The rare disease landscape is complicated. According to the National Institutes of Health, there are nearly 7000 known diseases deemed “rare” because each affects fewer than 200,000 Americans, and some of these diseases, deemed “ultra-rare,” affect only a few hundred individuals. Taken together, approximately 30 million Americans and 350 million people worldwide have a rare or ultra-rare disease
Marketing for rare diseases and rare disease drug launches requires strategy to effectively communicate available resources for HCPs, caregivers and patients. Pharmaceutical companies need to deploy uniquely-targeted paid marketing campaigns to drive awareness around the signs and symptoms of rare diseases.

Traditional methods of pharmaceutical marketing aren’t as effective for rare disease marketing for a number of reasons. The patient pool for rare disease is considerably smaller, which means finding patients who have been diagnosed with a rare disease can be a complicated process. Many people who have a rare disease don’t realize they have the disease, and many caregivers and HCPs don’t have past experience diagnosing the disease.

How pharmaceutical companies with new rare disease drugs launch their products will be crucial to their success, however. For while all drug launches are complex, launches of rare disease treatments are particularly so. Usually, when a large company introduces such a treatment, it is entering the relevant therapeutic area for the first time. It is therefore likely to lack both expertise in the disease and in-depth understanding of the health ecosystem and of patients’ experience of the disease.
Launching a rare disease drug requires additional planning and preparation than launching a drug used by a considerably-sized population. An effective rare disease drug launch strategy requires forward thinking, thoughtfulness, progressive ideation, a patient-centric focus, and consideration for every detail.
Training to sell in the rare disease space is different from training to sell for common disorders. A small but knowledgeable sales force must be able to target academic and community specialists. These sales representatives MUST be trained to be one step ahead of the medical community, more informed and conversant than the physicians they call on, and better able to provide guidance on how to generate a differential diagnosis.