Doxie A. Jordan, Jr., MBA.

Director of Synagis Marketing MedImmune, Inc. Gaithersburg, Maryland

PMT: What is the biggest change you have seen in product marketing during your career?

Doxie Jordan, MBA: I have been in the industry for 12 years, and during that time I have seen the landscape change in the legal and regulatory arenas. Today, we work closely with our regulatory, medical, and legal teams, making sure we're doing all our advertising in a way that is transparent, abiding by all the rules and regulations. That is the major change I have seen.

PMT: What are MedImmune's key areas of focus and strategic priorities? Mr. Jordan: We have three main areas of focus. One is infectious disease--that is my primary responsibility with Synagis (palivizumab). Synagis is a monoclonal antibody that helps prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) hospitalizations in high-risk infants. We also have a cancer focus as well as an inflammatory disease focus.

PMT: How do you both reach and educate your targeted consumer base at MedImmune?

Mr. Jordan: First, we use market research to get an understanding of what the consumer caregiver thinks and experiences when faced with making health decisions. For example, it's difficult having a premature infant; compounding that with the threat of a serious virus makes the care of a premature infant challenging.

We have a responsibility to make parents aware of RSV and Synagis. We must do it in a responsible way, which means we spend considerable time and money finding the appropriate parents. We don't want to drive parents into a physician's office requesting our drug if their infant doesn't qualify for RSV prophylaxis.

We have refocused our consumer campaign to emphasize relationship marketing. Our patient population is quite narrow, so we don't want or need advertising to reach the masses. Instead, we focus mainly on prevention and compliance messages.

PMT: How have you educated your salesforce to be more effective?

Mr. Jordan: Our salesforce is one of the best in the industry. They're highly motivated, and we continually make them more effective by providing world-class training.

All pharmaceutical companies recognize the importance of training during the on-boarding period. We have extended that focus beyond the first few weeks of an employee's career. One program, Selling Cities, is designed to deliver training well into the rep's first year on the job. One aspect of Selling Cities is the role play with practicing physicians rather than the fictitious physician or simply detailing a camera.

PMT: Synagis is for premature infants. Can you share tips or best practices for reaching mothers as a targeted consumer audience?

Mr. Jordan: Two years ago, we ran a nonbranded television commercial about RSV awareness. Many people with premature children who were concerned about RSV called us after that campaign. However, some parents called in who just wanted information.

They were not sure what RSV was and if their infants were eligible for Synagis. We learned that we needed to change the general awareness ads we were running and go more to relationship marketing, and do a better job of qualifying and identifying the right parent.

PMT: Do you partner with pediatric organizations or caregivers?

Mr. Jordan: Yes, we do. Over the past three years, we have made a strong commitment to the March of Dimes in terms of money as well as volunteering our own time. We have sponsored walks and Prematurity Awareness Day.

Additionally, through a hospital-based program that we sponsor, the March of Dimes will place a coordinator in the neonatal intensive care unit and help with the workload there. The organization is known for curing polio, but its new mission is to lower the birth rate of premature infants. We stand with them in support of that goal.

We also partner with several caregiver organizations, such as Mothers of Super Twins. We sponsor the Newborn Channel, a dedicated in-hospital TV network to educate mothers while in recovery. Finally, the THRIVE network is a collection of parents who have had experience with RSV and/or Synagis. They are active in many ways, including speaking to nurses, physicians, and occasionally the press.

PMT: Can you share a significant marketing challenge you have faced with Synagis, and how you addressed this challenge?

Mr. Jordan: I already talked about identifying and speaking to the right consumer. We have another challenge on the professional side: engaging the RSV key opinion leaders.

We are becoming more customer-centric, on both the consumer and professional side by getting their feedback on how to promote Synagis and advance the study of RSV prophylaxis. We have used advisory boards to capture insights from physicians on various aspects of our business. They have proposed various research we should pursue and suggestions on how to improve compliance. The information we receive from advisory boards is extremely useful.

PMT: What new skills do marketers need to thrive in the 21st Century?

Mr. Jordan: It is good to have broad experience with many different things on a brand team, the commercial organization or even outside of pharmaceutical marketing altogether. They also need financial skills. This was not a big focus a few years ago. Now, someone who understands marketing and has that financial component can differentiate themselves from the masses.

Marketers must also be results oriented. You can have a nice skill set and a great resume, but if you don't have the mindset of getting things done, it is hard to be successful.

PMT: What is key in coordinating cross functionality among agencies, PR firms, market consultants, and corporate managers?

Mr. Jordan: As a director of marketing, my core responsibility is putting the right people together and making sure the right conversation is had so that things can get done. No playbook exists to do that.

We have two meetings with our agency partners every year. In the Fall, we focus on planning; in the Spring, we bring all the groups together to hear what people are doing. I like to bring the cross-functional team together, because we want to generate an understanding of their key strategic priorities and learn how they tackle problems.

We also have weekly meetings with our agencies and internal customers to make sure we are on the same page regarding promises we've made to stakeholders and staying true to our strategic priorities. A lot of work goes into identifying these priorities, and we must make sure we stick to them and follow-up. That only happens when you put people in the room to talk live.

PMT: What do you believe is the future of pharmaceutical marketing, both short-term and long-term, and where should the focus be?

Mr. Jordan: The pharmaceutical industry must focus on meeting unmet needs. That is why we're here. We have made many strides in preventing and curing disease, and we must continue to do that. That has to be our main focus.

It is also important that the pharmaceutical industry educate people about what we do. The commitment MedImmune has made in pediatrics over the years is extraordinary, and we're very proud of it.

PMT: Where do you see yourself in five years?

Mr. Jordan: If I can replicate some of the success I've had the past couple of years, I would like to have more responsibility. Right now, I am focused on the present and managing the marketing of Synagis. I'm just putting my head down and concentrating on being extremely successful at what I'm currently doing.

PMT PROFILE

Doxie A. Jordan, Jr., MBA, has been marketing and selling pharmaceuticals and biologics for more than a decade. He moved from his initial experience in sales to the marketing world, and has worked for several large pharmaceutical companies. Mr. Jordan is currently managing the marketing efforts of MedImmune's core product, Synagis, a billion-dollar brand that helps prevent respiratory infection in premature infants.

EXPERIENCE:

MedImmune, Inc., Gaithersburg, Maryland 2003-Present

* Director of Marketing Pharmacia Corporation, Peapack, New Jersey 2001-2003

* Senior Product Manager

Pfizer Inc, New York City 1992-2001

* Marketing Manager

* Area Business Manager

* Primary Care Territory Manager

* Medical Specialty Representative

EDUCATION:

MBA, Management, Howard University, Washington, DC BS, Business Administration, Marketing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill