Why Social Media and Patient Communities Matter More Than Ever in Pharma Marketing

What impact will the increasing reliance on real-world evidence (RWE) have on pharmaceutical marketing campaigns and decision-making? (Jeremy Vannatta, VP, Account Director, AbelsonTaylor Group)

While randomized controlled trials (RCTs) remain the gold standard for evaluating a drug’s efficacy and safety, the importance of Real-World Evidence (RWE) is growing. RWE is derived from Real-World Data (RWD), such as electronic health records, pharmacy claims, and wearables. These sources offer valuable insights into how drugs perform in diverse, uncontrolled environments. RWE can enhance value for pharmaceutical and biotech companies by generating additional data, identifying new patient populations, and reducing drug development costs. Regulatory agencies and reimbursement companies are increasingly turning to RWE to make informed decisions about a drug’s safety, efficacy, clinical guidelines, and placement within treatment algorithms. Managed care organizations can utilize RWD to assess the effectiveness of oncology therapies in various treatment lines or in combination with standard care regimens and inform value stories, budget impact, and reimbursement models.

From a commercial perspective, RWE allows marketers to present data that reflects what healthcare providers observe in their patients. When a provider’s own patients are analyzed, reps can present, “Here is how Drug X compares on endpoint Y in your patient population over the past three years.” This relevance is undeniably compelling. Aggregated RWE can strengthen evidence for label expansion and serve as a differentiator from competition.

While RCTs provide data for a limited duration and may include open-label extension data, RWE reflects both longer timeframes and larger sample sizes. Well-designed retrospective analyses of RWD, often using AI to detect patterns, can yield powerful insights into which patients are more likely to experience positive outcomes and/or enable the identification of rare side effects in specific subpopulations that may provide valuable insights to keep a drug on the market.

AT Perspectives is a forum for AbelsonTaylor Group subject matter experts to weigh in on industry topics. Submit your questions to press@abelsontaylorgroup.com.