Patient advocacy groups have evolved into organizations that play a critical role in educating patients. Correspondently, the advocacy function within pharma has grown in importance as collaborations with patient groups are linked to enhanced disease state and brand education among patient groups. This Best Practices ®, LLC study identifies key trends in how pharma advocacy group serve internal customers and which activities have the most value. Additionally, the study examines the roles and responsibilities of advocacy. Advocacy group leaders can use this study to better align their relationships with internal and external customers.

1. Advocacy Excellence:
Optimizing Group Structure &
Operations
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2. Table of Contents
Table of Contents Continued
•Project Blueprint – pg. 3 •Advocacy Group Services: Key Trends in
•Benchmark Class – pg. 4 Service Levels and Approaches – pg. 35
•Key Insights – pg. 6
•Advocacy Roles and Responsibilities: Key
•Advocacy Models: Key Trends and
Drivers of Sub-Group Group Evolution – Trends in Alliances Management – pg. 49
pg. 9 •Communicating The Value of Advocacy in
•Advocacy Group Models and a Global Bio-Pharma Company – pg. 55
Structures– pg. 20 •Contact Information – pg. 60
•Advocacy Group Staffing Benchmarks:
Key Trends In Resourcing Advocacy
Groups – pg. 27
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3. Optimizing Structure Involves Integrated Practices &
Approaches
There are no perfect structures. “Form follows function.” New market pressures and
lifecycle events compel structures to evolve. Optimizing structure reflects the integrated
management of units, people, process, technology, communications, incentives and other
management factors.
10. Assess 1. Realign to
Performance, Support New “No institution can
Refine & Corporate
Continuously Goals, possibly survive if it
9. Optimize
Improve Strategies 2. Fine-tune
Learning to needs geniuses or
Enhance Internal Group
Performance Structure supermen to manage it.
Advocacy: It must be organized in
8. Manage /
Coordinate Roles Accelerated Evolution 3. Establish Service such a way as to be
for a Fully Integrated To Make the New Levels to Reflect
Pharmaceutical Priorities & Resources able to get along under
Network Structure Work
4. Integrate a leadership composed
7. Drive Long-Term Operations to
Priorities & Respond Bridge BU’s, of average human
to Ad Hoc Issues 6. Refine 5. Use Geographies &
Talent Funding / Sub-Groups
beings.”
Management Budgeting
Strategies & Process to -Peter Drucker
Systems Reaffirm
Alignments
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4. Advocacy Benchmark Research Participants
Participants in this benchmarking research included executive respondents at 11 leading
bio-pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.
A Small
Pharma Co.
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5. Most Participants Hold Titles of Director or Above
Research participants included Executive Directors, Medical Executives, Directors and
Product Managers. More than 80% of benchmark partners were directors or above – and
most worked directly in Advocacy groups or functions.
TITLE GROUP OR FUNCTION
Executive Director Patient Advocacy Relations
Executive Director Advocacy
Senior Director Global Advocacy and Professional Relations / Corporate Affairs
Director Professional and Advocacy Relations
Director Advocacy
Director Patient Services & Professional Relations / Medical Affairs
Director Global Project Operations
Director of Advocacy Advocacy Relations / Corporate Communications
Associate Director Patient Advocacy
Senior Product Manager Marketing
Medical Executive Medical Affairs
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6. Therapeutic Area Focus Is Main Driver of Advocacy
Structures
Advocacy group structures commonly follow a company’s main therapeutic areas. For
larger companies that evolve into business unit structures, Advocacy continues to follow
dominant and emerging therapeutic areas but broadens its coverage to include groups and
issues in important geographic locations and across key product groups.
Q2. Advocacy Sub-Group Structure: Note all functional factors describing how your
Advocacy organization is designed.
Therapeutic Area
55%
Focus
Product Focus 36%
Other Comments:
Other Comments:
• •“We have aa role to support the advocacy
Business Unit “We have role to support the advocacy
27%
Focus capabilities of affiliates in geographies
capabilities of affiliates in geographies
outside the U.S.”
Matrix Model 27% outside the U.S.”
• •“All of our advocacy functions are
“All of our advocacy functions are
Other 18%
organized to work on corporate objectives
organized to work on corporate objectives
that impact the environment in which our
Project Focus 9% that impact the environment in which our
products are sold.”
products are sold.”
% of Companies
(n=11)
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7. Advocacy Function Is Only Rarely Outsourced
Clearly, organizations prefer to keep Advocacy as an in-house function, both on a global
basis and in the U.S. Only one company outsources any of its Advocacy staff, and the
scope of outsourcing is limited to 5-10% of FTEs.
Q10. Internal FTE % Vs. Outsourced FTE %: What percentage of your Advocacy
employees are internal or outsourced?
Some
Outsourcer
Employed, 12%
All Company
Employed, 88%
% of Companies
(n=8)
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8. Case Profile: Find Common Ground to Build Patient
Advocacy Partnerships– Even When Interests Diverge
Develop an advocacy approach that sets out to spot common ground between the
commercial organization and the Advocacy group. Great divides may exist. Partnerships are
built on mutually beneficial common ground.
COMMON
“You may be poles apart in terms
“You may be poles apart in terms GROUND
of commercial point of view and
of commercial point of view and
the activism point of you − but
the activism point of you − but Battling Stigma &
there is some common ground. So
there is some common ground. So Discrimination
where is the common ground ?. . .. .
where is the common ground ?.
You’re going to have to find what
You’re going to have to find what Accessing
is this middle ground that provides
is this middle ground that provides Medicine & Health
an area for compromise. IfIfnothing
an area for compromise. nothing
Services
else an area where you can sit
else an area where you can sit
down and have an informed Serving
down and have an informed Stigmatized Sub-
objective debate and discussion
objective debate and discussion Populations
around what is at the heart of the
around what is at the heart of the
concerns from both perspectives.”
concerns from both perspectives.” Conducting
- -Head of HIV Franchise &
Head of HIV Franchise & Research On
Advocacy Good Health
Advocacy Policy
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9. About Best Practices, LLC
Best Practices, LLC is a research and consulting firm that
conducts work based on the simple yet profound principle that
organizations can chart a course to superior economic
performance by studying the best business practices, operating
tactics and winning strategies of world-class companies
Best Practices, LLC
6350 Quadrangle Drive, Suite 200,
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
www.best-in-class.com
Telephone: 919-403-0251
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