Building Pharmaceutical Blockbusters in a Crowded Market: Strategies, Budgets and Activities.

Business Editors

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 8, 2003

Top performing product launches demonstrate operational excellence in the critical management areas of product development, organizational development and market development. A study by pharmaceutical research firm Best Practices, LLC reveals how marketing executives at leading organizations manage resources, key marketing tactics and timely campaign activities to create blockbuster products ahead of pre-existing products.

"Building Pharmaceutical Blockbusters in Crowded Market," available at http://www3.best-in-class.com/rr108.htm, explores the tactics companies use to overtake sales of products already on the market. For example:

-- One company increased its marketing spending and promoted

increased efficacy in its third-to-market product to overtake

the previous two products.

-- A brand team at one benchmarked company developed a Market

Uptake Road Map prior to launch, which served as a central

document to focus the team's marketing efforts from 18 months

prior to launch to 24 months post-launch.

Drawn from primary research and exclusive executive interviews, "Building Pharmaceutical Blockbusters in Crowded Market" is a 100-slide report that analyzes dozens of blockbuster products from 14 companies. The presentation includes:

-- Tools for planning product strategy

-- U.S. and global marketing expenditures

-- Brand team and marketing team structures

-- Marketing activity benchmarks and timelines

This slide presentation serves as an excellent stand-alone presentation, as well as a valuable supplement to pharmaceutical reports "Best Practices in Global Pharmaceutical Launches" and "Launching Pharmaceutical Megabrands: Best Practices in Marketing Blockbusters," available at http://www3.best-in-class.com/rr14.htm and http://www3.best-in-class.com/rr2.htm .

"As economic conditions continue to place downward pressures on marketing budgets, companies managing blockbuster drugs need to ensure they gain the greatest efficiencies from their promotional spending," said Paul Meade, vice president at Best Practices, LLC. "Using these benchmarking metrics will help pharmaceutical companies optimize their expenditures on activities that deliver the greatest impact in the market."

Download a summary of "Building Pharmaceutical Blockbusters in Crowded Market" at http://www3.best-in-class.com/rr108.htm . For more information about this report or other benchmarking reports, contact David Burton at [phone] or at [e-mail].

ABOUT BEST PRACTICES, LLC

Best Practices, LLC is a research and consulting firm that conducts work based on the principle that organizations can chart a course to superior economic performance by studying the best business practices, operating tactics and winning strategies of world-class organizations. For more information, call 919-403-0251 or visit http://www.best-in-class.com.