Introduction
An effective way of demonstrating the value of your new treatment is to show how it is different and more effective than other existing therapies or devices.
But when doing so, you need to make sure that any comparisons you make are fair, truthful, and accurate. Even in countries like the US where direct pharma advertising to patients is allowed any claims made need to be accurate, and you need to avoid making disparaging comments about competitors’ treatments.
This becomes even more important in most countries where pharma advertising to patients is not permitted. So, chances are you will be raising awareness of the effectiveness of your new therapy or device to healthcare audiences through non-promotional and educational materials such as case studies and white papers.
In this case, you want to avoid promoting your therapy, but at the same time, highlight its superiority over existing treatments. So any comparisons you make need to be presented objectively and backed up by evidence.
This is by no means an easy task so I am going to talk you through some basic principles on how you can compare your ground-breaking health innovation with current therapies without being salesy.
Setting the scene and describing existing treatments
The first thing you need to include is a background on the problem or challenge that your new therapy or device is trying to solve. For example, no current treatment for a genetic eye disease, or lack of adherence to medication among patients with diabetes.
Then move on to discuss existing treatments and solutions out there, including how they work, and briefly mention how they benefit patients. By doing so, you demonstrate that you’re willing to show the positives as well as the negatives, and provide a balanced view, which helps you gain credibility.
Once you have done this, list the disadvantages and challenges of existing treatments. Examples of challenges include:
–Limited efficacy – i.e. existing therapies don’t tackle the underlying cause of the illness, or they don’t sufficiently relieve symptoms
–Little or no improvement in survival rates
–Side effects – both short-term and long-term. You can also compare side effects of different methods of drug delivery. For example, a drug in tablet form may cause more side effects than treatment delivered in another way, such as an oral spray
–Availability and cost – costs of existing interventions to the healthcare system
–Inconvenience or onerous treatment regimens – for example, having to take multiple tablets a day, which could lead to poor adherence
What makes your treatment different?
Once you have highlighted the disadvantages of current treatments, you can describe the different ways your treatment is superior to existing therapies. For example:
–Greater efficacy – targets symptoms more effectively, or addresses the underlying causes of the disease
–Improved survival rates
–Fewer side effects
–Lower cost
–Lower dosing – one tablet as opposed to 3 tablets a day
–Innovation – for example, one-off gene therapy that is potentially curative as opposed to existing interventions that are taken in the long-term and only manage the condition
Remember data and evidence
As you describe the advantages of your innovative therapy or device, compared to existing treatments, it is important that you back this up with data and evidence. So, you need to include:
–Details of clinical trial results – including randomised control trials (RCTs), and the methods, protocols and endpoints used.
–Measurable outcomes including reduction in symptoms, response rates, survival rates, progression-free survival, and patient-reported outcomes
–Visual aids – make use of bar charts, pie charts, visual abstracts, and infographics that sum up comparisons in a digestible form
–Case studies and real-world evidence – present patient testimonials and real-world data that shows the new treatment’s superiority in normal clinical practice
–Ensure compliance – make sure any data or evidence you present is objective and meets regulatory standards. Also, don’t just include positive results, disclose information on your new therapy’s limitations and side effects to ensure a balanced account
Benefits of treatment
It is also a good idea to frame comparisons in terms of how various healthcare stakeholders would benefit from the new therapy. For example:
–Patients want to know how your new treatment improves their quality of life in terms of physical and mental well-being and their ability to take part in normal day-to-day activities, compared to current treatments.
–Payers look at how the new therapy helps them to lower hospital admissions, achieve savings, and minimise the need for additional treatments. They also look at the therapy’s wider societal impact in terms of allowing people to go back to work and become economically active again and reducing the burden on caregivers
–Healthcare providers expect to see evidence how your new therapy makes their lives easier. For example, how does the therapy or device make it easier for them to treat and monitor patients throughout the care process. it is also useful to provide them with any guidelines on the storage, administration, and disposal of the drug.
Call to action
Whether you advertise directly, or educate people about your new therapy in non-promotional materials, you need to show your audience that you’re willing to provide as much help as possible, So, encourage patients, physicians, and payers to follow up and learn more about your new therapy. This can be done by:
- providing links to detailed, objective research papers that provide full clinical trial results, or webinars, or:
- Provide contact information to encourage readers to get in touch with sales reps, clinical support teams, and product specialists
By following these principles, you will create a persuasive case for your new therapy or device in relation to current treatments, supported by evidence, while avoiding being overly promotional.