Pharma Company Defines Advocacy Strategy Through Data-Driven Patient Association Mapping

Client Challenge 

The cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic (CVRM) patient advocacy team at a multinational pharmaceutical company sought support for a comprehensive understanding of the CVRM patient advocacy group (PAG) landscape in their target regions, including eleven countries in North and South America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, and across six different therapeutic areas. They wanted to enhance their knowledge of both existing and potential partner PAGs through detailed mapping of the landscape and leverage that information to foster existing/create new mutually beneficial partnerships, produce a data-driven patient advocacy plan, and validate their short- and long-term strategic advocacy imperatives. 

The client needed a solution to assess CVRM PAGs according to the following criteria: 

• Organizational strength – Clarity in internal structure, decision-making processes, and governance frameworks, demonstrating resilience and stability in adapting to external pressures 

• Activities capabilities – Alignment of activities with the client’s strategic goals, showcasing depth of expertise, operational execution, and integration of innovation into processes 

• Credibility – A recognized track record of delivering on commitments with consistency, reliability, and publicly available information that reinforces trust 

• Influence – Established reach and engagement with key stakeholders, shaping discussions, and maintaining a strong presence in decision-making forums 

• Transparency – A structured approach to reporting accomplishments, ensuring clarity in decision rationales and accessibility of policies and operational frameworks 

Additionally, the client sought to understand their competitors’ positioning and collaboration with CVRM PAGs in order to refine their advocacy strategy and differentiate their approach.  

The client chose Alira Health because of its proven experience in mapping PAGs and developing tailor-made methodologies to establish research and prioritization scenarios that support strategic partnership goals. Alira Health’s expertise in patient engagement and in primary research with patients played a significant role in the client’s choice.  

Our Approach 

The Patient Engagement team proposed a structured, phased approach to describe the CVRM patient advocacy landscape​ and assess the relevant PAGs’ organizational strengths, activities capabilities, credibility, influence, and transparency. The team planned to assess strategic alignment opportunities between the PAGs and the client, understand competitors’ positioning and collaborations with these stakeholders, answer therapeutic area-specific research questions and validate overall company advocacy short and long-term strategy 

To carry out this approach, the Patient Engagement team executed the following steps:  

• Identification and in-depth advocacy groups mapping​ 
  • Mapped 253 PAGs across the CVRM therapeutic areas​ 
  • Outlined their profiles, collaborations, and activities​ 
  • Evaluated the overall CVRM patient advocacy landscape ​ 
• ​ Activities capabilities assessment​ 
  • Assessed the PAGs’ activities in awareness, support, policy, research, and development 
  • Assessed their capacity for conducting advocacy activities​ 
• ​Organizational maturity assessment​ 
  • Analyzed the PAGs’ maturity in structure, governance, collaborations, and expertise​ 
  • Identified key partners based on their contributions​ 
• ​ Programmatic focus analysis​ 
  • Analyzed the PAGs’ focus in CVRM areas​ 
  • Identified the most sophisticated organizations based on their activities​ 
• Organization prioritization and interviews​ 
  • Prioritized PAGs using scenarios and metrics​ based on previously mentioned parameters 
  • Validated mapped information for prioritized PAGs through 1:1 interviews 

Outcomes 

The client received a comprehensive, data-driven assessment of the CVRM PAG landscape, enabling them to make strategic, well-informed engagement decisions about the potential for mutually beneficial partnerships. The results were presented in an interactive format that the client can update as needed to re-evaluate the prioritization scenarios in the future. 

The evaluation of competitors provided the client with opportunities to differentiate its advocacy strategy and establish a leadership position in CVRM advocacy.  

The findings allowed the client to prioritize resources more effectively, focusing on high-impact advocacy partnerships that drive meaningful patient support and policy influence. Additionally, the research provided evidence-based insights specific to CVRM that the client can leverage to refine advocacy messaging and strategy, stakeholder engagement, and policy strategies. 

The Alira Health team provided clear next steps for the client’s immediate advocacy needs and a roadmap for long-term advocacy engagement, ensuring sustainable impact beyond the initial results. 

Key Success Factors 

Key success factors for this CVRM PAGs mapping project included Alira Health’s deep understanding of the advocacy landscape, ensuring that engagement efforts aligned with real-world challenges. Active collaboration with patient advocacy groups in health technology assessments, policy discussions, and strategic planning played a crucial role in shaping effective partnerships. Finally, a structured approach to identifying, mapping, and prioritizing strategic opportunities ensured that the client could maximize engagement effectiveness and drive long-term advocacy success.