opportunity
In August of 2003, Elan Pharmaceuticals was gearing up to launch the first in a new class of pain relievers; a non-opioid analgesic—PRIALT. Derived from the venom of a marine sea snail, PRIALT represents a major innovation in biopharmaceuticals, offering people with severe chronic pain an alternative to morphine.

Yet, even landmark advancements like PRIALT face big marketing challenges.

1. Displacing morphine, the standard of care since the Civil War, was no easy task.
2. Doctors were attracted to PRIALT's ability to diminish pain and eliminate the burden of side effects from morphine, but they were hesitant to try new therapies with patients in extreme suffering.
3. A previous clinical trial had fostered a reputation that PRIALT was difficult to administer and dose—leading physicians to express reservations about the drug, despite élan's corrective changes to the dosing recommendations.
4. The global base of élan employees was not aware of the PRIALT brand and its market potential. We needed to create excitement for the launch so that the launch team had the support required to succeed.

idea
With these challenges in mind, we recognized that élan's phase 3 clinical trial program—ZEST— was an important opportunity to shape perceptions of key opinion leaders. Rather than look at ZEST as a series of pragmatic, tactical communications, we saw ZEST as a brand experience that could pre-position the brand. Our philosophy was to ingrain PRIALT in the mind of the pain management community early to engender later adoption upon commercialization. ZEST could serve as the precursor to smooth market entry.

Our design approach throughout the ZEST and PRIALT campaigns leveraged the drug’s oceanic origins, weaving an appealing, positive story by using the scientific basis itself to differentiate the brand from all other pain management therapies. This strategy allowed us to seamlessly segue from trial to launch, bringing PRIALT’s strengths forward at every level of care for the chronic pain management community.

execution
First, we created a ZEST brand identity, and then applied it at every touchpoint to cultivate a positive experience through:

• day-to-day trial administration
• patient education
• investigator meetings
• conferences

Simultaneously, we developed an internal communication campaign to report ZEST’s progress and educate élan employees about the drug and market opportunity via:

• events
• direct marketing
• educational materials

When PRIALT was approved, we changed focus to create an intensive education campaign, inspiring a diverse group of people—including sales teams, patients, nurses and physicians—to get involved with PRIALT. This was achieved through the following:

• PRIALT.com, including information for patients and healthcare professionals
• trade shows
• medical education materials
• sales training tools
• sales and promotion collateral

influence
Phase 1 of commercialization has surpassed our goals:

• The first marketing effort of its kind at élan, the ZEST clinical trial branding campaign was an unprecedented success for the company.
• PRIALT's reputation was strong going into the launch, and the effort helped assure adoption with those investigating physicians.
• PRIALT has steadily gained converts.
• The internal communications program is credited with energizing a broad employee base. In fact, we are now applying several of the most effective tactics to physician education efforts.

Now embarking on Phase 2, we aim to widen the audience beyond key opinion leaders to the larger population of doctors and the patients they serve.

Loomis Group is proud to be a part of bringing this vital therapy to to a wider audience.