PHarmaTalks: "Building visualizations to uncover insights in clinical trial and pipeline data: a COVID-19 vaccine case study"

By Matt Eberle, Lead Developer, Analytics and Custom Solutions, & Diane Webb, President and Co-Founder of BizInt Solutions, Inc.

Date and Time

Day                 Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Time                2:00 pm EDT (11:00 am PT)

Duration          60 minutes

Location          Webinar

About this Event

Interested in learning how clinical trial and drug pipeline visualizations can offer insights into the drug development landscape?  Join Diane Webb and Matt Eberle for a discussion of techniques used and lessons learned from a project to track COVID-19 vaccine progress starting in the summer of 2020.   We will discuss how trial timeline and bullseye visualizations were created and then updated bi-weekly, and how "real-world" developments were incorporated in the fall.  We will discuss the differences in using clinical trial and pipeline data, search strategies, and the different ways that pipeline databases indexed phase, technology and company information for COVID-19 vaccines.  The presentation will conclude with lessons learned and recommendations for building visualizations and dashboards.

Key Takeaways:

1. Types of visualizations useful for displaying drug landscapes using clinical trial and drug pipeline data.
2. What to consider at the beginning of your visualization/dashboard project, and revisiting your decisions over time.
3. How the treatment of COVID-19 vaccines in clinical trial and drug pipeline databases evolved during the pandemic.

Speakers

Matt Eberle, Lead Developer, Analytics and Custom Solutions, BizInt Solutions, Inc.

Following over ten years of experience at Wyeth, Pfizer and Sunovion as a Senior Information Scientist and Pharmaceutical Information Analyst, since 2013 Matt has helped BizInt customers use the BizInt Smart Charts and VantagePoint tools to create new solutions to address their challenges and problems.  Matt lives outside Boston, MA.

 
Diane Webb, President and Co-Founder, BizInt Solutions, Inc.

Diane has over 30 years of experience managing the development of software tools to analyze and present competitive intelligence information, with a focus on drug pipeline, clinical trial and patent data. In 1996 Diane and John Willmore started BizInt Solutions to develop and market the BizInt Smart Charts product family. Diane & John live near Seattle, WA, with their current pack of four longhaired dachshunds.

Presented by

Pharmaceutical & Health Technology Community

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PHarma Talk: THE US PHARMACEUTICAL MARKET: TRENDS, ISSUES, AND OUTLOOK

Wed, November 11th, 2020

The Pharmaceutical & Health Technology Community's webinar series kicked off on November 11, 2020 with a keynote presentation from Doug Long of IQVIA.

As anyone who has previously attended a talk given by Doug Long would know, a LOT of territory was covered within 60 minutes in the first of the PHarma Talks series.  US Pharmaceutical Trends, Issues and Outlook covered both the impact on the industry within the first 100 days of the COVID-19 pandemic, plus some views on the lasting trends that we may see in 2021 and beyond.  As the Vice President, Industry Relations at IQVIA, Doug (pictured) always brings considerable insight and abundant data to his talks and is therefore difficult to summarize in full.  One main theme that emerged however was how COVID-19 has ramped up the use of digital technologies in a variety of points in the healthcare landscape: R&D clinical trials – remote monitoring, digitization of study procedures, digital engagement with patients Pharmaceutical sales – remote detailing and virtual meetings/conferences Healthcare provision – telehealth, remote monitoring, digital therapeutics

R&D Clinical Trials

Though digital enabled changes had already started to be seen in clinical trials, COVID-19 has sped up the process.  This includes the further evolution of remote patient data collection including ePRO (electronic patient-reported outcomes), spirometry, ocular exams, ECGs, glucose monitoring and oximetry.   There has also been an increase in the use of digital communication to keep patients informed and engaged.  Both of these trends reduce the burden on the patient and may therefore increase retention.  And it seems quite likely that these changes have come to stay.

Pharmaceutical Sales

To dive deeper into the changes to pharmaceutical sales, consider that there has been a 500% increase in remote detailing, though 25% of pharma are still not satisfied the quality of remote detailing – gaps remain in coupon, sampling and patient education.  Though in-person engagements have crept back up from the crash of Mar/Apr, as of June it was still only 30% of baseline.  Currently the limitations on in-person detailing are still largely in place and so pharma must continue to "make-do" with remote offerings.  But it will be interesting to see how this trend will continue in the future.  The expectation is there will be a return to some in-person promotions as they can be more effective – note the gaps mentioned previously. But pharmas are likely to also want to continue with the cheaper, more efficient remote approach.  There will be struggle as pharmas try to find the right balance.

Healthcare Provision

Looking at healthcare provision, telehealth is the big trend here – basically non-existent at the beginning of the year, it jumped significantly once COVID-19 hit and has remained steady since then.  The change to reimburse at the same rate for a telehealth visit as for an in-person visit helped foster rise along with the waiving of cost sharing and the expansion of approved technologies.  Telehealth has continued at the same rate, including through the summer months where some areas saw an improved situation.  The continuation of the trend would seem to be a given, but there are factors that might drive it back down such as patient demographics – older and/or poorer patients don't necessarily have the equipment or skill to make telehealth effectual.

Another trend Doug noted that might tie in with the remote detailing and increase in telehealth is a decrease in the prescribing of new drugs.  IQVIA data shows the extent of the effect varies by specialty, with a 17% drop in New to Brand prescriptions by Allergists, all the way up to a 44% drop by Endocrinologists.  New to Therapy patients show the same trends.  The potential drivers are many: the switch to remote detailing; the increase of telehealth visits; fewer new patients; and/or lack of diagnostics.  Which of these is the main driver?  Time will (perhaps) tell.

These are just a few of the topics mentioned in Doug's talk – there was also threats to supply chain, changes to payer mix, growth of specialty drugs outpacing traditional, and more.    There was undoubtedly something (if not multiple things) that provided food for thought for all 73 attendees of the webinar.  It can be easily recommend that you keep an eye out for future talks by Doug – he will be invited back!

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