Tracking the pandemic’s influence on brand awareness and prescribing efforts in light of decline in physician visits and fewer diagnoses—and what these dynamics, still unsettled post-pandemic, might mean for future launches.
Patients are returning to doctors’ offices, but not at the same rates prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, in-person visits to healthcare professionals (HCPs) saw a dramatic reduction. This resulted in fewer diagnoses, which inevitably led to a reduction in the number of new prescriptions and therapy starts.
During this same time period, however, drug companies launched a higher-than-average number of new products. With fewer patients to prescribe to, many products struggled to gain attention and recognition. Even as HCP visits return to close to pre-pandemic levels, patients are being diagnosed further along in their illnesses then they normally would be, which is altering the therapies being prescribed to them.
Assessing HCP-Visit Fallout: COVID’s Ultimate Impact on New Drug Entrants (pharmexec.com)