Key Opinion Leaders (KOL) in the pharmaceutical industry are renowned, noteworthy, and dignitary persona from the world of medicine. KOL support the pharmaceutical companies in investigating research areas such as medicine, recommendations on medicines, marketing, and so on. Amidst massive competition in the pharma industry, it is crucial to managing the KOLs efficiently. Hence, no pharma companies are leaving a single stone unturned.
The need for KOLs in pharma companies is surging to fill the following gaps:
- Primary Investigation in terms of identifying the gaps and new research areas for medicines, risk analysis for the chemical components, and so on.
- Advocacy Activity revolving around scrutinizing the experiments, approval for launch, and more.
- Marketing strategies for the new drugs to be launched in the market.
- Detailed data about physicians, their experiences, profile, and resources
- Information related to demography in the pharmaceutical industry
- Guidance on the trend of current prescription and new researches around
Additionally, they provide:
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Getting Key Opinion Leaders in the Database
With the immense growth in medical science and its complexities, the pharmaceutical regulations have become more stringent. It has led to an increase in demand for niche pharma products and customized treatment plans. In relation to the advance medication, KOLs play an essential role at every stage of the lifecycle of the drugs.
It is a tedious chore for the pharma companies to ascertain the most valid KOLs and assist them in discovering, experimenting, and marketing a new drug or medical devices.
Nevertheless, onboarding KOL for optimal benefit is not that taxing if done with a procedural approach:
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KOL Identification and Mapping
The first step is to identify the names of key opinion leaders from the openly available resources, for example, medical publications, databases from the state and national level, commercial resources, etc. Creating detailed profiling on the number of physicians and KOLs is not complacent. It requires proper tools and applications to collect information regarding clinical trials, publications, etc.
The above step is accompanied by KOL mapping, which includes spotting KOLs on national, local, regional, and international levels. Mapping also refers to zeroing opinion leaders not only by their category but also by their position and influence in the fields and the adoption behavior as well.
Research Optimus (ROP) is a pioneer in providing KOL database. We provide KOL mapping with all the gathered information including name, address, location, research activities, publications, clinical trials, associations and memberships, regulatory affiliations, scientific societies, patient advocacy groups, social media activity, advisory roles to major pharmaceutical companies, etc.
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KOL Ranking and Profiling
The next step is to analyze the data collected with a correct algorithm reflecting the perfect key opinion leaders according to their levels of expertise. The process helps in ranking the profiles accordingly. Objective Ranking System is the simplest method when it comes to ranking. The technique gives out an unbiased ranking based on a given set of parameters.
Peer qualification is an alternative approach that provides excellent ranking as well. In this process, a panel of peers rank the opinion leaders against a set parameter. Once the ranking is completed; detailed profiling is done to bring out deeper insights on how they can fit as a team.
Who Are Potential
Key Opinion Leaders?
Potential key opinion leaders in the healthcare industry are those who research for diseases, help in developing new treatments and therapies, promote therapies, and device health policies, and regulations.
Following are the common traits of KOL:
- Committed to enhancing the well-being of the patients
- Highly oriented to research
- Ready to experiment when there is a need
- Comfortable with digital media
- Support aggressive endorsements of pharma products
Pharmaceutical industry’s KOLs prominent figures from the healthcare industry, whose voice sounds trustworthy. They can fall into the following categories:
- Government devising regulations and legislation to promote health awareness
- Clinical Commission Groups providing health services to the local community based on their needs
- Medical Societies announcing new researches and improvements to protect the patients’ interest
- Journalists reporting the advancements and issues related to the field
- Patient Advocacy Groups educating and impart awareness to patients and caregivers
- Pharmacists circulating medicines and administering the correct usage by the patients and healthcare practitioners
- Nurses administering medicines on patients
The decision-makers in the pharma industry are, in fact, the members of the Pharmacy, and Therapeutics Committee and the Chief Medical Officers, and the Director of the Pharmacy.
People who influence decision-makers are:
- Clinical pharmacists
- Directors of quality
- The pharmacy benefit manager
- Health directors
Benefits of Having a Key Opinion Leader in Pharma
Key opinion leaders in pharma provide insights around the needs of new drugs throughout the lifecycle of product development. They are beneficial in the following ways:
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Research and Development
The KOLs identify the gaps and unmet medical needs and plan product development.
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Clinical Trials and Development
The KOLs guide on clinical trials and operations. They also identify the gaps in the trial data, work on the approval process, provide information related to the benefit of the drug.
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Marketing and awareness
Building a product awareness, participate in medical lectures and programs, work for the patent management, and guide the prescribing decisions through publications.
Research Optimus – KOL Identification and Mapping Service for the Pharma Industry
The KPO experts at ROP conduct extensive KOL surveys, KOL mapping to dig out the data that suits the field of medicine and pharmaceuticals. Our KOL profiling is followed by KOL activity planning. The service is streamlined and limited to the requirements of each of our clients.
To know about our projects on key opinion leader mapping from the last decade, and what more we can do for your pharma company, contact us today.
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