Whether recognized as such or not, companies are always
engaged in the process of competitive intelligence. Be
it attending professional conferences, reading the
competitor’s literature, staying up-to-date on market
reports or chatting with friends about trends in the
industry, these activities are all part of gathering
competitive intelligence. Competitive intelligence (CI)
is the process of gathering, analyzing and interpreting
external information to guide a company's strategy,
planning, and tactical decision-making in commercial
operations. For companies to realize the full value of
its CI, the information must be complete, analyzed with
respect to the company’s needs and disseminated to the
key decision-makers. Given the complexities, as well as
the potentially long timelines, of developing products
in the life science industry, it is particularly
important to that life science businesses develop
comprehensive competitive intelligence programs that
support corporate strategic development and business
decisions. Good competitive intelligence will provide
full insight into what competitors are currently doing,
as well as allowing for the determination of what
competitors will do before they do it.
Below is a list of key competitive issues that must be
diligently monitored as well as potential sources for
obtaining the competitive intelligence1:
1. IP around your competitor’s product(s) and your
freedom to operate·
Carry out a comprehensive patent literature search at
least once a year.
2. Market·
Discuss with your Boards (SAB and corporate) ·
Network at professional or industry conferences.·
Talk with KOLs
3. Pricing of your competitor’s product(s) - Allows for
competitive valuation of your own deals·
Talk to competitor sales forces and distributors ·
Determine standard medicare reimbursement rates for your
particular product
4. Stage of development of your competitor’s product(s)·
Network at professional or industry conferences.
5. Partnerships occurring in your particular area·
Professional journals, deal databases, professional
conferences can provide this info.
6. Valuation of competitor’s companies - Understanding
the competitors valuation allows accurate valuation of
your own company which is important for funding raising
Deal databases and networking with VCs can provide
insight into value of companies via acquisitions and
mergers
7. Emerging technologies and products that could impact
your product·
Discuss with your Scientific Advisory Board ·
Networking at professional or industry conferences
8. Understanding how your end-user (doctor, life science
company, CRO, etc) feels about your competitor’s
product(s)
This allows you to identify weakness you can
exploit·
Directly survey the “end-user”·
Network at the industry conferences
9. Regulatory and reimbursement issues·
Determine the current regulatory requirements and
identify new issues that might affect the approval,
label or marketing of a product
10. Human capital·
Salary surveys and analyses of job ads can provide
important insights into competitors' staffing strategies
As is clear from the list above, networking is a key
component of effective CI. Your network contacts can be
invaluable for learning about at the smaller deals (i.e.
the information that doesn’t make the headlines),
emerging products, changes in treatment paradigms, etc.
We routinely work with clients to obtain CI in this
manner. However, in addition to networks, we use a
number of powerful tools, databases and services that
can help with the collection of competitive
intelligence. In this issue of BioPharma Insight, we
invited articles from a range of competitive
intelligence service providers and experts to provide
their insights into tactics and tools that can assist
emerging life science companies with their competitive
intelligence acquisition. Recombinant Capital is the
premier company providing deal databases. Life Science
Consulting, Inc. has built a suite of highly
sophisticated tools that analyze complex market, finance
and competitor data to facilitate strategic decision
making. Taskforce Europe has well-known and proven
expertise at assisting companies in CI implementation.
Lastly, I.S.I.S. Inc is a recognized leader in providing
global competitive intelligence and counterintelligence
services to clients over the last 14 years. Obtaining
and analyzing CI from a range of sources ensures more
accurate and complete competitive information, which is
invaluable in assisting with corporate strategy decision
making.
Carry out a comprehensive patent literature search at
least once a year.