Excellence in Communications via Meetings

Summary of work

In 2014, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Europe were preparing to launch their first product, a new antipsychotic called Latuda® (lurasidone) into a cost-sensitive market of well-established brands and increasing generic pressure. The company identified improving psychopharmacology education and product differentiation as key drivers towards the successful establishment of Latuda as a serious option for prescribers in the UK. A series of 11 meetings across the UK over 2014-2015 were held to train senior psychiatrists in the pharmacology of antipsychotics, treatment guidelines, switching protocols, and finally the pharmacological properties, efficacy and real-world experience of lurasidone. With the assistance of a world-leading expert in the field, Professor Stephen Stahl (University of California), 11 full-day educational meetings were held with the aim of a 70% increase in ‘Knowledge Gain’ for participants. In reality, the meetings achieved an average 80% increase in Knowledge Gain for each meeting over the 2 years. As the reputation of the meetings spread through the psychiatry community, 1,275 psychiatrists and mental health pharmacists attended the seminars. Based on the high educational quality of the programme, Sunovion forged close links with important psychiatry bodies including the Institute of Psychiatry, the British Association of Psychopharmacology and the College of Mental Health Pharmacists.

Judges' comments

A worthy finalist. This was a clever programme and a nice challenge for a company just entering the market. We saw a strong strategy, informed by market research and they set ambitious targets in aiming to reach one-third of senior psychiatrists in the UK in just over a year. Co-hosting gave the meetings cachet and led to good attendance. A great job in a difficult area.