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Strategic Benchmarking Research & Analysis

Benchmarking Advisory Board Management At Small

Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Organizations

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary pgs. 3-8

Research Overview pg. 3

Participating Companies pg. 4

Key Recommendations pg. 5

Segments and Abbreviations pg. 6

Key Findings & Insights pgs. 7-14

Structure Of Advisory Boards pgs. 15-23

Selection of Advisory Board Participants pgs. 24-32

Operations Of Advisory Boards pgs. 33-46

Cost Of Advisory Boards pgs. 47-53

Challenges & Best Practices pgs. 54-60

Benchmark Profile pgs. 61-64

About Best Practices, LLC pg. 65-66

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Field Research & Insight Development:

Thirty-five survey responses from Medical Affairs,

Marketing and Patient Advocacy leaders at 29

biopharmaceutical & Medical Device companies. This

reports provides segmentation and insights from a

mid-sized company perspective.

Additional deep-dive interviews with 7 selected

executives who participated in the study.

• Identify Critical Benchmarks

for advisory boards

Operations

• Provide Cost Benchmarks for

Running advisory boards

Research Objectives & Methodology

Research Objectives:

Best Structure for Different Types of Advisory Boards

Selection of Advisory Board Participants

Benchmarking Operations Of Advisory Boards

Cost Of Advisory Boards

Top Challenges & Best Practices Of Conducting Advisory Boards

Business Objective:

A well-run advisory board requires optimum investment in resources and operations. To maximize the return on investment, life

science professionals must ensure the quality of meetings and the dialogue that occurs with the advisory board. This research

can help pharmaceutical and medical device executives to best run and organize advisory boards.

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Universe of Learning: Research Participants from Study

This study engaged 35 executives from 29 leading life sciences companies. Segmentation analysis was key to examining trends

and effective practices. Twelve participants from 12 companies with annual revenues less than $1 Billion USD comprise the

Small Companies Segment (SC). Most responses came from the United States and Canada (63%) followed by Asia (20%).

Benchmark Class

Small Companies Segment

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Segments and Abbreviations

Segments:

• TBC: Total Benchmark Class

• Small Companies Segment (SC): SC is defined as companies with < $1 billion annual revenue.

Abbreviations:

• Advisory Boards: Advisory Boards

• TBC: Total Benchmark Class

• SC: Small Companies

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Achieving Success At Advisory Boards Is A Function Of 7 Critical Steps

Set Clear

Objectives

Target Right

Participants

Keep Communication Flowing

To Advisory Board Members

Target Right Participants

Track Payments To Ensure

Compliance

Decide Meeting Frequency & Duration

Share Results

Align Advisory Board

Responsibility To A Function

Set Clear Objectives

Best Practices for

Effective Advisory

Boards

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Key Findings and Insights

Physician and Clinical Advisory Boards Most Common: Six out of 10 total benchmark maintain

physician and clinical advisory boards.

Segments: Two-thirds of the small companies have physician advisory boards currently present

while half of them have clinical advisory boards. A little less than 50% of small companies are

hosting marketing advisory boards.

Many Companies Do Not Use Payer Advisory Boards: Payer advisory boards are relatively new and

only 29% of total benchmark currently use them. With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the

importance of payer advisory boards will increase over time.

Segments: Only 17% of small companies have payer advisory boards, indicating that they are

still in nascent stages in this segment.

Number of Participants Range From 9-11 Across Different Advisory Boards: Payer and clinical

advisory boards average around 9 participants while marketing advisory board participants’ average at 11

and physician advisory boards at 10.

Segment: Similar to the total benchmark, small companies have average, of 9, 11 and 10

participants across clinical, marketing and physician advisory boards. However, average

participant counts for benchmark companies and small companies vary slightly for payer

advisory boards.

Top Challenges: The top three challenges that study participants face when conducting advisory board

meetings are selecting members/location(45%), managing advisory boards (36%), and physician

availability (36%).

The following key findings and insights emerged from this study.

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8%

17%

42%

50%

67%

20%

29%

49%

60%

60%

Others

Payer AdvisoryBoard

Marketing AdvisoryBoard

Clinical AdvisoryBoard

Physician AdvisoryBoard

Total Benchmark Class Small-cap Companies

Q. Please indicate the advisory board(s) that currently has a presence in you organization.

Compared to 60% of total benchmark, 67% of small companies have physician advisory boards, while half currently support

clinical advisory boards. Compared to the total benchmark, marketing and payer advisory boards are less common at small

companies.

Small Companies Largely Host Physician and Clinical Advisory Boards

% Respondents

N=12

Others: Patient, Scientific Advisory

Board

Area Of Advisory Board

N=35

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Q. Please provide the number of participants present in your advisory board.

On average, both total benchmark and small companies have similar number of participants across clinical, marketing and

physician advisory boards. However, the number of participants for payer advisory boards is less at small companies.

Number Of Advisory Board Participants At Total Benchmark Class and

Small Companies Match

N=11-22

9.2

11.2

9.4

10.2

8.8

10.9

8.2

9.9

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

Clinical Advisory Board Marketing AdvisoryBoard

Payer Advisory Board Physician AdvisoryBoard

Average Number Of Participants in Each Segment

Total Benchmark Class Small-Cap Companies

N=3-7

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Interview participants reported that the size varies according to a number of factors beginning with the

key purpose, regional focus and the level of clinical / scientific expertise required for the advisory board.

Factors Influencing Number of Advisory Board Participants

Factors

Influencing

Advisory

Board

Structures

National

KOLs vs

Regional

KOLs

Advisory

Board

Purpose

Therapeutic

Area

Clinical Trial

Experience

Geography

Need for

Scientific

Expertise

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Q, Please indicate the preferred reach of advisory board members.

N=11-23

Companies continue to seek out national participants or create advisory boards with a national reach, as opposed to a regional

reach. That said, regional participants can be important for both physician and payer advisory boards as companies will explore

regional regulations and differences that can influence how a drug is presented in a specific geography

National Participants and Reach Favored for Most Advisory Boards

% Respondents

Reach of Participants

Total Benchmark

Class 86%

47%64%

52%

5%

26%

36%

13%

9%

26% 35%

Clinical Advisory Board Marketing AdvisoryBoard

Payer Advisory Board Physician AdvisoryBoard

National Regional Both

Small-cap

Companies

N=5-886%

50%63% 63%

14%

33% 13% 13%

17% 25% 25%

Clinical Advisory Board Marketing AdvisoryBoard

Payer Advisory Board Physician AdvisoryBoard

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Q. Do you outsource any part of the advisory board work?

N=25

Fifty-two percent of benchmark participant outsource some part of advisory board work to vendors. Similarly, 55% of small

companies outsource advisory board related jobs to vendors.

Small Organizations and Total Benchmark Class Outsource Almost Same

Percentage of Advisory Board Work

% Respondents

Yes, 52%

No, 48%

Total Benchmark Class

Outsourcing

Yes, 55%

No, 45%

Small-cap Companies

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Q. What are the top three challenges you encountered when conducting advisory boards?N=22

Benchmark class members identified several challenges that they face while conducting advisory boards meetings. The top

three challenges are selecting members (45%), managing and planning advisory boards (36%) and physicians availability (36%).

Selecting Appropriate Members is Most Tricky

% Respondents

14%

14%

18%

23%

23%

27%

27%

36%

36%

45%

Regulatory Hurdles

Others

Fees

Scheduling

Ensuring Actionable Endpoints

Content

Getting Active Participation

Physcian's Avaliability

Moderating/Management/Planning

Selecting Members/Location

Top Challenges

Other Responses• How to keep a stable group of advisors

• Getting contracts back from Legal in a timely

manner

• Commercial involvement

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N=35

The vast majority of insights (approximately 63% ) in this benchmark study come from bio-pharma professionals serving the

United States market. Study insights were also contributed from bio-pharma leaders working in Asian, European, Middle East

and Australian markets.

Benchmark Research Captures Insights Mainly From US, Asia and Europe

% Respondents

US and

Canada: 63% Europe: 11%

Asia: 20%

Middle East:

3%

Australia:

3%

Q. Contact Information: Please provide the following information, which will be used for classification purposes and

to ensure that you receive your copy of the study deliverable.

Geography

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Q. Please indicate your industry. [Choose all that apply.]

Participation came from across various industries in each segments. Overall 71% of companies represented pharma industry

while around 20% were from bio-tech and medical devices each.

Insights Harvested from Organizations Representing Different Industries

% Respondents

N=35Others: Nutrition

Service provider

Industry

71%

23%

20%

9%

6%

77%

30%

67%

0%

0%

80%

20%

20%

10%

10%

58%

25%

25%

17%

8%

Pharmaceutical

Biotechnology

Medical Device

Diagnostic

Other

Total Benchmark Class Large Companies Mid-cap Companies Small Companies

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Best Practices®, LLC is an internationally recognized thought leader in the field of best practice

benchmarking®. We are a research, consulting, benchmark database, publishing and advisory firm that

conducts work based on the simple yet profound principle that organizations can chart a course to superior

economic performance by leveraging the best business practices, operating tactics and winning strategies of

world-class companies.

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