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Competitive Intelligence: Key Component of
Corporate Decision Making
By Cammie Edwards, Ph.D.
DNA Gateway International
Cammie@dnagateway.com
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.
1.
www.nature.com/bioent/building/planning/032005/full/bioent850.html
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