Healthy Skepticism Library item: 12011

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Publication type: news

Thought Leader Compensation on the Rise at Small Pharmas and Biotechs
PRNewswire 2006 Dec 13
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/12-13-2006/0004490415&EDATE=

Full text:

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Dec. 13 /PRNewswire/ — Small pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are raising thought leader compensation levels to compete with larger corporations in the highly competitive opinion leader market, according to a new study from Cutting Edge Information (http://www.PharmaOpinionLeaders.com).

The study, “Pharmaceutical Thought Leaders 2007: Determining Fair-Market Value and Measuring Performance,” finds that small pharmaceutical companies pay an average of $722 per hour to top-tier
thought leaders – almost $200 more than the average large company.

Furthermore, biotech firms are paying an average $1,306 to key influencers.

But these average figures only tell part of the story; many small pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms are paying thought leaders upwards of $7,000 for a day’s worth of consulting work.

“Thought leader services are an expensive, competitive and highly lucrative investment for pharmaceutical companies,” said Elio Evangelista, senior research analyst for Cutting Edge Information. “It’s no surprise to see smaller companies with less name recognition forking over two and three times as much money as a typical large company to get key opinion leaders’ attention.”

Cutting Edge Information’s study examined more than 400 data sets of pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies’ compensation benchmarks to determine average fair-market value data for thought leader services. In addition to the hourly base rates included in the report, analysts found that, on average, small pharmaceutical companies pay top-level thought leaders $2,875 for delivering a promotional speech, $1,929 for participating in an advisory board and $1,800 for authoring a medical publication.

“Pharmaceutical Thought Leaders 2007: Determining Fair-Market Value and Measuring Performance” is available at http://www.PharmaOpinionLeaders.com, is the most comprehensive study detailing fair-market value benchmarks and thought leader segmentation criteria. Aside from in-depth metrics, the
report also provides solutions to the top challenges faced by thought leader management teams, including: * Performance measurement * MSL staffing per thought leader * Structuring compliant thought leader management teams * Identifying and recruiting opinion leader candidates * Effective tools for KOL management

To view a summary of this report, visit http://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/pharmaopinionleaders/index.htm#body . For more information or to learn about other Cutting Edge Information research, contact Elio Evangelista at elio_evangelista@cuttingedgeinfo.com or 1-919-433-0214.