Accelerating Therapy Start & Marketing Impact with Predictive Analytics in Healthcare

Hi there. My name is Rebecca Lowenstein. I'm the publisher of Fierce Pharma, and I'm here today with Steve Silvestro, CEO of OptimizeRx. Steve, thanks for joining me today. Thanks, Rebecca. Good to be with you. Given the evolution of farmer marketing in recent years, what do you see as the biggest shift in the farmer marketing landscape, or the most disrupted influence? I think there's a few things that have been really disrupted and evolutionary. Number one is this focus on finding patients that are brand eligible. All around the conference in the last couple days, there have been people talking about finding brand eligible patients using different means. Obviously, the big data houses are here selling their wares, which is always great to see. But really finding those real time, I think, is the key. And you're hearing that in a lot of the discussions and talks on the first floor here. We're certainly pioneering a lot of that with our own technology. We, we have an AI based ML platform that finds brand eligible patients real time and messages physicians and message patients messages patients at the exact same time. So we're getting that duality of surround sound. But those those types of technologies have been really really disruptive and I think that's a trend. I think pharma has smartened up to the kinda spray and pray not really working anymore. And they're doing a great job of measuring return on investment and impact. And so as they continue to do that, I think they're gonna lean away from sort of that just broad broadcasting type material they were doing before and focus more on data driven solutions. So That's cool. Now OptimizeRx has been talking recently about how farmer brands can facilitate earlier diagnosis and treatment. Yeah. Tell me why is this such an important topic? Yeah. I mean, look, we know speed to therapy is one of the major, you know, the major variables and good outcomes. And so, you know, for us, it's really about finding patients sooner in the treatment algorithm and getting them on the appropriate therapy faster. You know, we did a project a couple of years ago, for a triple negative breast cancer brand. And, at the time, there's no ICD ten code for that. So no diagnosis code for triple negative breast cancer. It requires three different diagnostic tests administered by three different doctors. Oh, wow. So the time to therapy there is, tricky because you've got to get people to coordinate in the care team. And as you know, that doesn't usually happen. Yeah. And so what we built was, you know, an algorithm that basically looked for those tests, found it, and then put it in front of the prescribing physician sooner. So we were able to get those patients, on therapy about probably about eight to nine months earlier than a normal diagnosis or normal treatment algorithm would happen. And, and, you know, it extended life by fifteen months, which was really cool. And that was data that came back from manufacturer, to optimize Rx. So and we've got, you know, a myriad of examples like that. But just time to therapy is just the essence, particularly with cancer. Right? You've gotta get there early intervention. Tell me what role can pharma marketers play in, intervention earlier interventions. Yeah. I mean, I think, really, if pharma marketers can continue to educate themselves around what the what the patient journey is like and get a little bit more, you know, been encyclopedic knowledge of that and understanding of how patients are flowing through their own process, through through their own journey. And then using all the data that's available, you know, I think what I love is that we've got actually a lot of pharma marketers here at the conference this week and that's wonderful because they're hearing pieces of new novel technology that are really cutting edge. And if they can implement some of those things, not only they're gonna drive more revenue for their brands, they're gonna do a great job for patients because patients have no idea what's talked about at conferences like these. They rely on people like us to get that information out to them. So talk to me about challenges or barriers that, get in a marketer's way. How do marketers overcome these? Yeah. I think for marketers and and I was on a panel yesterday. It was just great group of great group of people. But one of the challenges is sort of the marketing mix, and then you've got competing priorities even within the organization. Right? So you have some sacred cows that, you know, manufacturers are not willing to let go of even though, you know, they're basically in a milk stage. They're just dying assets. But someone on the executive team just feels really strongly about it and they don't wanna let it go. And then they've got these other up and coming assets that really need a shot of adrenaline. So for brand marketers and people that are coming to this conference, it's really understanding how to advocate for their brand and using data to be able to demonstrate that their strategy will work. So the more prepared they can be when they go into their investment committee for approval, the better they'll be. And then secondly, you know, I would just say that, the marketing mix is changing radically. You know, it used to be that there was a certain percentage that needed to go to the sales force, certain percentage to MSL, certain percentage to direct to consumer billboards, all that stuff. And all of those percentages are shifting right now. And I think just understanding what really is driving impact, Rebecca, is what they gotta focus on. If they can focus on those things, then the data will lead them to the right place. So I'll close out with kind of a more broad question. Sure. Looking towards the future Yeah. What's one bold prediction that you would make about, the future of farmer marketing? I think we're going to see that the broad sweeping spray and Perry stuff will will almost go away. And we're gonna see, especially after being here for the week, with all of the data that's available, people are going to be making much more data driven decisions and I think they'll have to. Right? We're gonna be accountable to investors and people that are these are public companies, and they're gonna wanna see that we're using our, you know, our spend in the most effective way. At OptimizeRx, you know, we've got a North Star of rule of forty, becoming a rule of forty business. And, and we've got some pretty good growth going on right now and and, you know, that the the market is responding positively to our, you know, our strategy. And I think other businesses are doing the same thing. So it's just being a better steward over the funds that we have and making sure that we're using them to maximize the shareholder value. And, you know, those are good for patients too. Like, doing the right thing for shareholders can also be doing the right thing for patients. And so they're not mutually exclusive. Well, that's great. That feels like the perfect place to close out. Steve, thank you so much for joining me today. It's really a pleasure to see you again.