Target audience

• Life sciences industry professionals from early stage to large companies (pharma, medtech, biotech, diagnostics, nutrition, cosmetics and digital health)
• PhDs & Postdocs intending to enter the life sciences industry (2-3 years professional experience in life sciences is recommended)
• Scientists in research centers from public or private sectors planning to build a business
• Healthcare professionals: physicians, pharmacists, etc.
• Professionals in healthcare NGOs

Introduction

Local life sciences firms are extremely accurate in collecting reliable data in the lab and producing highly innovative products. However, developing a new product and launching that product are two different undertakings.

Marketing and sales skills – often neglected and unknown by scientists, researchers, or clinicians – are essential to successfully bring life sciences products (namely: pharma, medtech, biotech, diagnostics, nutrition, cosmetics and digital health products) to market.

Objectives

• Master the marketing and sales processes of a product launch in life sciences, from pre-launch to business development
• Master the basics of strategic thinking in life sciences marketing and planning
• Understand the specificities of life sciences marketing
• Become familiar with the most common marketing and sales tactics and tools applicable to the life sciences industry
• Be able to adapt communication style and tools to efficiently engage various types of stakeholders (key opinion leaders, healthcare professionals, patients, etc)
• Understand the specificities of sales strategies in the life sciences sector
• Network with professionals in the field
• Interact with life sciences experts

Cursus & Certification

Cursus

The Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Life Sciences Product Management is a 323-hour course, split into:

• 3 modules combining instructor-led training (36 hours/module), e-learning (12 hours/module) and personal work (approx. 48 hours/module)
• a personal project (business case format) representing approx. 35 hours of personal work

The program will be held form February to July 2021. Face-to-face training will take place on Thursday afternoons (from 13:30 to 17:30) and Fridays (from 8:30 to 17:30).

Title

• A Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Life Sciences Product Management will be granted jointly by HEC Lausanne and the Faculty of Biology and Medicine from the University of Lausanne (UNIL) upon completion of the entire program.
  12 ECTS credits are awarded.
• A certificate of attendance will be delivered to participants completing modules on an individual basis.
  To apply to the individual modules, please contact thierry.weber@unil.ch

Consult the Academic Regulations.

Program

Schedule might be subject to minor modifications. Overall objectives and red thread will remain as stated below.

MODULE 1 – PRE-LAUNCH: LIFE SCIENCES MARKETING STRATEGY AND PLANNING
DURATION: 6 days of which 1.5 day in e-learning

Overall objective: Get your marketing strategy right and prepare your market

# 1. Market analysis, business intelligence
Objective: understand your market and your target(s) and define how to reach out to them

• e-Learning
  • Understanding the market; Patient flow techniques; Market, product and competitors analysis
• February 11, 2021
  • Market analysis techniques in the life sciences sector
• February 12, 2021
  • Customer identification and profiling: review all potential customers, influencers and deciders in the healthcare sector
  • Life sciences business intelligence

# 2. Marketing strategy & branding
Objectives: Define your marketing campaign and branding / Understand the Legal & Compliance landscape and navigate common pitfalls

• e-Learning
  • Localising the brand vision; Stakeholders analysis; SWOT; Product strategy; Positioning
• March 4, 2021
  • Introduction to general marketing; Specificities of life sciences marketing
• March 5, 2021
  • Product cycle management: Marketing strategy & planning; Branding basics; Marketing follow-up and adjustments; Marketing tactics & channels; eMarketing
  • Overview of most relevant Laws & Regulations and industry codes and their significance to pre-launch and launch activities; Tools to navigate common pitfalls and case studies

# 3. P&L, Business Model Structure, Pricing Strategy, Portfolio Strategy
Objectives: Understand P&L / Define a pricing strategy for your product

• e-Learning
  • Finance for marketing; Pricing
• March 18, 2021
  • Introduction to P&L management and forecasting; Review of P&L for different business models
• March 19, 2021
  • Pricing strategy review of fundamentals and pricing practices
  • Spending money efficiently with vendors; Collaboration with appropriate vendors to develop and launch your product

MODULE 2 – PRODUCT LAUNCH
DURATION: 6 days of which 1.5 day in e-learning

Overall objective: Successfully launch your life sciences product

# 4. Commercial modeling, sales strategy
Objective: Understand how to build a commercial model

• e-Learning
  • Strategic negotiation
• March 25, 2021
  • What top performers consistently do (link between sports and business)
• March 26, 2021
  • Customer insights; Segmentation; value proposition
  • Commercial model

# 5a. Preparing the product launch
Objective: Manage your product launch

• e-Learning
  • Profiling and segmentation; Targeting and resource allocation
• April 22, 2021
  • Promoting your product to Key Opinion Leaders, dialoguing with Key Opinion Leaders
• April 23, 2021
  • Mastering your product launch, on an international level

# 5b. Communicating with patients

• April 23, 2021
  • Medical Education; Communicating with the patient: ethical communication (Direct To Patient communication)

# 6. Portfolio strategy, trade and distribution
Objective: Define realistic trade and distribution strategy

• e-Learning
  • Portfolio analysis; Forecasting within the launch environment
• May 6, 2021
  • Portfolio strategy; Build efficiencies within operations to improve gross margin, implementation strategy, development, operations, quality and regulatory compliance
• May 7, 2021
  • Setting up third party logistics; Licensure filings, trade & distribution agreements
  • Distribution strategy and planning

MODULE 3 – LIFE SCIENCES BUSINESS GROWTH (POST-LAUNCH PHASE)
DURATION: 6 days of which 1.5 day in e-learning

Overall objective: Grow your business & generate strategic alliances

# 7. Group project preparation & Negotiation skills
Objective: Understand how to negotiate a business deal

• e-Learning
  • Preparing the organisation; Assigning resources
• May 20, 2021
  • Group project preparation (group work)
• May 21, 2021
  • Negotiation skill

# 8. Business development following launch & Sales strategy
Objective: Make your business grow

• e-Learning
  • Multi-channel marketing
• June 3, 2021
  • Implementing your tactics after launch
• June 4, 2021
  • Sales strategy; Key account management
  • Workshop; Cases

# 9. SERIOUS GAME
Objective: Put the course content into practice

• e-Learning
  • Optional e-Learning
• June 24, 2021
  • Serious Game (e-Learning conclusion)
• June 25, 2021
  • Serious Game (e-Learning conclusion)
  • Group project presentation

E-LEARNING – SERIOUS GAME

Working in groups, participants will use an interactive e-learning program – serious “war game” – which addresses strategic marketing concepts from portfolio analysis to pricing, including strategic negotiation and brand lifecycle management. Through this ”learning by doing” exercise, participants will find out the costs and rewards of different strategies and their impacts on their competitor’s one as in real life. This serious game is produced by Actando SA of Geneva and moderated by a team of experts.

EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE

The educational experience will be highly interactive and maximise long-term impact. There will be a balanced mix between e-learning and face-to-face courses. We will promote self-reflexivity to ensure that participants engage fully in the learning experience and there will be plenty of networking opportunities.

Organisation

The programme faculty is drawn from both university and industry. They are all recognized experts in their respective fields.

Organising Entities

• Faculty of Business and Economics (HEC Lausanne), University of Lausanne
• Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne

In collaboration with:

• Biopôle SA

Directors’ Committee

• Prof. Jeffrey Petty
  Professor of Entrepreneurship at HEC Lausanne; Academic director of the EMBA program, HEC Lausanne, University of Lausanne
• Prof. Patrick Schoettker, MD
  Professor of Anaesthesiology, CHUV Lausanne and Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne; Life sciences entrepreneur
• Thierry Weber, MD
  CEO Vivactis; Life sciences business Consultant, and Lecturer in charge of Healthcare Strategy and Marketing module, EMBA program, HEC Lausanne, University of Lausanne; Life sciences entrepreneur
• Nasri Nahas
  CEO Biopôle; 20 years of experience in the life sciences sector through roles in applied research, business development and general management
• Pascal Paschoud
  Executive Director, Formation Continue UNIL-EPFL

Practical information

Course venue

Biopôle, Epalinges-Lausanne, Switzerland

Admission criteria

• University/HES degree (Bachelor or Master) or equivalent
• 2-3 years professional experience in life sciences is recommended
• Fluency in English (courses given in English)

Registration

The following information will need to be included with the online registration form:

• a motivation letter
• a CV
• copies of your diplomas

Course fee *

• CAS (3 modules): CHF 9’500.-**
• Individual modules (depending on available places): CHF 3’500.-/module (To apply to the individual modules, please contact thierry.weber@unil.ch)

* based on the price of the last edition

** 10% special discount for contributing members of EPFL Alumni, for contributing members of HEC Alumni and for graduates from FBM-UNIL

Registration deadline

Registration closed
Number of participants limited to 20.

Contact for academic & administrative questions

• thierry.weber@unil.ch

Useful documents and links

Un cours pour apprendre à vendre la science, article published in the newspaper “24 heures” on November 8, 2019.

Alumni testimonial

“The CAS was a great opportunity to explore territories beyond my daily practice of project management and product development. This CAS widened my horizon and equipped me with the tools required for successful product launches, a must for a corporate product manager or a multi-tasks member of a small innovative biotech company like me.” Romain Wyss, Gnubiotics Sciences SA, Epalinges, Switzerland

“It was a great course which has fulfilled all my expectations. There was a high level of organization and a pleasant atmosphere during the whole course. Both teachers and organizers succeeded in creating a collegial and learning environment that leads to the exchange of ideas and discussion regarding the application of product management in Life Sciences. The course was excellent, the location and ambience of the course was ideal for such engaging studies. There were participants from diverse field of studies in Life Sciences with diverse experiences in startups, academia and industry. The organizers and teachers always encouraged us to ask questions and were happy to help with our doubts. I believe that the training provided by this course has provided me with a solid footing from which to expand my knowledge and practice of product management in Life Sciences. I want to thank both the organizers and the teachers for an excellent course and overall experience.”  Charlotte Broenimann, Seedbiosciences SA

“The CAS in Life Science Product Management provided me with key knowledge of marketing and sales processes needed for a successful launch of a life science product. It was very exciting, as a formed PhD, to learn what comes after pure research: the business, the tactics, the strategic thinking. The lectures had a good mix of relevant theory, practical examples and case studies. The final business case project was a real dive into all the relevant topics of the course and allowed us to put the theory into practice. But in my opinion the special ingredient was the environment created in the room: participants from different backgrounds sharing in an informal way their diverse and unique knowledge and high quality speakers portraying their real world experiences with all their passion for their jobs.I feel that this was a valuable opportunity to link my scientific background with the pharma marketing world and to set a solid ground for my future career.” Alessia Baldo, Lausanne