Healthcare's Real Stakeholders- Elevating the Patient Voice in Pharma

Despite Advances, the Patient Voice Still Is Underrepresented

Patient centricity is a widely discussed concept in the pharmaceutical industry, yet it often remains more aspiration than action. With increasing medication costs and the rise of consumer-driven healthcare, patients are playing a more prominent role in making decisions about their treatment. Despite this shift, many pharmaceutical companies still anchor their brand positioning strategies on targeting prescribers, leaving the patient’s perspective underrepresented.

Traditionally, healthcare professionals (HCPs) have held the primary responsibility for prescribing decisions, shaping the focus of pharma marketing around their needs and priorities. This HCP-centric approach emphasized communicating product benefits to prescribers, with relatively less consideration for the patient as the ultimate user. Although the industry is evolving, the pace of change toward true patient-centered brand strategies remains slow, even as patients gain more influence in the decision-making process.

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An Example of Patient Centricity Excellence: Novartis' Entresto for Heart Failure

One notable example of a pharmaceutical company embracing patient centricity is Novartis. Through various initiatives, Novartis has demonstrated a commitment to integrating the patient perspective into its strategy, leading to improved outcomes and commercial triumph. Novartis’s commercialization of Entresto (sacubitril/valsartan), a leading treatment for chronic heart failure, is often cited as a successful example of patient-centric strategy in action. Here’s how they embraced patient centricity:

1. Listening to Patients: Novartis engaged directly with heart failure patients to understand the day-to-day challenges they face, including symptoms, lifestyle limitations, and emotional impacts of the disease. This input shaped not only their communication strategy but also the resources they developed for patients and caregivers.
2. 360-Degree Support: Beyond marketing the drug itself, Novartis built support tools such as educational materials, mobile apps, and online communities to help patients manage their condition. They also worked with advocacy groups to raise awareness about heart failure and reduce stigma, positioning themselves as a partner in improving patients’ lives.
3. Outcome-Focused Messaging: Novartis tailored their messaging to resonate with both patients and HCPs, emphasizing quality of life improvements as well as clinical benefits like reduced hospitalizations and mortality rates. This dual approach acknowledged the patient’s role in shared decision-making.

As a result, Entresto achieved blockbuster status, generating nearly $8 billion in annual sales as of recent reports. Entresto is now Novartis' top-selling product. The patient-centric approach helped foster engagement, driving adoption among both prescribers and patients; and has helped to improve outcomes. The focus on education and lifestyle support, alongside the drug’s proven clinical benefits, empowered patients to better manage their condition and adhere to treatment.

By prioritizing patient needs and perspectives, Novartis demonstrated that a patient-centric approach can drive both meaningful health outcomes and business growth.

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Principles for Driving a More Patient-Centric Approach

Despite examples of success, why has the pharmaceutical industry been slow to fully embrace patient centricity? To address the challenges and adopt a more patient-focused approach to brand positioning, pharma companies should consider taking the following critical steps:

1. Establish a unified brand positioning strategy centered on the patient. In many organizations, HCP and patient marketing teams operate in silos, each tailoring their efforts to their specific audiences. This fragmented approach often results in disjointed messaging and inefficiencies, with the HCP team often taking the lead in shaping brand positioning. Instead, pharma companies should craft a single, cohesive positioning statement that places the patient at the core, highlighting meaningful benefits that resonate with all stakeholders—patients, HCPs, and caregivers alike. This unified strategy ensures alignment and maximizes the impact of the brand message.
2. Expand patient-focused insights to uncover new opportunities. Pharma brand positioning has traditionally emphasized clinical benefits such as efficacy, safety, and dosing. However, relatively few companies delve deeply into understanding the broader, life-changing benefits their products offer to patients. To incorporate the patient’s perspective effectively, it is important to conduct qualitative research directly with patients throughout the brand positioning process. This approach captures the true impact of their condition and your product in their own words, rather than relying solely on physicians’ interpretations. By employing innovative research methods, such as co-creative workshops and mobile ethnography, companies can garner nuanced insights into patient needs and preferences, laying a stronger foundation for compelling and resonant brand positioning.
3. Align positioning with stakeholder-specific benefits and messaging. While the core brand positioning should prioritize the patient, it is essential to articulate the corresponding value for other key stakeholders. This can be achieved by developing tailored value propositions and messaging that tie directly to the core differentiated benefit. For example, if your product is the easiest for patients to use, emphasize how it alleviates HCP concerns regarding adherence or proper utilization. In competitive situations where product attributes and functional benefits are similar, these specific benefits—along with factors like the pharmaceutical company’s reputation—can become decisive differentiators, driving preference and uptake among healthcare professionals and practices.

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Conclusion

Ultimately, the patient is at the center of every treatment journey, experiencing the illness, the symptoms, the relief, the side effects, and the ultimate impact on their prognosis. For a brand to connect deeply and authentically, and drive meaningful outcomes, the patient’s life and well-being must take precedence in its positioning. By prioritizing the patient’s perspective, pharmaceutical companies can not only win the trust and loyalty of all stakeholders but also deliver measurable improvements in patient outcomes—creating value that extends beyond the product itself.

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