GfK Market Measures to Focus New Research Unit Exclusively on Oncology.

Oncology Marketing Research Expert Bill Bowman to Spearhead Efforts Targeted at Meeting the Industry's Growing Needs for Information and Insight in This Complex Category

EAST HANOVER, N.J. -- In response to the pharmaceutical industry's increasing need for marketing research information and insight to support decision-making in the rapidly growing product category of oncology, GfK Market Measures has established a dedicated business unit and appointed a senior industry expert in oncology, Bill Bowman, J.D., to lead the company's strategic efforts in this area of research.

In his new role as vice president of oncology at GfK Market Measures, Bowman, who has more than 15 years of oncology experience, will be responsible for developing syndicated products for oncology and serve as a key in-house resource for custom marketing research studies involving cancer therapies. GfK Market Measures, which for 40 years has provided similar syndicated therapeutic class studies across more than 40 disease states for purposes of market assessment, aims to provide pharmaceutical marketers in oncology a unique perspective through the products and services offered by its new business unit.

"This market is growing exponentially, due to major breakthroughs in understanding the molecular biology of cancer tumor types, which have resulted in an influx of targeted therapies including recent oral agents. With so many products on the market and a burgeoning number of products in development, pharmaceutical companies are challenged with the task of understanding complex market dynamics, including keeping up with the dramatically changing landscape of treatment paradigms for cancer that have evolved in such a short period of time," said Bowman.

"While there are a number of secondary data resources specific to oncology and also some syndicated reports that provide a broad overview of this expansive category, there is no product available to pharmaceutical marketers that provides data on treatment patterns combined with in-depth analysis," said Bowman. "Clients must understand not only the science behind treatment regimens, but critically, how oncology patients are responding to them and this is the void GfK Market Measures hopes to fill in supporting this important area of disease management."

The syndicated oncology products GfK Market Measures will develop will complement existing qualitative and quantitative custom research expertise in the area of oncology within the GfK U.S. Healthcare Companies, which collectively conduct almost $15 million annually in marketing research focused exclusively in this disease category.

In his 25-year career in the pharmaceutical industry, Bowman has been a marketing researcher, product manager and sales representative with several major pharmaceutical manufacturers and supply-side firms. Prior to joining GfK Market Measures, Bowman most recently served as an independent marketing research consultant working in partnership with oncology product teams for several of the industry's most successful cancer therapies. He has worked extensively with both qualitative and quantitative methodologies and has moderated hundreds of interviews with physicians and ancillary healthcare personnel involved in the management of cancer patients. In addition, Bowman is well versed in the various secondary audit sources commonly used within the industry to measure the use of oncologic products.

About GfK Market Measures

GfK Market Measures provides healthcare clients with a unique mix of custom and syndicated solutions to support the full marketing continuum, including market assessment, brand tracking, sales force effectiveness, healthcare consumer and product launch applications. GfK Market Measures is a proud member of the GfK U.S. Healthcare Companies, the largest provider of custom healthcare marketing research services in the United States. For further information please visit www.gfkmarketmeasures.com.