Advanced Competitive Benchmarking Techniques in the Biopharma Industry

How to Conduct Advanced Competitive Benchmarking in the Biopharma Industry

In the fiercely competitive landscape of the biopharmaceutical industry, staying ahead requires not just innovation but also a keen understanding of the competitive environment. Competitive benchmarking is a strategic tool that allows companies to measure their performance against industry peers. By identifying strengths and areas for improvement, biopharma companies can make informed decisions to enhance their market position. In this blog, we will explore advanced techniques for competitive benchmarking in the biopharma sector.

Understanding Competitive Benchmarking

Competitive benchmarking involves comparing your company’s performance metrics against those of your competitors. This comparison can cover various areas, such as R&D expenditures, time-to-market for new drugs, pricing strategies, and clinical trial outcomes – the possibilities are endless and practically, comparison can cover most areas and metrics. By establishing benchmarks, companies can identify best practices and set realistic improvement and performance goals.

Some Examples Metrics for Benchmarking

• Clinical Trial Outcomes
  Examining competitors’ clinical trial success rates and timelines establishes benchmarks for your own trials.
• Field Force Usage
  Estimates resources (e.g., sales teams, MSLs, KAMs, etc) deployed by competitors to support their brands.
• Time-to-Market
  Speed is crucial in biopharma. Benchmarking competitors’ timelines for bringing new drugs to market highlights areas for improvement in development capabilities.
• R&D Trends
  Analyzing how much competitors invest in R&D provides insights into their innovation capabilities and future product pipelines.
• Pricing Strategies
  Understanding competitors’ pricing models helps position your products more competitively.
• Financial Metrics
  A plethora of metrics could be used covering balance sheet, P&L metrics and cash-flow metrics depending on the needs. The cost of goods sold, aka COGS intelligence, is often sought in the pharma sector.

Advanced Techniques for Competitive Benchmarking

1. Data Analytics and AI

Definition: Data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) transform raw data into actionable insights, enabling companies to benchmark competitors with unprecedented speed and precision.

How It Works:
✔️ Predictive Analytics: Use machine learning models to forecast competitors’ moves, such as pipeline prioritization or regulatory submissions.
✔️ Real-Time Monitoring: Deploy AI tools to track competitors’ clinical trial updates, patent filings, and pricing changes.
✔️ Sentiment Analysis: Analyze stakeholder sentiment (investors, physicians and other relevant stakeholders) from sources such as earnings calls, social media, or medical conferences to gauge market perception.

Example:

Company A uses AI to identify that Competitor B is accelerating Phase III trials for a rival oncology drug. Predictive models suggest Competitor B’s drug will launch 6 months earlier than anticipated.

Benefits:

• Identifies hidden patterns (e.g., early launch).
• Enables proactive strategy adjustments.

Illustration:

• Clinical Trial Recruitment Rate:
  Your company achieves a 70% recruitment rate for clinical trials, while Competitor B reaches 85%. AI-driven analysis reveals that Competitor B’s superior performance is tied to their adoption of decentralized trials, which streamline patient enrollment by leveraging virtual tools and remote monitoring.
• Pipeline Diversity:
  Your company maintains a broad focus across 8 therapeutic areas, whereas Competitor B operates in just 3. This narrower scope indicates Competitor B is strategically focussing its resources on their few disease areas, potentially enhancing their agility and depth in core therapeutic areas.

2. Pure-Play Analog Benchmarking

Definition: Compare your performance to a single, niche-focused leader (“pure-play” firm) excelling in a specific area, such as ADC development or rare disease therapeutics.

How It Works:
✔️ Identify a Pure-Play Leader: Select a specialized competitor (e.g., Company A for ADCs or Company B for rare disease therapies).
✔️ Analyze Key Metrics: Focus on their R&D efficiency, trial success rates, or regulatory submissions.
✔️ Extract Best Practices: Learn how they optimize processes (e.g., patient recruitment in rare diseases).

Example:

A company developing CAR-T therapies could benchmark against Company C (a pure-play cell therapy firm) to refine manufacturing scalability.

Benefits:

• Uncovers niche-specific efficiencies overlooked by diversified competitors.

Illustration:

• Preclinical Phase Duration:
  Your company’s preclinical phase spans 18 months, while the pure-play competitor completes this stage in 12 months. This disparity suggests the competitor employs streamlined research processes, such as adaptive trial designs or prioritized target validation, to accelerate early-stage development.
• Phase I Success Rate:
  Your company achieves a 65% success rate in Phase I trials, compared to the pure-play competitor’s 85%. This gap highlights the competitor’s potential advantages in trial design (e.g., patient selection from hot spots trial centers).
• FDA Approval Timeline:
  Your company secures FDA approvals in 10 months, whereas the pure-play competitor achieves this in 7 months. This efficiency likely stems from the competitor’s expertise in navigating regulatory pathways, such as leveraging priority review designations or pre-submission consultations with regulators.

3. Cross-Industry Comparisons

Definition: Benchmarking against companies in unrelated industries to uncover innovative practices applicable to biopharma.

How It Works:
✔️ Select an Industry: Choose sectors known for efficiency (e.g., tech, aerospace).
✔️ Identify Transferable Strategies: Adapt processes like agile workflows or predictive maintenance.

Benefits:

• Proven Efficiency: Leverage strategies already validated in other sectors.
• Innovation Injection: Break free from industry-specific blind spots by adopting external best practices.

Example:

Company C adopts supply chain optimization techniques from the automotive industry (Company D), reducing raw material lead times by 30%.

Illustration:

• Slow Patient Recruitment:
  Biopharma companies struggling with slow clinical trial enrollment can adopt AI-based matching algorithms inspired by the e-commerce sector. Just as online retailers use AI to pair products with customer preferences, these algorithms analyze patient data (e.g., demographics, medical history) to identify and recruit ideal candidates for trials, accelerating enrollment timelines.
• High Manufacturing Costs:
  To tackle rising production expenses, biopharma firms can implement predictive maintenance systems borrowed from the aerospace industry. Aerospace companies use these systems to monitor equipment health in real-time, preventing costly downtime. Applied to biopharma manufacturing, predictive maintenance reduces unexpected machine failures, optimizes maintenance schedules, and cuts operational costs.

4. Scenario Analysis

Definition: Modeling hypothetical market conditions to predict competitor behavior and test strategic resilience.

How It Works:
✔️ Define Variables: Identify critical uncertainties (e.g., regulatory changes, patent cliffs).
✔️ Build Scenarios: Create plausible futures (e.g., “Strict FDA Oversight” or “Generic Drug Surge”).

Example:

Company E models a scenario where Competitor F launches a biosimilar for its blockbuster drug. Simulations reveal Competitor F’s likely pricing strategy, enabling Company E to preemptively negotiate payer contracts.

Benefits:

• Anticipate Competitor Moves: Stay ahead by modeling reactions to competitors’ actions.
• Build Resilience: Develop agile strategies (e.g., diversified suppliers, regulatory agility) to mitigate risks and seize opportunities.
• Prepares for black-swan events (e.g., pandemics, supply chain disruptions).

Illustration:

New FDA Expedited Pathway

• Competitor Reaction: Competitor G rapidly accelerates Phase II trials to capitalize on the streamlined regulatory process.
• Your Response: Prioritize securing orphan drug designations for therapies targeting rare diseases. These designations align with the FDA’s expedited pathway, granting faster approvals and market exclusivity, enabling you to outpace Competitor G.

Raw Material Shortage

• Competitor Reaction: Competitor H stockpiles inventory to insulate itself from supply chain disruptions.
• Your Response: Diversify your supplier network to reduce reliance on single-source materials. Partner with regional suppliers or explore alternative raw material sources to maintain production continuity and avoid bottlenecks.

Implementing a Competitive Benchmarking Strategy

✔️ Define Objectives: Align benchmarking goals with strategic priorities (e.g., reducing time-to-market by 20%).
✔️ Select Competitors: Include pure-play leaders, direct rivals, and cross-industry innovators.
✔️ Gather Data: Use sources like ClinicalTrials.gov, earnings calls, and other competitive intelligence sources.
✔️ Analyze and Act: Translate insights into action—e.g., adopt a competitor’s patient retention strategy for trials.

Conclusion

Advanced competitive benchmarking is essential for strategic planning for the biopharma companies seeking competitive advantage. By blending techniques like pure-play analog benchmarking, AI-driven analytics, and cross-industry comparisons, companies can decode competitors’ strengths and refine their own strategies.

BiopharmaVantage specializes in providing premium quality competitive intelligence services and wider decision-making services to pharma, biotech and diagnostics companies. If you would like to explore how we can assist you, please contact us.