Strategies for engaging, managing KOLs in the pharma industry

Defining KOLs

ExtendMed defines KOLs as “a relatively small group of HCP thought leaders within a given therapeutic area, who guide their peers in doing research, developing products, entering markets, and similar activities.”

While that has been the traditional definition of KOLs, as the pharmaceutical landscape has evolved, the types of people brought to the table by pharma companies have followed suit. For example, the evolution toward patient-centric care has fostered a broader umbrella of KOLs, which includes stakeholders beyond HCPs, such as patients, payers, care teams, and pharmacists.

The Role of KOLs

Before establishing strategies to engage KOLs, pharmaceutical companies must have a comprehensive understanding of the role of KOLs.

KOLs are consulted in multiple parts of the pharmaceutical company’s business activities, including clinical trial design and execution, broadening access to treatment, evaluating current markets and new goals, and developing commercialization strategies.

“‘KOL engagement’ should be more broadly defined to include other stakeholders, not just the people who are defining your clinical studies, but also the healthcare providers who are engaged from a care team perspective, the nursing community, pharmacists, and others. If you're dealing with a product that is infused, for example, there’s likely a whole group of infusion specialists who are stakeholders in the process. They’re aware of challenges and obstacles and can offer insights that will really help advance your product in the long run,” said Amy Ravi, ExtendMed CEO, in the company’s article.

The Impact of KOLs

Beyond understanding the part that KOLs play in the pharmaceutical business, companies must understand their importance. KOLs are trusted members and leaders in the healthcare industry, which offers them power, influence, and credibility.

Engaging KOLs can help guide a company’s business activities using valuable and diverse insights.

Challenges in KOL Engagement, Management

Despite the essential functions of KOLs in the pharmaceutical industry, many challenges are associated with KOL engagement. For example, the volume of work and scalability of engaging a diverse set of KOLs can be complex for many pharmaceutical companies. Good KOL engagement considers and caters to various viewpoints and perspectives, which can be challenging.

Another challenge is information sharing across the pharma teams. Once insight is gathered from KOLs, pharma companies must decide on the best way to use the data for guidance. However, some information silos and oversights within companies can present a barrier.

Determining engagement frequency, timing, and consistency can also be difficult for companies. With other ongoing business actions and tasks, knowing when and how often to engage with KOLs can be complicated and may depend on multiple factors, including the type of stakeholders and the form of engagement.

Finally, building trust between companies and KOLs can be a challenge. While each stakeholder, including the pharma companies, has their own goals, mutual trust between the companies and the KOLs they engage is critical to extract the most valuable insights that benefit all stakeholders.

Addressing these challenges involves developing comprehensive KOL engagement and management strategies. These strategies are essential for every step of the KOL engagement process, from identification to implementing feedback and insights.

Identifying KOLs

Before companies can even begin engaging with industry leaders, they must learn how to identify relevant KOLs. Pharma companies should identify KOLs with influence and expertise in the specific therapeutic or disease area related to their products. They can leverage resources like medical literature, conferences, and professional networks to identify KOLs actively engaged in research, publication, and teaching.

For example, Axtria Ingenious Insights notes seven strategies for identifying KOLs:

• Literature reviews
• Longitudinal claims data
• Clinical trials data
• Open payments data
• Social media data
• Focus groups or surveys
• Affiliations data

By searching through these kinds of data, pharmaceutical companies can identify individuals at the top of their field in a specific disease area or healthcare sector. They may also be able to identify advocates, patients, and more stakeholders.

Understanding KOLs’ Needs, Goals

In addition to understanding their target KOLs, pharma companies should understand how these individuals may be incentivized to engage with them and provide valuable, detailed feedback. In an article by Kendle Healthcare, the company notes that there are many reasons that KOLs may choose to work with pharma companies, including money, research support, professional development, scientific discussion, access to the latest research, and altruism.

Understanding the “why” for each KOL can help companies understand the best engagement strategies, allowing them to build relationships based on each stakeholder’s interest. For example, they can offer opportunities for collaboration, such as advisory board participation, speaking engagements, and research partnerships, depending on the KOl’s primary goal.

Aptitude Health emphasizes that strengthening KOL engagement is possible through objective-driven approaches, unique engagement plans, anticipating needs, and creating a collaborative environment.

Provide Scientific Support

One of the primary strategies pharmaceutical companies can use to engage KOLs is providing scientific support and education. They can offer KOLs updates on clinical data, research findings, and educational support to update them on the most recent pharmaceutical developments. However, the information provided must be transparent and free of bias. Unbiased scientific support fosters trust between KOLs and companies.

Collaborate on Research

Beyond providing education and scientific support, pharmaceutical companies can recruit KOLs to engage with research studies or educational initiatives, mutually benefiting the company and the KOL.

Pharma companies can sponsor or support clinical trials, observational studies, or real-world evidence studies in partnership with KOLs. They can also collaborate on educational programs, such as continuing medical education (CME) activities, webinars, and conferences, to disseminate scientific knowledge.

Seek Input and Feedback

Companies should also seek input and feedback from their KOLs. They may choose to do this using different platforms, including advisory boards, scientific meetings, or implementing digital tools to collect insights.

Once insights are collected, it is critical that a company thoughtfully consider how to implement the feedback. For example, if a KOL points out a flaw in clinical trial designs, a company can alter future designs to address the concern within reason. Additionally, if a provider or patient offers a solution that can help improve the patient experience, they may consider adjusting their business practices to implement those changes.

Beyond implementing KOLs’ feedback, recognizing and appreciating the contributions of KOLs is essential for sustaining engagement. This can be done through honorariums, awards, or invitations to prestigious events. Acknowledging the expertise and influence of KOLs publicly can also enhance their professional reputation.