The Changing Pharmaceutical Industry:
(2) Pharmaceutical company ratings in the lung cancer field

• Healthcare

Michie Komoto, Healthcare Research Team

In this three-part series, we will discuss physician engagement. First, we will review customer engagement in the pharmaceutical industry today, which incorporates a wide range of data. Next, we will dive into the results from our survey on pharmaceutical companies’ ratings, specifically around lung cancer, and explore the differences between companies. Lastly, we will explain an approach to improve physician engagement with healthcare research.

(2) Pharmaceutical company ratings in the lung cancer field

In October 2022, we conducted a survey on pharmaceutical companies’ ratings of the company in overall, product, information provision, and MR (medical representative). The product evaluation focused on the top-selling immune checkpoint inhibitors. Respondents were invited from Nikkei Medical Online panels and a total of 307 physicians — who specialize in medical oncology (69), respiratory medicine (164), or respiratory surgery (74), have patients with NSCLC (non-small cell lung cancer) or SCLC (small cell lung cancer), and make decisions or involved in making decisions of treatment — participated.

Contact points and contact volume

In the survey, the “contact” covers in-person conversations and online (including web and e-mail) information provision, including inquiries made by the doctor. We measured three items related to in-person and four items related to online. 15 companies with therapeutic drugs in the lung cancer area were evaluated. AstraZeneca, which provides TAGRISSO® (osimertinib), and Chugai Pharmaceutical (Roche Group), which provides TECENTRIQ® (atezolizumab), had the most contact with doctors.

Looking across the communication channels, AstraZeneca was top for in-person information provision by MRs, while Chugai (Roche Group) was the top for overall face-to-face contact. Within the most recent 3 months, Chugai had the highest volume in providing information or seminars by MSLs (Medical Science Liaisons) and academics, rather than by MRs. While every company is approaching through online channels, Novartis' MRs seem to combine both in-person and online approaches. Results of Bristol Myers Squibb indicate that they had some webinars in that timeframe.

The comparison of contact points reveals how each company focuses on either in-person or online communication channels. Chugai (Roche Group) had the largest volume in overall contacts, on the other hand, AstraZeneca had a slightly higher ratio of face-to-face contacts.

Overall ratings of companies

We asked what the top five most trustworthy lung cancer drug manufacturers are to doctors from their experience with lung cancer treatment. AstraZeneca was the top mentioned, followed by Chugai (Roche Group), MSD, Ono Pharmaceutical, and Eli Lilly Japan. It may be somewhat reflecting the total volume of prescriptions as trustworthiness, but we should look at the reasons why they are highly rated, whether it is just because their products are adopted often.

The top three companies — AstraZeneca, Chugai (Roche Group), and MSD — besides their high ratings, each company has unique characteristics. AstraZeneca is great in "follow up regularly on the latest information," "show interest and listen well," and doctors “prioritize choosing over others." MSD possesses many “registered patients for clinical trials,” and they “listen well” to doctors. Chugai, which received the highest overall ratings, has doctors “attend more conferences than others.”

Ratings of MRs

Chugai (Roche Group) had high ratings across MRs’ activities from “necessity,” “partnership,” to “support.” Chugai can be said as the No.1 company in terms of MRs. Although, AstraZeneca tops Chugai in the following items; “necessary partner for the treatment,” “response time,” “latest treatment,” and “rich information on new drugs.” MSD also has high ratings at the same level as the other two companies on “good knowledge and deep understanding of the disease” and “necessary partner for the treatment.” However, MSD seems to underperform in “providing negative information appropriately,” “patient-centric suggestions,” and “support beyond products.”

Ratings of products

We evaluated the immune checkpoint inhibitors by asking doctors to name their top choice.

MSD’s KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) stands out from the rest. The reasons to be chosen were “compliance with medical practice guidelines,” “convincing evidence,” and “high response rate.” Bristol Myers Squibb’s OPDIVO® (nivolumab), which is becoming increasingly popular in first-line treatment, was also supported by many oncologists, with some physicians saying that it is expected to prolong the time to relapse, in addition to the same reasons as KEYTRUDA®. Chugai's TECENTRIQ® (atezolizumab) was supported for its “convincing evidence” and “high response rate,” with also relatively higher ratings in “clinical trial design” and “easy to dose” than others.
Note that AstraZeneca was selected for IMFINZI® (durvalumab), and not TAGRISSO® (osimertinib), which is assumed to have pushed their overall ratings up.

NPS (Net Promoter Score)

Chugai (Roche Group) and AstraZeneca outshine the others in NPS. Companies below Pfizer in 8th place have negative NPS values, with an average of 5.6 among the 15 companies.

NPS (Net Promoter Score) is a popular indicator of customer loyalty which measures the willingness of a customer to recommend to others. In this survey, respondents were asked “Based on your experience, how much would you recommend the following pharmaceutical companies in the area of lung cancer overall — regarding products, activities, and information provision?” and would answer on a scale of 0 to 10. Respondents are categorized as “promoters” (those who scored 9 or 10) and “distractors” (those who scored 0 to 6). The NPS is a diffusion index by subtracting the share of detractors from the share of promoters.

In other industries, they have a lower level of NPS. Nikkei Research has many experiences in measuring the NPS across various industries, and we can say that the pharmaceutical industry has relatively high loyalty.