Round Table

ROUNDTABLE

SALES IN THE ERA OF COVID-19 Executives from Incyte, Janssen, Merck, Teva and SK life science Offer Their Views

Our Moderator:

MARIA FINLAY Director of Channel Marketing Incyte

Our panel of experts:

LESLIE AMENDOLA Director of Marketing, Oncology/Rare Disease (Brand Lead) Janssen Inc.

TAMI O’SULLIVAN Campaign Development Lead, Diabetes Franchise Merck

SEBASTIAN “SEBBY” BORRIELLO Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer SK life science

NILSA SANCHEZ Head of U.S. Sales, Oncology/ Hematology Teva Pharmaceuticals

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Continuing our coverage of the industry response to the Covid-19 crisis, in this roundtable we focus on its effect on sales forces and how they are adapting to the current challenges. Our thanks to all for their valuable insights, especially Moderator Maria Finlay, a member of our Editorial Board, who helped recruit the panelists and develop this article.

How has Covid-19 impacted you, your company and your brand? What impact do you see it having over the near, mid and longer term?

LESLIE AMENDOLA: As the world’s largest healthcare company, we were built for times like these. We are mobilizing our global reach, deep scientific expertise, and extensive partnerships to address the critical needs of those we serve, while working toward mitigating and ultimately ending the Covid-19 pandemic. There’s nothing like an immersive experience to teach you how to be nimble and innovative. And these past few months have been as immersive as any I can remember! While these months have been challenging, they have had a positive outcome, enabling us – and companies across the globe – to build and flex our “muscle” of resilience and adaptability. The last few months have also given us the chance to better understand that everyone has their own unique circumstances, and this has helped us be even more sensitive, empathetic and authentic in how we interact with others, including our teammates, customers and, most importantly, with patients.

NILSA SANCHEZ: We have had our field facing team working remotely while balancing this effort with other internal employees who may have needed to be at one of our sites and are critical to ensure patients have access to our medications. It is essential across all of our teams that we are exercising utmost safety. We have utilized technology and created platforms to engage customers and I suspect this will continue to be a regular part of our business as institutions assess changes in policy and guidelines in response to this pandemic. When we think about national/regional/local conventions and exhibits underway that provide additional resources, we have had to assess if participation “virtually” is the right approach. There are key learnings from this, as it is a new concept. Access is challenging for any organization, and there is a fine balance between a productive engagement to ensure patient needs are met while being respectful of time. Technology may be able to help with this where appropriate. We are proud of the Teva brand as the company wants everyone to do their part during this global health crisis and is committed to continuously looking for ways to contribute.

SEBBY BORRIELLO: When Covid-19 emerged, we had to quickly shift our plans to ensure we would be ready to launch XCOPRI® (cenobamate tablets) CV in a completely new environment. XCOPRI is the SK life science’s first therapy to be approved by the FDA and commercialized independently, so this was a momentous milestone for us. However, it has been a very challenging time for the healthcare system, and the most important thing for us was to take a responsible approach to our launch.

In May, we launched XCOPRI virtually, leveraging a suite of digital tools and video conferencing, to ensure our sales force was prepared to provide HCPs with important clinical and reimbursement information about XCOPRI. Interestingly, we found that because we had a new product, HCPs were more willing to connect with us. This is still a dynamic situation, and we will continue to take a very personalized approach that considers the local situation as well as the provider’s preferences. We expect that throughout 2020 and beyond, we will likely continue to have a hybrid approach with both faceto-face and virtual engagements.

TAMI O’SULLIVAN: Covid-19 brought unprecedented challenges with so many layers of complexity from emotions to changes in daily habits. From my perspective, being uncomfortable often opens the opportunity to challenge status quo, our thinking and opens the doors to new ideas. On a personal level, it was a powerful jolt to reflect and examine on what is truly important and soak in the resilience of humankind. This unique situation also forced organizations to quickly mobilize on how to continue to efficiently conduct business. While working from home has worked for some roles, it was never enforced to be the new normal at such a large scale. I must admit, I was surprised how teams were able to focus without skipping a beat. It is a great testament and a discovery that organizations may never have tested or considered if it wasn’t for this situation. Looking at our HCP customers, they shifted as well, instituting new protocols in their offices to be able to safely treat their patients. I am particularly curious about what new habits will continue post Covid-19 with our HCP customers, the office staff and the patients we serve.

MARIA FINLAY: On a personal level, since mid-March back to back virtual conference calls leveraging video technology to connect with colleagues and customers have become the norm for many. Return to the office varies across the industry, with some smaller companies encouraging a return to work, while larger organizations have not yet provided dates. Both healthcare business culture and biopharm corporate culture in the US has matured and continues to evolve as all are openly sharing personal spaces, and moments with children and pets on screen. For many, this virtual world has broken down walls and strengthened relationships with both internal and external customers.

From a business point of view, many oncology administrators and payers are also working from home, creating a different environment for account manager interactions with these customers – an environment favoring those established field professionals with strong relationships and a well developed ability to connect via various technology platforms effectively. While oncology patients, an immunocompromised group, try to avoid waiting rooms and stay home, community oncology leaders across the country have voiced their continued commitment to population health-based quality initiatives. Congresses in the near and mid-term no longer serve as a live gathering place to build relationships, so our industry has had to pivot in order to quickly respond and re-think what conference sponsorships and customer engagement adjacent a virtual looks like. Digital buys, for example, are a way in which we can continue to track effectiveness, learn and invest where it makes the most sense. As a result, innovation is happening and many of these new ways of working may likely rise to the top as best practices to be continued, even after a vaccine is discovered.

How has salesforce (SF)/Plan of Action (POA) training evolved or changed in the last few years, and do you see Covid-19 affecting the role of the sales force?

SANCHEZ: Training has continued to evolve over the years to increase more remote learning opportunities, and with Covid-19 these have been put to the test with greater frequency. While the face-to-face option is preferred, I am pleased how technology has allowed us to mimic workshops and work with cross functional counterparts to ensure a complete learning experience. This includes engagement with senior/executive leadership and participation from the full group to maintain interest so that application can be put into practice. There is no doubt that we will create opportunities to use this format to facilitate or enhance training given how the market is evolving. While this technology has been used for more formal training, including some components of new hire training with backgrounders for review, it is imperative that we now begin to think about other aspects of our business where this may be valuable to disseminate information and provide greater context to be discussed verbally. This also serves as an acknowledgment and confirmation of understanding as we also look to observe any gaps we may need to revisit.

BORRIELLO: We have been using virtual capabilities, like video conferencing, since well before the pandemic and love that video conferencing keeps participants focused and engaged when the team is spread across the country. However, in-person POA meetings still provide tremendous value to build camaraderie and teamwork among the sales force that is not as quickly achievable in virtual gatherings.

As a result of Covid-19, I expect that the role of the sales force will expand to include more interactions with HCPs through a combination of face-to-face interactions, virtual tools and e-visits.

AMENDOLA: Our sales representatives interact with countless HCPs and hospital/office staff. As part of those connections, they build relationships that provide both customer service and a better understanding of our customers’ needs on a daily basis. While a lot has changed due to the onset of

Covid-19, much remains the same. Our sales reps must continue to serve the educational needs of HCPs, but now in a different way to ensure we’re providing them needed information about our products, and then, once a treatment choice has been made, providing them information on our patient access and affordability options.

O’SULLIVAN: In the last few years, there has certainly been a shift in incorporating more digital training. The advancements in technology have opened the doors to create engaging and impactful online training and it only makes sense to incorporate various digital learning mediums into the curriculum. Even without Covid-19, we need to continually learn and listen to our customers to understand what they truly need. We are constantly changing, trying to provide the optimal customer experience. Maybe Covid-19 is the catalyst for our industry to pause and rethink the evolution of the sales force role. In my opinion, it’s the perfect time to explore other complementary communication methods to effectively deliver messages that can act as an extension for the sales force.

FINLAY: With important new treatments gaining FDA approval despite the pandemic, virtual launches have replaced live launch meetings and POAs, leveraging high-tech production houses to use broadcasting-like functionality to keep field interest high and messages crisp. Nimbleness and creativity has been necessary to simulate virtual workshop environments and promote continued collaboration over the web. Field engagement is important now more than ever to both seek evolving customer perspectives in this changing environment, and to make virtual time that everyone spends together the most meaningful.

How do you think the emergence of telehealth will affect the sales rep/physician relationship?

BORRIELLO: Telehealth is not a temporary solution but is here to stay and will continue to grow. It affords those without easy access to a specialist the opportunity to do at least an initial consultation virtually. We still have to see how telehealth will impact an HCP’s workload, such as whether it will allow them to do more visits or if it will require more administrative work and, in turn, if that will impact the provider’s time for industry interactions.

O’SULLIVAN: I believe it will continue to be an opportunity for the pharmaceutical industry in understanding the new virtual physician/patient interaction and how we can provide value to it. If we better understand our customer needs within this space as well as the problems they are facing, we can contribute in a meaningful way. Something as simple as converting traditional physical patient education to dynamic digital resources that an HCP can provide to their patient via the telehealth visit, patient portal or email is a first step. Along with the HCP’s greater comfort level with online interactions, this now unlocks more potential for HCPs and sales reps to connect online conveniently.

AMENDOLA: The use of telehealth has certainly accelerated due to the changing realities created by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, I don’t necessarily see it minimizing or disrupting the important relationships we enjoy between our sales reps and our customers.

SANCHEZ: Telemedicine has certainly become more widespread during this health crisis, and many customers shared that. Putting it into practice for the first time allowed continuity of care, whereas others have used it regularly depending on their practice, so this may very well continue in the future to some degree. We will continue to evaluate how to be a resource to our customers, knowing that patients are top priority and there may be some limitations which we need to consider. However, we have created platforms to engage customers and I suspect this will continue to be a regular part of our business, as institutions assess changes in policy and guidelines in response to this pandemic.

FINLAY: After a brief pause when some oncology offices asked for the industry to give them space to adapt to the new post-Covid world, many physician offices now have opened up to having rep in-service meetings virtually, with only very few inviting sociallydistanced on-site account manager interactions. Treatment team members, such as key dispensing pharmacy decision makers, are open to one-on-one meetings where important product information can be shared. With more customers being open to the new world of face-to-face remote connectivity, account managers with great relationships and planning skills can even enhance their own productivity as they develop in their ability to connect virtually with the same authenticity that they did in person. Still, everyone is adapting to sitting in front of our computers meeting to meeting. Telehealth increases the time HCPs spend on technology. Screen fatigue is real, so customers who need a break from technology may be hesitant to get on a sales rep webex in the same way that weekly family zoom calls start to lose interest.

Given the social and economic changes post-Covid, how do you see the composition of the sales forces changing in terms of experience, size, and other factors?

AMENDOLA: On top of managing a pandemic, our nation has been faced with navigating our way through a critical crossroads related to human rights and respect. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion has always been foundational to Janssen and to J&J overall. These times have been challenging – and insightful. These past few months have emphasized even more how companies can and must evolve – in how we recruit, hire, train and provide leadership that hopefully will inspire others to do the right thing for their people and for society as a whole.

SANCHEZ: We are always evaluating our business and this has always been inclusive of a multitude of these factors including product lifecycle.

BORRIELLO: We will continue to look at experience and at attributes that make a successful member of the sales force, like integrity and courage. Additionally, it is imperative now to find people who are comfortable using and learning technology as it evolves. While face-to-face interactions aren’t going away, we need to make sure that our sales force is comfortable with technology so they can deploy a face-to-face or virtual interaction depending on the needs of the customer.

O’SULLIVAN: Change is constant and like with everything else, monitoring the business dynamics to best serve our customers is a factor for the evolution of the sales force. As we continue to learn from our customers and the new environment, we must remove our unconscious bias and really listen to our customers and take in the current social and economic factors to see how we can best show up and evolve with today’s changes.

FINLAY: As a previous sales leader, my observations are that sales and account professionals who have strong relationships, an innate ability to connect with people, well developed clinical acumen, and proven business impact will likely always be sought after in our industry. New competencies may emerge with adaptability and resilience being an even bigger part of those who may rise to the top. Those with technical skills who can communicate the best across the web, those who can navigate the office virtually, and those who can maximize time in their day due to strong planning may be the ones who make the most of the virtual transformation this year.

How important will digital and non-personal promotion (NPP) capabilities be to support launch strategies and maintain share of voice?

O’SULLIVAN: In my opinion, having a robust omni-channel mix was always necessary in the equation. We must look at our customers holistically and deliver relevant, personalized content where they are in their digital consumption.

BORRIELLO: Digital and NPP capabilities have always been important for a new product launch, and that’s certainly what we’re finding in launching XCOPRI. We have to consider the realities of the Covid-19 pandemic, and it is important to consider timing. With so many experiences and events moving to virtual, there is potential for customers to experience “virtual/ technology fatigue”, and you don’t want to get lost in the noise. You need to carefully consider how you are going to stand out in crowded spaces and strategically deploy your digital and NPP tactics to get the most engagement.

AMENDOLA: When the pandemic first hit, all things stopped. Fast. We listened to HCPs and then Janssen turned to digital and non-personal promotion to ensure we continued to engage with our customers and ensure they had the information and support they needed. We also listened to HCPs and monitored the environment overall to ensure that our customer support was balanced and measured: we worked with our sales reps to ensure that their interactions were both helpful and sensitive to the needs and challenges physicians and HCPs and office/ hospital staff were facing. While I eagerly look forward to the future and a return to a more normal approach to interacting with and providing support to customers, I believe many of the new approaches and tactics we have adapted during the pandemic will continue.

SANCHEZ: We have regularly used this approach to supplement the efforts of our field-facing teams consistent with marketing practices, much of which has been based on customer interest across various segments shared through market research. Certainly these capabilities have enhanced our engagement during this pandemic, can provide greater reach, and will be imperative for us to consider moving forward.

FINLAY: Understanding your customer segments, where they go for information, how they like to receive information, and what type of information is appealing are key ingredients to effective placement of both ads and educational content, with everyone investing in digital and NPP. Knowing which professional organizations and trusted sources to partner with for new product announcements to complement field driven digital touchpoints can round out an effective launch promotional plan. Realizing where customers are now working impacts direct mail campaign effectiveness. Refinement of messaging and tone is being done to maximize brand appeal, given a new set of empathy drivers in this evolving marketplace, in a similar way that we see giant consumer brands changing their approach on TV commercials. Seeking prominent ad placements, exclusive digital placements, and being surrounded by relevant content may help when everyone is trying to connect nonpersonally via print and digital. Evaluation of digital marketing metrics is important to see what works best for your goals.

How are big data and the use of AI helping sales and marketing today? How do you see this evolving?

AMENDOLA: Big data remains an important part of how we share information about our medicines and the safe and effective use of them. As technology advances, so too does our ability to gather it and use it to ensure true and meaningful engagements. Data, and more appropriately, the insights it provides, ensures we can connect with our customers with the right message via the right channels and most importantly, at the right time to enable a win-win.

O’SULLIVAN: Bottom-line, it is helping us make smarter, more informed decisions. We get to see patterns and evaluate the information to serve up the next best engagement. This requires a crossfunctional team that passionately looks at the information, asks questions, and conducts test and learn experiments to test our hypothesis. As we continue to mature and put more emphasis on data, we quickly realize how much more there is to learn in order to optimize our efforts.

FINLAY: Big data is widely utilized in oncology by both GPOs and Precision Medicine organizations to direct biopharm sales and marketing efforts towards specific customers most appropriate for education on products or disease states that can solve their specific needs. Data is being used by highly organized customers with advanced health IT platforms to identify patients with certain characteristics, such as previously tested and detected genetic alterations, to help direct cancer patients and prescribers towards therapies that have been proven to work in their specific and often rare tumor types. It would be great if ultimately data could be used to predict and thwart chronic diseases to improve and extend life.

MODERATOR

MARIA FINLAY, MBA Director of Channel Marketing Incyte

Maria Finlay has over 20 years of brand marketing, sales leadership, operations, and market access experience. She recently completed the Wharton General Management Program, and has led multiple cross-functional initiatives at Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Teva Oncology and Incyte. With experience across seven therapeutic areas, Maria has launched multiple small and large molecule products throughout her career. Maria currently leads Oncology Channel Marketing strategies and tactics directed towards large organized community oncology customers, hospital systems, GPOs, and payers. A resultsdriven professional with a passion for culture, engagement, diversity and inclusion, Maria has been awarded multiple President’s Club awards in sales and marketing, as well as a J&J Rising Star and an HBA Luminary Award. The views and opinions represented in these materials are those of Ms. Finlay and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of any past or present employers. mfinlay@incyte.com

INCYTE is a Wilmington, Delaware-based, global biopharmaceutical company focused on finding solutions for serious unmet medical needs through the discovery, development and commercialization of proprietary therapeutics. For additional information on Incyte, please visit Incyte.com and follow @Incyte.

PANELISTS

LESLIE C. AMENDOLA Director of Marketing, Oncology/Rare Disease (Brand Lead) Janssen Inc.

Leslie is a dynamic, goal-driven commercial leader skilled at building high-performing teams that drive strategic growth across multiple brands and franchises. As a 20+ year veteran at Johnson & Johnson, she has had progressive commercial leadership roles for 15+ brands across multiple therapeutic areas and all lifecycle stages. Leslie is viewed as the catalyst and difference-maker in the creation of strategies and key initiatives that improve performance, growth and overall brand position. She is currently the head of marketing for a large leukemia and lymphoma brand. Finally, Leslie is nearing completion of the Wharton General Management Program. LAmendol@its.jnj.com

JANSSEN is a Johnson & Johnson company focused on medicines in cardiovascular & metabolism; immunology; infectious diseases & vaccines; neuroscience; oncology; and pulmonary hypertension.

SEBASTIAN “SEBBY” BORRIELLO Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer SK life science

Sebby’s career has included executive sales and marketing positions at Cempra, Mentor Worldwide LLC, Johnson & Johnson Healthcare Systems Inc., Ethicon, Inc. and Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Sebby received his B.A. in Public Administration from St. John’s University in ‘81, and received his M.S. in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania in 2001. sborriello@sklsi.com

SK LIFE SCIENCE is focused on developing and bringing treatments for disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) to market. It has a pipeline of eight products in development for the treatment of CNS disorders, including epilepsy, sleep disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, among others.

NILSA SANCHEZ Head of U.S. Sales, Oncology/ Hematology Teva Pharmaceuticals

Nilsa’s career has included senior leadership roles in sales, marketing, training, and human resources at Eisai, Inc. and Merck & Co., Inc. She has had a long term focus in oncology and hematology brands, including solid tumors, lung cancer, and oral oncolytics with emphasis on contracting. Most recently she has helped to shape the sales strategy for the launch of biosimilars.

TEVA PHARMACEUTICALS has been developing and producing medicines to help improve people’s lives for more than a century. Teva is committed to being a global leader in generic and specialty brand medicines with a portfolio of 3,500 products in nearly every therapeutic area. Along with an established presence in generics, there is significant innovative research and operations supporting a growing portfolio of specialty and biopharmaceutical products.

TAMI O’SULLIVAN Campaign Development Lead, Diabetes Franchise Merck

Tami has been in the pharmaceutical industry for twenty years. She started on the agency side, worked at Shire Pharmaceuticals in digital marketing, and then progressed to consumer and patient strategy within Shire and then at Teva Pharmaceuticals. Currently at Merck, she is the Campaign Development Lead in a Digital Engagement Team that uses agile methodology to quickly develop customer experiences and bring them into market to test and iterate based on customer feedback. Tami has a passion for being customer-centric and has a curious mindset that lends to delivering valuable customer experiences. tami.osullivan@merck.com

MERCK is an innovative global healthcare company with more than 50 prescription products in various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, oncology, neuroscience, infectious diseases, immunology and women’s health.