PM360 DECEMBER 2010
MARKET DRILL-DOWN

As is often the case, it’s not a single driver that shapes a trend but rather a confluence of many. Market Drill-Down takes current market data and slices it in new ways to reveal what’s really driving the market.

CO-PAY ASSISTANCE: SUCCESS CAN BE DECEIVING
By Paula Fullman, Wolters Kluwer Pharma Solutions

Q: Pharma companies rely on co-pay assistance or buy-down programs to build loyalty for their brands. Can you share some real data that shed light on their effectiveness to determine if they are worth the cost?

A: Everywhere we turn, there are new co-pay assistance programs—rarely is there a brand launch without one today. The proliferation is astounding as brand marketers try to find more effective ways to build patient acquisition and loyalty. But do they work? Do the benefits outweigh the costs?

The answer is, it depends. It depends on what you’re hoping to accomplish, and the results can vary by patient type. To help evaluate, let’s consider a voucher program in a chronic therapy area. The measurement chosen for purposes of evaluation is patient persistence. If we consult Figure 1 (below), which compares patients who used the voucher program to those who didn’t, it appears that not only is the patient drop-off rate for those using the voucher program initially steeper, but also that, at the end of 12 months, the overall share of patients still on therapy is roughly equal—55% of patients not using a voucher versus 53% using a voucher. From this initial view, it would appear the program did not improve persistency.

"WHO" YOU MEASURE MATTERS
However, when we look at segments of the population for that same program, we see some major differences. In Figure 2 (opposite, top), newly treated patients appear to respond to the program—not only do they stop therapy at a slower rate, but at the end of 12 months, 4% more patients with the program are still on therapy compared to those who did not participate. Conversely, if we look at patients who are newly switched to the brand, we find a drop-off rate that is initially steeper than those who did not use the program. At one point, persistence is even across the two groups, but at the end of 12 months, the patients who switched without vouchers are actually more likely to be on therapy than those who switched with vouchers.

Designing a program with specific patient populations in mind is crucial to program success. In this case, the voucher program did nothing to improve brand loyalty among the switched patient group—some segment of which may be considered "voucher shoppers." As a result, dollars spent toward a co-pay program targeting the switched group would be an unproductive use of marketing budget.

"WHAT" YOU MEASURE MAY MATTER MORE
What you hope to achieve and what you measure is also important when examining a program’s success. The example in Figure 3 (above), which represents a new set of data from a cyclical therapy area, shows there is a distinct difference in patient persistence between those who participated in the voucher program and those who did not.

More than one half of the starting patients were still on therapy at the end of 12 months—compared with less than 2 in 10 for the group of non-participants. However, when we look at compliance—the extent to which patients are refilling prescriptions on time, we see a different story. Patients who used vouchers had a compliance rate of 73% compared to 77% for patients without the voucher program. While the difference is marginal, patient assistance programs should be designed to drive the appropriate behavior—patient loyalty.

As more and more costs are being pushed onto patients, it is probably hard to argue that the use of co-pay buy-down cards is bad business. But understanding the need—how much and where to direct resources—is critically important. What’s more, knowing the behavioral challenges you are trying to overcome is crucial to program success.

Whether it is getting newly treated patients past the "first several" prescriptions, providing an opportunity to build loyalty, or competing in certain markets that are financially challenging in order to retain patient loyalty—careful planning followed by flawless execution and measurement of success can help your assistance program enhance brand health.

FIGURE 1:

FIGURE 2:

FIGURE 3:

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GET THE MARKET DRILL-DOWN EXPERTS WORKING FOR YOU! Submit your marketing question to Wolters Kluwer Pharma Solutions for deep analysis. All queries will be considered for a future column. Email Paula Fullman at Paula.Fullman@source.wolterskluwer.com

Paula Fullman is a Practice Lead with Wolters Kluwer Pharma Solutions, focused on patient analytics. She can be reached at Paula.Fullman@source.wolterskluwer.com