Tim Cope
Director, Entyvio HCP Marketing
Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.
Growing the Market in the Face of New Competition
When Entyvio was preparing to face its first new competitor in ulcerative colitis (UC)—Tim Cope looked externally for inspiration.
“Too often we look internally at what other pharma companies have done to fend off new competition,” Tim explains. “In this case, we looked externally and found inspiration from consumer-packaged goods with Clorox, which was facing their first new bleach competitor. How did they respond? Well, they overstocked the channel, so no one wanted to buy bleach when their new competitor launched. Knowing there were so many UC patients not doing well on conventional therapy, I wondered if there was a way to accelerate these patients to advanced therapy with Entyvio—the theory being, help more patients now so when the new competitor launches there aren’t as many patients in need.”
But this theory wasn’t just based on bleach, it was also grounded in something Tim learned when he previously revamped Entyvio’s multichannel marketing campaign. After commissioning adoption continuum research, in collaboration with his mentor James Berger, he learned the pathway to market leadership for Entyvio was through early patient experience in UC. Meaning, the UC market was primed for more Entyvio utilization but it was going to take an increase in focus and absolute precision to help gastroenterologists identify the right, bio-ready patient.
Increasing their focus on growing the UC market took some organizational buy-in, but the cross-functional team aligned—even providing the sales force with an extra incentive for growing their UC market share. Eventually, this strategy helped lead Entyvio into its current position as the market leader for UC bio-naïve and switch patients.
Tim also adopted an in-development home infusion program that was stymied by some internal roadblocks. To help get the program back on track, he focused on addressing the needs of customers by anchoring the program around their top concerns. Specifically, the training provided to nurses administering the infusion, providing a better patient experience, and ensuring physicians receive prompt follow-up after each infusion.
“I am extremely proud of launching this program,” Tim says, “as more patients and providers turn to alternative infusions options—especially in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
