Page 14 - Demo456

Healthcarewatch By Kayla Walsh
Doctor Docs
Doctor-Rep Relationships are Improving
Amidst Pandemic
A recent Accenture study found that the pandemic has actually positively affected the way HCPs learn about pharmaceuticals and opened many opportunities for sales representatives. Firstly, 55% of the doctors surveyed said they have more time to learn about therapies and 53% are eager to do so. What do doctors want during this pandemic? More than ever, they want digital patient education (69%); education on remote patient care (67%); specific information on conditions relative to COVID-19 (65%); and information to help patients access labs, tests,
and imaging (65%). In addition to this, they want financial assistance information and education about local access and care programs. According to the study, the sales reps who provide this information have the best relationships with their clients.
The COVID era is likely ushering in a system that will stick—sales reps no longer will depend on a few minutes of in-person discussion with doctors as both parties find it more beneficial to deliver digital messages and timely assistance.
Ray Pressburger, Accenture’s Global Life Sciences Marketing, Sales and Access Lead, provided an example of this during an interview with FiercePharma: “One client, which serves an immunocompromised patient population in spinal muscular atrophy, decided to gather information for doctors. The pharma company called every eligible testing facility in the country
and asked about provisions for immunocompromised patients during the pandemic, as well as their hours and locations. Then they created a database for reps to take to physicians with details about the testing facilities in the area for their patients.”
theraPeutic talk
T Cells Next Target for COVID-19
Vaccines
The precise T cells shared among patients who recover from COVID-19 have been identified by TScan, the biopharma company that develops T cell receptor (TCR)- engineered T cell therapies in oncology. These findings could lead to more effective vaccines.
TScan’s data pulled three to eight immunodominant
T cell targets for each protein marker type from the COVID-19 convalescent patients, most of which were not found on the spike protein of the virus. This is important as most vaccines in development focus on the spike protein, but antibodies produced by this immune reaction are proving to be short-lived.
“COVID-19 vaccine development efforts have been progressing rapidly, but to date remain largely focused on eliciting a neutralizing antibody response against
the virus’ spike protein,” stated Gavin MacBeath, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer at TScan. “Because antibodies
to SARS-CoV-2 appear to diminish over time, there is growing concern that if vaccines do not also generate a strong T cell response, they may only provide short-term immunity. An increasing body of evidence suggests that the T cell response is important in the defense against COVID-19, and T cells that recognize coronaviruses tend to persist much longer than antibodies.”
These immunodominants were not found in other coronaviruses, which limits the possibility that prior coronavirus infection could mean immunity to COVID-19.
More than 40% of hcPs said they are restricting access to reps during the pandemic and 28% plan to implement this permanently. however, 87% of hcPs want either all virtual or a mix of virtual and in- person meetings even after the pandemic ends. —accenture
12 pm360 magazine / September 2020
shutterstock.com; Amazon