SK Life Science breaks through Covid barriers to bring epilepsy drug to market

Like so many industry veterans, Matt Linkewich earned his stripes the old fashion way. A small fish in a big pond, he worked through the mid-90s as a Sales Rep at AstraZeneca before climbing his way up the J&J ladder in the early 2000s. He went on to leverage the skills acquired in those roles in a consulting capacity. Working during his early career at those large companies gave him a perspective that, moving forward, would prove indispensable. Working as a consultant in smaller companies during the early stages of commercialization of new pharmaceutical products prepared him extremely well for the challenges of his current role. This was especially important as he got to work in many different therapeutic categories as those small biotechs prepared to launch.

Matthew Linkewich

Chief Commercial Officer (CCO)

SK Life Science, Inc.

For the better part of the last 6 years, he has devoted himself to a company that promises to change the face of epilepsy. A subsidiary of SK Biopharmaceuticals, part of the much larger SK Group in South Korea, SK Life Science is located on the east coast in New Jersey. The goal at SK Life Science is to bring seizure rates down to zero.

As Matthew said in our conversation, they believe it’s time to stop settling for what we are used to and demand more from CNS disorder medications.

One way the company strived to reach this goal was by launching a new epilepsy drug. This treatment came to market in May 2020 during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, just as healthcare provider doors were closing. The pandemic hit and suddenly all the assumed avenues to reach patients and doctors were gone. SK Life Science created success by doubling down on their omnichannel approach, getting creative around advocacy, and focusing in on an under-served long-term care channel. For many companies, long term care and group homes are an after-thought, but experience in other therapeutic areas had taught Matt that in the epilepsy space, it would be a significant opportunity from the start. With the rapidly changing market dynamics, SK Life Science determined that building out an omnichannel approach would be critical to future success.

Omnichannel In Action

Laying the foundations of the omnichannel platform early on allowed SK Life Science to reprioritize their position and build out a marketing framework that gave them more coverage in their outreach. Leveraging new technology helped optimize sales for reps who couldn’t get through office doors with the initially planned frequency. The rule of thumb pre-Covid was that it took 5-7 calls before a prescription was written. With Covid limiting access, they knew they were way behind and supplemented with a multi-platform differential outreach campaign to help fill the gaps.

By creating one continuous feedback loop, they leveraged a multitude of touchpoints with physicians on the non-personal side and turned them into face-to-face demand for Medical Science Liaison (MSLs) and Reps, increasing their productivity and results.

By warming up the audience with a digital marketing campaign, they developed the name recognition that the new Neuroscience Account Managers needed to start conversations with MDs, PAs, and NPs. And while pre-Covid they expected 24 calls per healthcare provider per year, Matt explained, in this post pandemic environment “if you’re getting a consistent monthly detail or even 18 per year per HCP, you’re doing well”. In an interesting side note, Matt found that, although many of the calls initially moved to online virtual meetings in the early days of the Covid pandemic, as they transitioned back to face-to- face, there was also a transition to phone calls, which now continue to be a channel representatives use approximately 20 percent of the time.

By attacking the opportunity through digital marketing, targeted calling and face-to-face, SK Life Science was able to close the circuit of touch points, create accountability and far surpass the sales of other drugs that have launched during Covid, developing a national footprint over just a few years.

Building a creative Advocacy Program

Patient stories were so compelling they knew they needed to build out a creative advocacy program. To spearhead it, they built an all-star team of MDMs (Market Development Managers) to focus on their population of patients and physicians that were “tired” from not having a good answer. With SK Life Science’s treatment, HCPs and patients now have a new option that offers the possibility of seizure freedom.

SK Life Science also deployed a regional approach to meet people outside of the care setting. By being present at regional walks, community, sponsorship and fundraising events, they were able to share success stories directly with patients and the people that love them.

From partnerships with the Epilepsy Foundation (EF) to Epilepsy Alliance America (EAA) and CURE Epilepsy, SK Life Science has been able to become a part of the CNS disorder community in a real way and act on the needs of the epilepsy community. SK Life Science has funded EF’s Uber Ride Share program to provide $50 uber vouchers to help those with epilepsy who lost their license due to having seizures by providing accessible transportation.

With EAA, SK Life Science has shared information for epilepsy patients to learn more about reaching seizure treatment goals with the S.T.E.P.S. Discussion Guide.

These activations helped strengthen the connection to SK Life Science and its parent company, SK Biopharmaceuticals – part of one of the largest conglomerates in South Korea, SK Group. They’ve established themselves as a reliable partner that shows up and keeps showing up. This sort of direct-to-consumer marketing is unprecedented in the epilepsy space.

One of the things that grew from this was a deep understanding of patient need and in response, the Patience Assistance Program, SK Life Science Navigator, which may help patients in need start and continue therapy.

Long-Term Care Approach

SK Life Science found an underserved need in long-term care and group homes as the load was too heavy for family members. To address this population, they built an entire team to work, not only with medical directors, but also consultant pharmacists, pharmacy directors, professional trade and advocacy associations within longer care and group homes. They did this on top of their standard model which was to approach an account in three ways; their National Account model focused on the epileptologist and general neurologists, including Advance Practice Providers (APPs), the MDMs who focus on brand and patient advocacy, and then the Long-Term care team.

SK Life Science adopted a key timing strategy for this channel. They put the brakes on it for a full year so that they could grow their knowledge base across KOL’s. There were so many touch points - epileptologists, neurologists, medical directors, RNs, etc. and they wanted them to build awareness prior to focusing on GPOs and buying organizations. This strategy has brought greater awareness for patients and residents at long-term care and intellectual/developmental disabilities centers on the current disease state and treatment option to provide elevated care for patients and focus on seizure freedom and lowering drug-to-drug interactions.

Lessons Learned – Moving Forward

Data was the key to moving through the initial Covid haze. Knowing exactly who to call on, what medium to use, what message would be most effective and what to do with marketing to complete the circuit, was invaluable. The channel mix analysis is different than it would have been prior to Covid. “While we still believe reps are the #1 generator of prescriptions,” Matt explained, “an omnichannel approach has proven to be a highly cost effective and critical addition to the mix. This complete marketing mix solution allows for the commercial team to be nimble and quickly adapt to the ever-changing environment.”