Portfolio Level Field Force Size and Structure in Oncology

An emerging biopharma company needed to identify the optimal size and structure for the field force teams supporting all existing and upcoming launches in its oncology portfolio.

Our team began by creating an integrated affiliations database. We aligned on the field teams to include in the size and structure scope, then collected the required claims, DDD MD, affiliations, payer, and KOL data to capture all the relevant inputs for targeting and segmentation. Next, we collected the data assets into an affiliations database with HCPs linked to accounts and accounts linked to parent organizations. To further inform targeting and segmentation efforts, we aligned with key stakeholders on the metrics and importance weights to value targets for each team. We leveraged the valuation metrics and weights to generate potential scores and target deciles, bucketing potential deciles into High, Medium, and Low target segments.

We then ran concentration curves and target overlap across tumors to inform the required sizing. To help finalize the sizing, we built an account-level workload build-up model, then aligned with the client on all key inputs. Benchmarking and scenario analyses helped us to refine team size and identify viable structure options. We then developed, validated, and issued our final recommendations to the client team.

We layered industry trends (such as the evolving rep role and others) on top of an established methodology for field force sizing. The client was able to use this to determine a more efficient sales force size that leveraged efficiencies between multiple indications. The portfolio-level sizing helped the client benefit from cross-team synergies and efficiencies while ensuring proper coverage of all current and future oncology indications without over-detailing the same targets and exacerbating existing access restrictions.