meetings. This is validated by Dr. EnriqueGrande, head of oncology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center Madrid, who values
the rapid delivery of new scientific resources in a more efficient digital channel:“Proactive MSLs that send articles and [clinical] resources are extremely useful tome. They are saving me time and making my life a little bit easier. Let’s save timeand money. Just send me the email.”
A digitally connected ecosystem using a centralized scientific content management
system helps companies ensure that they can cater to the requirements of experts
like Dr. Grande.

As physicians increasingly request answers to complex scientific questions, the medical affairs team mustensure that it is able to deliver the most current approved scientific content in any channel. MSLs can optimize
their one-on-one time with experts if they have relevant new information and their content is delivered in anorganized and consumable manner.
To maximize the opportunity to educate experts, medical affairs teams can:• Centralize global scientific content• Unify business processes• Manage assets in a connected digital ecosystem• Generate data-driven medical insights that will help drive medical strategy

Personalizing content along the HCP JourneyLife sciences organizations can use HCP journeys to maximize the impact of scientific engagement. Similarly,
content needs to be reflective of both the individual HCP’s preferences as well as their particular stage along
the journey.
A new multichannel paradigm for medical affairs (including medical CRM, email, remote meetings, and events)
gives companies the opportunity to better collaborate with experts and other stakeholders. Home office cangauge scientific needs and interests by tagging and reporting on the evidence that is consumed, and how it
evolves over time.
Strategic insight from HCP’s consumption of evidence over time and across channels can deepen relationships
by guiding decisions on the cadence and focus of engagement. This information spans the full spectrum of thejourney, from fundamental disease state education, to management goals, therapeutic choices, therapy-specificoutcomes, and future goals.

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For instance, engagement with “awareness” level content can indicate a need for education or outreach aroundsafety and efficacy. As engagement continues, the HCP’s scientific journey can be quantified and visualized.
The progression along this spectrum maps to the consumer decision journey, from awareness to familiarity,
consideration, and finally adoption.

Progression of the Scientific Journey
SCIENTIFIC PLATFORM

ScientificJourney

DiseaseState

Management
Goals

Therapeutic
Choices

Therapy
Specific
Outcomes

Future/Aspiration

ChoiceAdoption

TIME
Decision
Journey

Awareness

Familiarity

ConsiderationAligning to the HCP journey enables companies to maximize the use of scientific content along the progression
from scientific need to advocacy. The value of disease state information may diminish over time and medical
teams can focus on delivering outcomes evidence instead.

Measuring the value of personalized content
Scientific communication is designed to diffuse evidence-basedideas into clinical practice. The rapid, widespread adoption of new
ideas requires delivery of the right scientific content at the righttime. Medical affairs teams understand that personalizing content
is critical to getting expert adoption. “Scientific content is effective
when it is tailored to specific stages along the physician journey.
We need to focus on the needs of the physician at that particularmoment,” says Fabio Ferfoglia, associate director of European
medical affairs operations at Incyte Pharmaceuticals.
Many organizations choose to delegate this responsibility totheir field teams instead of centrally managing the process.
“Personalization works when MSLs do it themselves. They know
the HCP better than anyone,” says one senior director of medical
excellence at a top 10 European pharma.

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BEST PRACTICES FOR
EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONSWITH SCIENTIFIC CONTENT• Tailor to the HCP• Promote high scientific exchange• Enable data visualization• Deliver multichannel access• Provide non-branded resources• Embed data
• Focus on patient-centricity

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DIGITIZING SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION

Medical affairs leaders almost universally agree that when it comes to scientific content, quality is much more
important than quantity, though most believe that the medium needs to be updated for the digital age. Medicaldepartments still rely heavily on slides for disseminating information. One large pharma company conservatively
estimates that each single slide costs about $600 to create, leading to slide decks that cost tens of thousandsof dollars. Meanwhile, another company’s internal audit indicated that of the hundreds of assets they had
developed, MSLs only used 25 specific content pieces. Clearly, there is an opportunity to optimize the process.
Considering the cost and effort required to deliver scientific content, medical affairs leaders need to understandwhether their content is valuable to physicians. Albano, et. al. (Pfizer) argue that this can be measured in termsof helping HCPs make better clinical decisions, ultimately leading to improved patient outcomes (such asadverse events avoided, treatment adherence, reduced hospitalization days, quality of life improved, etc.)9 Key
metrics in this model include the number of HCP interactions and the percentage of physicians who used thescientific content to make a treatment decision:=NUMBER BETTER DECISIONS MADE(NUMBER OF HCP INTERACTIONS) X (% WHO USED INFORMATION FOR CLINICAL DECISIONS)

Evolving scientific communications for the digital age
Adapting content to digitally minded physicians requires evolving beyond text-based information. “Commercialteams are developing a lot of new visual content while medical affairs everywhere are stuck on the ‘deathby PowerPoint’ approach,” comments Glen Morris, worldwide field medical business solutions lead at
Bristol-Myers Squibb. “Medical just doesn’t have the same budgets [as commercial] but has to manage theadditional protections required by compliance.” James Richards, head of medical information technologies at
GlaxoSmithKline adds, “Fortunately, compliance can be built into digital tools and that’s how we are moving
towards more graphical content.”

HOW
DOES YOUR ORGANIZATION CREATE HIGH-VALUESCIENTIFIC CONTENT?
“When we create patient-friendly information, experts tell us that it is helpful.
But ultimately the important thing is to base our content development on scientificinsights.”

Industry Leaders
Speak“We found that content must be consumable within seconds. That’s why we moved
towards infographics. They are attention grabbing but still meet our compliancecriteria.”“I have seen one company experiment with a joint approach between commercial
and medical to share content. Compliance is a partner. It allows them to avoid
duplication while identifying high-value assets.”

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https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2168479016640019

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DIGITIZING SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION

Generating actionable insights from your content
Decisions need to be made on the basis of the latest available data, with evidence-backed processes to gather
and disseminate scientific insights. By leveraging a centralized global system, companies can gather actionable
data across the medical content lifecycle. From operational metrics, such as content volume and approval times,
to strategic insights, like trending topics and most utilized fulfillment documents, medical affairs teams canensure that they are both effective and efficient in meeting expert needs.

VEEVA’S TIPS FOR EVOLVING SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION FOR
DIGITAL EXCELLENCE:
1. Create a global knowledge management hub for medical affairs
2. Create scientific content aligned to the customer journey
3. Optimize content creation for consumption in multiple channels
4. Promote content reuse to create consistent global message and reduce costs
5. Evaluate content utilization and impact to reduce under-utilized content assets

The connected medical affairs ecosystem
Best-in-class medical affairs departments also centralize scientific content and medical inquiry management
in one connected ecosystem, significantly improving the delivery of scientific information while also ensuring
compliance. It enables global teams to unify various independent medical affairs business processes. Groups suchas the medical information team can now be aligned much more closely with the rest of the medical organization.
These companies are able to enhance scientific communication while leveraging actionable data to generate
new scientific insights.

Embracing a digitally enabled scientificcommunication posture
Veeva Vault MedComms is the central source of truth for managing global medical content. Used by leading
pharmaceutical companies around the world, it is the modern, cloud-based system that helps ensure that yourcontent is always current, accessible, and compliant.
See Veeva Vault MedComms in action: view the demo.

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