 |
 
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Download our FREE Special Report: Physician Meetings: Education Works (as seen in Pharma Marketing News) |
Below are a few anecdotes from our nearly 20 years "in the trenches" of pharmaceutical event planning. With tongue-in-cheek, we present to you our "War Stories" -- examples of our dedication, perseverance, attention to detail, and overall "grit". We put all this and more to work for each of our clients. Each story reveals how we stand by our core business philosophy -- giving our clients exactly what they need, and more than they expect.
War Story I
In May of 2007, ALLIANCE was awarded a contract to provide
Key Opinion Leaders (KOL) development and an initial advisory board for a small start up oncology firm. This company had one hematologic
compound that had just completed phase II development. The purpose of the ad board was to review the
company's phase III plans in further clinical studies for eventual FDA approval.
We assembled ten oncology key opinion leaders that we had worked with in the past. These individual physicians were invited
solely to evaluate the clinical track of this small company and to offer medical opinions
to our client, whether positive or negative. During the meeting, the company’s
VP of Clinical Research outlined their phase III strategy. After an extensive presentation, the advisors recommended that the company was planning the wrong studies
-- if this study strategy was not changed, there was a good probability that
other mega pharma companies doing research in a similar therapeutic area would exhaust available study patients in that very competitive market. The
KOL's instead recommended different studies that would put our client’s company on sound footing,
making it possible for this smaller company to get their drug to the market faster than their competition.
The KOL experience that ALLIANCE provided for this ad board completely refocused the client’s efforts on the
most effective path to approval and averted a fatal mistake that could have cost the client’s millions in clinical development costs.
ALLIANCE's KOL connections saved this small pharma client from failure and
potential extinction.
ALLIANCE can bring this expertise into play for your projects as well.
War Story II
In April 2000, ALLIANCE was contracted to perform convention work
for a medical internet company. The project included facilitating the
delivery and setup of a convention booth for the client. However, the
client on short notice had registered to attend conventions in Philadelphia
and Atlanta — within 24 hours of each other! ALLIANCE could NOT secure
a guarantee that the booth would arrive on time for the Atlanta Convention
from any overnight carrier or commercial delivery service. Our solution?
ALLIANCE became the delivery service by renting a van and driving it down
to Atlanta overnight for arrival on Sunday. We arrived on time and the
convention setup went smoothly.
War Story III
In September of 1998, ALLIANCE received a frantic call from a product
manager, who explained that due to internal regulatory affair issues,
a scheduled symposium had to be CME accredited. However, the meeting was
already scheduled and was going to be canceled with only 3 weeks to go!
ALLIANCE stepped in and was able to get the program accredited and an
accreditation statement was issued in two weeks time. ALLIANCE saved the
Company thousands of dollars in cancellation fees and a public relations
snafu with the convention provider and attendee physicians.
War Story IV
In November of 1997, ALLIANCE received a call from a marketing director
of Parke-Davis, voicing concerns about the phase IV trials that his company
was working on. He needed more studies to round out indications for his
product. Working with the Product Director, ALLIANCE recruited 75 physician
sites, worked on the protocol for the study, assisted Parke-Davis in hiring
a CRO company, and pulled together an investigator's meeting attended
by 150 researchers and study coordinators just a few months later.
War Story V
In November of 1996, ALLIANCE was contracted to manage a symposium
for Parke-Davis, a Division of Warner-Lambert, in Antalya, Turkey as part
of the MCC Congress. Again a flawless project was managed for the client
in which the satellite symposium sponsored by Parke-Davis was attended
by 50% of the total physician registrants.
War Story VI
In November 1991, ALLIANCE
received an urgent call from Lederle Praxis Biologicals, the vaccine division
of American Cyanimid. The marketing manager for HIBTiter needed to assemble
a symposium and an internal marketing meeting for his Pacific country
marketing managers in Bali, Indonesia. These meetings were to be held
during the Western Pacific Congress on Chemotherapy and Infectious Diseases
in December of 1991. In less than four weeks, ALLIANCE gathered a panel
of experts and put on a successful symposium attended by over 400 physicians.
We also coordinated an internal meeting in Bali, without the benefit of
email, just using our meeting expertise, phones, faxes and persistent
effort.
War Story VII
In 1991, ALLIANCE was awarded a contract to manage the first international symposium focusing on a new antimicrobial agent for Lederle Laboratories, Piperacillin/Tazobactam. The satellite symposium was to be held during the ICC meetings, in Berlin in June.
During our site visit to Berlin in January of that year, the US went to war with Iraq/Kuwait. We soon realized the logistical implications as travel restrictions and terrorist threats were imposed. Not ideal planning conditions for an international event!
Our symposium was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. in the largest hall of the Berlin ICC. Despite the political climate, our efforts brought in over 900 physician attendees for the Lederle meeting. The journal supplement spin-off from the meeting appeared nine months after the symposium in the JAC, highlighting the clinical benefits of the new compound.
As a result of this successful launch meeting, ALLIANCE received project contracts from Lederle for the next four years. This continuous relationship eventually evolved into a new partnership with American Home Products after the corporate takeover of Lederle.
Bottom Line
ALLIANCE produces effective projects, as promised and on time -- against all odds.
These examples illustrate ALLIANCE's commitment to each of our clients. They reveal just a few of the many ways we have helped our clients succeed.
We would be happy to share more "War Stories" in person, and chat with you about how we can use our "battle experience" to help your business succeed and grow.
