This document outlines a presentation by Science Branding Communications to Vertex Pharmaceuticals on developing stories for VX-509 and VX-809. It introduces the presenters and their experience. It then discusses SBC's unique approach to science communication using stories, outlines their 5-phase story creation method, and applies this approach to analyzing the science and opportunities for VX-509 and VX-809.
The Codex of Business Writing Software for Real-World Solutions 2.pptx
Developing Powerful Stories for Vertex's VX-509 and VX-809
1. Presented by Science Branding Communications
to Vertex Pharmaceuticals
June 25, 2013
Development of Powerful Stories
for VX-509 and VX-809
2. 2
Who We Are
Edward Perper, MD
Chief Executive Officer
Founder, Multimedia in Medicine
Founder, AnimationMD
Co-founder, Science Branding Communications
Cardiology practice x 14 years
Harvard Medical School
Stanford University Cardiology
20 years digital medical education experience
3. 3
Who We Are
Bernie Coccia
President
25+ year veteran of pharmaceutical communications industry
Involved with over 20 launches working within global advertising
agency, medical publishing, contract sales and projects firms
Category experience includes oncology, CNS, respiratory, anti-fungal,
anti-infective, virology, pain management and women’s health
Expert in product branding, differentiation, messaging and media
Boston College Carroll School of Management, marketing degree
4. 4
40+ years of pharmaceutical sales and marketing experience
Involved in over 30 product launches
Active in numerous industry associations including DIA
Co-founder, Science Branding Communications
Partner, Shaw Science Partners
University of Maryland, Pre-Veterinary Medicine
Who We Are
Bill Hahn
Principal
5. 5
Agenda
‣ Introduction
‣ Our Unique Approach to Science Communication
‣ VX-509: Science Challenges and Opportunities
‣ VX-809: Science Challenges and Opportunities
‣ Case Study: Lyxumia/Sanofi
9. 9
We believe the right story
empowers you to
meet these challenges
Scientific Complexity
Stakeholder Consensus
Educational Challenges
Product Differentiation
11. 11
Drug science is complex & multifaceted
Normal physiology
Disease pathophysiology
Drug MOA
Competing Drug MOAs
Preclinical drug dataSignaling pathways
Receptors
Pharmacokinetics
Pharmacodynamics
Facts vs Hypothesis vs Theories
Molecular structure
12. 12
Communicating complex science to physicians,
investors, and payors is challenging
‣ Short attention span
‣ Major time constraints
‣ Science is boring
‣ Limited scientific knowledge
14. 14
The Power of Story
Scientific
Complexity
The
Right
Story
‣ Improves comprehension
‣ Drives consensus
‣ Optimizes differentiation
‣ Creates excitement & anticipation
‣ Increases clinical relevance
‣ Increases adoption & advocacy
16. 16
People think and understand in stories
“What people know consists almost
exclusively of stories.
Schank, Roger C. & Abelson, Robert P. (1995) Knowledge and Memory: The Real Story. In: Robert S. Wyer, Jr (ed) Knowledge and Memory: The Real Story. Hillsdale, NJ. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 1-85.
Roger C. Schank and Robert P. Abelson
Knowledge and Memory: The Real Story
Northwestern University and Yale University
KNOWLEDGE
and MEMORY:
The Real Story
Edited by
Robert S. Wyer, Jr.
Lead Article by
Roger C. Schank
and Robert P. Abelson
[The brain possesses] the cognitive
machinery necessary to understand,
remember, and tell stories.”
17. 17The science of story: neural coupling
Stephens G J et al. PNAS 2010;107:14425-14430
18. 18
Stories activate specific brain regions
that facilitate comprehension
FRONTAL PARIETAL TEMPORAL OCCIPITAL
Comprehension
Production
Subprocesses
FRONTALPARIETAL
OCCIPITAL
TEMPORAL
Summary of Imaging Studies of Narrative Comprehension and Narrative Production
Adapted from Mar RA. The Neuropsychology of narrative: Story comprehension, production and their interaction. Neuropsychologia 42:1414-1434, 2004.
19. 19
Most human learning occurs visually
Routes of
Human Learning
OSHA Occupational Safety & Health Administration. Presenting Effective Presentations with Visual Aids
U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Training and Education. May 1996.
Accessed 12/31/12 at: http://www.osha.gov/doc/outreachtraining/htmlfiles/traintec.html
Vision
11%
Hearing
Smell
Touch
Taste
83%
20. 20
Adding visuals to verbal presentation
increases retention by 6.5-fold
Adapted from OSHA Occupational Safety & Health Administration. Presenting Effective Presentations with Visual Aids
U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Training and Education. May 1996. Accessed 12/31/12 at: http://www.osha.gov/doc/outreachtraining/htmlfiles/traintec.html
% Presentation Messages Retained
3 days after presentation
Type of Presentation
21. 21
The Power of Story
Improves
Comprehension
Increases
Differentiation
Improves
Retention
Achieves
Consensus
Creates
Excitement
Increases
Anticipation
Increases
Adoption
& Advocacy
23. 23
The single scientific rationale
that creates
the “reason to believe”
Core Science
Concept
We begin with the end in mind
24. 24
5-Phase Story Creation Method
PHASE 1 Science Investigation
PHASE 2 Stakeholder Interviews
PHASE 3 Core Science Concept
PHASE 4 Science Visualization
PHASE 5 The Story Deck
25. PHASE 1 Science Investigation
Literature research
Identification of landmark studies
Competitive landscape analysis
Graphic image research
Story Creation Method 25
26. PHASE 2 Stakeholder Interviews
Face-to-face and conducted by SBC Physician Medical Directors
Interview internal stakeholders and review literature
Develop topic guide
Identify 6 external Thought Leaders
Open-ended, in-depth TL interviews using topic guide
Evoke scientific concepts and educational strategies
TLs often share creative ideas not expressed to client or ad boards
26
Story Creation Method
27. PHASE 3 Core Science Concept
2 to 3 key science concept candidates identified
Rough development of all concepts in words & images
Rough concepts presented to client for discussion
Core Science Concept selected based on:
- Level of support from TLs and published literature
- Level of complexity and comprehensibility
- Degree of differentiating power
27
Story Creation Method
28. PHASE 4 Visualization & Metaphors
Refinement of Core Science Concept
Development of Science Visualizations
Development of Science Metaphors
28
Story Creation Method
30. PHASE 5 Story Deck Development
Finalization of Story Development
Review by selected Thought Leaders and Internal Compliance
Revisions, Edits, and Delivery
30
Story Creation Method
32. 32Features & Benefits of the Story Deck
The Story Deck
Provides meaning and relevance
Clearly visualizes critical concepts
Engages audiences and makes them care
Influences behavior
Complete detailed story
Flows: problem > tension > solution
Emotionally resonant
Contains characters, setting, and plot
Features Benefits
33. 33
The prelaunch & post-launch Story Decks are your
sources for multiple programs & audiences
MD Generalists
MD Specialists
MSLs
Sales Reps
Investors
Payors
Other HCPs
Prelaunch
Story Deck
Post-launch
Story Deck
Prelaunch & Post-launch
Speaker Decks
Prelaunch & Post-launch
Interactive Programs
Prelaunch & Post-launch
Story Videos
36. 36
VX-509 Advantages & Challenges
■ Highly complex and unfamiliar science
- VAK/STAT signaling
- Multiple JAK and STAT isotypes
- Multiple cytokines
- Multiple cell types
- Multiple receptor types
Potential side effects associated with immunosuppression
■ New approach to treatment of RA
■ JAK signaling is essential in inflammatory
signaling and associated with irreversible tissue
damage in RA
■ VX-509 is highly selective inhibitor of JAK-3
potentially associated with immunosuppression
with few off-target side effects
- 1000X higher than for non-JAK kinases
- 25-50X higher than for other JAK isotypes
■ Oral administration
Advantages Challenges
39. 39
Many visual styles depict CF
Results of googe
Image search for
“CFTR cystic fibrosis”
40. 40
VX-809 Advantages & Challenges
■ Complex science of CF, role of CFTR, evaluating changes in
pulmonary function, eg, relative vs absolute change in FEV1
■ Complex complementary MOAs
■ Best pulmonary function (FEV1) improvement observed
with highest VX-809 dose (600 mg), less improvement
with lower doses
■ Small number of patients in Phase 3 study
■ No significant change in sweat chloride
■ VX-809 and Kalydeco have complementary MOAs
■ VX-809 MOA targets “genetic root” of CF
■ Effective in homozygous Delta 508 mutation which is
highly prevalent (50% of US patients)
■ Well tolerated
■ Oral administration
Advantages Challenges
42. 42
Story Communication
Story Communication Deliverables
‣ The Story Video
‣ Speaker Decks
‣ 2D/3D Animation Videos
‣ Training Programs
‣ Interactive Learning
‣ Smart phone/iPad Apps
‣ Ad Board Moderation
‣ Workshop Participation
SBC provides story creation
and story communication
Story Creation
Story Creation Method
1. Science Investigation
2. Stakeholder Interviews
3. Core Science Concept
4. Visualizations & Metaphors
5. The Story Deck
43. 43Our Value Proposition
Visual explanations
Visualizations & Metaphors
single rationale
“ ”The Core Story Concept
Complete stories
Story Decks & Story Videos
Changed Venn diagram to visual metaphor of 3-legged stool.Dawn: Why and how do we have these 3 strengths? The slide makes it sound kind of magical, like we can magically do this stuff and no one else can.SPEAKERNOTESNow at science branding communications, we have three core competencies that make us different from most medical communication agencies. And we believe all 3 are critical: scientific expertise, storytelling expertise, and visualization expertise. Sciencebranding communication basically is at the intersection of those three strengths.
SPEAKERNOTESSo our ultimate aim is to develop a compelling story deck. The objective of the story deck is to clearly communicate the complete story that scientifically differentiates the compound. It's 40 to 60 slides, custom designed background graphics. 10 to 20 of those slides will have visualizations. 5 to 15 will have motion graphics that's designed to enhance the understanding of the concepts. All the slides are referenced and all the slides have speaker notes.
SPEAKERNOTESThe story deck is a powerful communication tool with many features and benefits. Feature-wise it is a unified narrative that has a definite flow to it, like all good stories do. It always starts with a problem or challenge, an unmet need. The story builds on this by creating dramatic tension and this tension is relieved by explaining the compound’s science and how it overcomes the problem. The story is made up of characters—for example, the compound itself is a character, essentially the hero of the story—as well as setting and plot. The objective of the well-designed story deck is ultimately to chain physician behavior by providing meaning and relevance, by clearly visualizing critical scientific concepts, by powerfully communicating the core science concept, and most importantly by engaging audiences and making them care.
SPEAKERNOTESIn the prelaunch environment, the first focus is creating the unbranded story deck. Thebranded story deck is created based upon this material in combination with clinical data and also with a different look and feel. Both the unbranded and branded story decks are then utilized as unified sources for the production of story videos, speaker decks and educational interactive programs. These programs are then rolled out to both internal and external audiences. The underlying story remains consistent throughout all these programs, providing consistent, powerful messaging with the Core Science Concept being the topline message of every program.
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SPEAKERNOTESSo let me conclude by telling you our value proposition. We deliver the core science concept which is that single idea that scientifically differentiates the compound in a compelling fashion. We produce visualizations and metaphors that are essentially visual explanations that clearly support the key concepts in the story, often the most difficult concepts to understand are the ones that we use visualizations for. And we've put that all together in what we call the story deck which is the complete story that verbally and visually communicates the core science concept. Our strengths, as I’ve mentioned, are in scientific comprehension, storytelling, and visualization. And we use those strengths to help you meet your science communication challenges.