Cancer is one of the most challenging diseases of all - not only in terms of the clinical barriers to offering its sufferers respite from devastating consequences, but also to manufacturers and marketers of treatments that attempt to control its impact. Products developed and manufactured through biotechnology dominate the commercial landscape for treating a variety of cancer types. The recent spate of new biologic launches for treating cancer delivered through injections, infusions and orally will only increase in the next five years. The task of developing a viable commercial model for the effective delivery of cancer treatments to its customers lies at the center of ensuring that advances in cancer care are harnessed for their full potential. Both by definition and due to the reality of the cancer landscape, such a model is best conceptualized with the patient at its center. This article describes elements of a patient centric commercial model for cancer care, after recognizing the challenges and opportunities inherent in its commercialization and marketing. The impact of such a model resides in its ability to offer tangible benefits to patients by improving access to leading edge treatments, energizing communication at the point of care, and adequately harnessing the emerging promise of new technology - rather than an emphasis on share-of-voice based selling. By viewing the patient at the center of a commercial model, manufacturers and marketers of cancer care treatments can offer products that provide ongoing care for the cancer patient from initiation through palliation, thereby building loyalty and realizing the full potential inherent in such treatments.
Full details at the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology