Originally published in PM360 magazine as a highlight for ConnectiveRx's PM360 Trailblazer Initiative GOLD Award for Persistence/Adherence Program.
BMS/Pfizer and ConnectiveRx
Over the past six years, Nyota Wright has held increasingly complex roles leading brand strategy, global commercial planning, and channel strategy for BMS/Pfizer’s medication, ELIQUIS. As a strategist, she deftly looks to the future for opportunities to address potential areas of need. She and her colleagues understand that while ELIQUIS has been available for over a decade, the importance of patients filling their newly prescribed prescriptions remains a key priority; and they are aware that having a position as a DOAC (direct oral anticoagulant) market leader may not always be the product’s market position.
While the product had achieved market leadership largely without utilizing a commercial solutions partner, the team set out to build a program to support patients at the start of therapy, which can be a key decision point in the treatment journey of diagnosed patients. Along with Nathan Yeager and in partnership with ConnectiveRx, the team designed a program to reach patients once they were prescribed a treatment to help support them from the very start of therapy.
Using the combined insights of what BMS/Pfizer knew of its patient base, therapeutic category, and potential barriers to adherence, the team designed a program to provide first fill encouragement to patients, informing them of ELIQUIS access and resources that offered added support for eligible patients.
Since its inception, the team has seen the expected improvements related to their goals. The program was observed to quantifiably improve patient first fill rates for ELIQUIS. Nyota and the ELIQUIS team exemplify a commitment to helping patients navigate potential hurdles to treatment.