Most drugs are sold through sales forces called “detail men” who visit doctors with samples and seek to persuade them that their new drug is a good bet for patients.
Now Bayer is going directly to consumers with a program dubbed BETAPLUS, which combines discounts with an iPhone app.
The program is built around Betaseron, an interferon drug for multiple schlerosis. Bayer is willing to pay for a month’s supply of the drug, including co-pays at the end of a year.
The key to success in any drug regimen is compliance. That’s where myBETAapp comes in. It’s a free iPhone app reminds people to take their injections, and tracks them. The electronic diary can then be shared with caregivers.
The Betaseron Web site (above) features a revolving image featuring a nurse who is on-call to patients, a peer mentor who also has the disease, and an “access specialist” who works through the paperwork. There are doctors in the image, but they’re not the center of the pitch.
The result is a new kind of go-to-market strategy for drugs of this type. MS is a terrible disease, so the traditional route is to either go through doctors who specialize in it or to do mass market advertising.
Instead, Bayer is combining Internet and Apple technology to build a social network supporting patients, betting that this and the discounts will get them to put their lives in its hands.
If this can work on Bayer’s bottom line expect other drug companies to follow suit.
