Bio-pharmaceutical Companies rely heavily on Advisory Boards for strategic inputs and direction on various marketing, clinical, payer and physician related issues that affect business operations. Best Practices, LLC recently undertook a study to establish benchmarks on effective advisory board management at small pharmaceutical and medical device organizations. This study provides insights and metrics on appropriate structure for various types of advisory boards, selection of advisory board members, advisory board operational and resource benchmarks. It also highlights the top challenges, winning strategies and best practices in conducting effective advisory boards at small bio-pharmaceutical companies.

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Strategic Benchmarking Research & Analysis
Benchmarking Advisory Board Management At Small
Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Organizations

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Table of Contents
 Executive Summary pgs. 3-8
 Research Overview pg. 3
 Participating Companies pg. 4
 Key Recommendations pg. 5
 Segments and Abbreviations pg. 6
 Key Findings & Insights pgs. 7-14
 Structure Of Advisory Boards pgs. 15-23
 Selection of Advisory Board Participants pgs. 24-32
 Operations Of Advisory Boards pgs. 33-46
 Cost Of Advisory Boards pgs. 47-53
 Challenges & Best Practices pgs. 54-60
 Benchmark Profile pgs. 61-64
 About Best Practices, LLC pg. 65-66

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Field Research & Insight Development:
Thirty-five survey responses from Medical Affairs,
Marketing and Patient Advocacy leaders at 29
biopharmaceutical & Medical Device companies. This
reports provides segmentation and insights from a
mid-sized company perspective.
Additional deep-dive interviews with 7 selected
executives who participated in the study.
• Identify Critical Benchmarks
for advisory boards
Operations
• Provide Cost Benchmarks for
Running advisory boards
Research Objectives & Methodology
Research Objectives:
 Best Structure for Different Types of Advisory Boards
 Selection of Advisory Board Participants
 Benchmarking Operations Of Advisory Boards
 Cost Of Advisory Boards
 Top Challenges & Best Practices Of Conducting Advisory Boards
Business Objective:
A well-run advisory board requires optimum investment in resources and operations. To maximize the return on investment, life
science professionals must ensure the quality of meetings and the dialogue that occurs with the advisory board. This research
can help pharmaceutical and medical device executives to best run and organize advisory boards.

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Universe of Learning: Research Participants from Study
This study engaged 35 executives from 29 leading life sciences companies. Segmentation analysis was key to examining trends
and effective practices. Twelve participants from 12 companies with annual revenues less than $1 Billion USD comprise the
Small Companies Segment (SC). Most responses came from the United States and Canada (63%) followed by Asia (20%).
Benchmark Class
Small Companies Segment

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Segments and Abbreviations
Segments:
• TBC: Total Benchmark Class
• Small Companies Segment (SC): SC is defined as companies with < $1 billion annual revenue.
Abbreviations:
• Advisory Boards: Advisory Boards
• TBC: Total Benchmark Class
• SC: Small Companies

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Achieving Success At Advisory Boards Is A Function Of 7 Critical Steps
Set Clear
Objectives
Target Right
Participants
Keep Communication Flowing
To Advisory Board Members
Target Right Participants
Track Payments To Ensure
Compliance
Decide Meeting Frequency
& Duration
Share Results
Align Advisory Board
Responsibility To A Function
Set Clear Objectives
Best Practices for
Effective Advisory
Boards

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Key Findings and Insights
 Physician and Clinical Advisory Boards Most Common: Six out of 10 total benchmark maintain
physician and clinical advisory boards.
 Segments: Two-thirds of the small companies have physician advisory boards currently present
while half of them have clinical advisory boards. A little less than 50% of small companies are
hosting marketing advisory boards.
 Many Companies Do Not Use Payer Advisory Boards: Payer advisory boards are relatively new and
only 29% of total benchmark currently use them. With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the
importance of payer advisory boards will increase over time.
 Segments: Only 17% of small companies have payer advisory boards, indicating that they are
still in nascent stages in this segment.
 Number of Participants Range From 9-11 Across Different Advisory Boards: Payer and clinical
advisory boards average around 9 participants while marketing advisory board participants’ average at 11
and physician advisory boards at 10.
 Segment: Similar to the total benchmark, small companies have average, of 9, 11 and 10
participants across clinical, marketing and physician advisory boards. However, average
participant counts for benchmark companies and small companies vary slightly for payer
advisory boards.
 Top Challenges: The top three challenges that study participants face when conducting advisory board
meetings are selecting members/location(45%), managing advisory boards (36%), and physician
availability (36%).
The following key findings and insights emerged from this study.

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8%
17%
42%
50%
67%
20%
29%
49%
60%
60%
Others
Payer Advisory
Board
Marketing Advisory
Board
Clinical Advisory
Board
Physician Advisory
Board
Total Benchmark Class Small-cap Companies
Q. Please indicate the advisory board(s) that currently has a presence in you organization.
Compared to 60% of total benchmark, 67% of small companies have physician advisory boards, while half currently support
clinical advisory boards. Compared to the total benchmark, marketing and payer advisory boards are less common at small
companies.
Small Companies Largely Host Physician and Clinical Advisory Boards
% Respondents
N=12
Others: Patient, Scientific Advisory
Board
Area Of Advisory Board
N=35

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Q. Please provide the number of participants present in your advisory board.
On average, both total benchmark and small companies have similar number of participants across clinical, marketing and
physician advisory boards. However, the number of participants for payer advisory boards is less at small companies.
Number Of Advisory Board Participants At Total Benchmark Class and
Small Companies Match
N=11-22
9.2
11.2
9.4
10.2
8.8
10.9
8.2
9.9
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
12.0
Clinical Advisory Board Marketing Advisory
Board
Payer Advisory Board Physician Advisory
Board
Average Number Of Participants in Each Segment
Total Benchmark Class Small-Cap Companies
N=3-7

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Interview participants reported that the size varies according to a number of factors beginning with the
key purpose, regional focus and the level of clinical / scientific expertise required for the advisory board.
Factors Influencing Number of Advisory Board Participants
Factors
Influencing
Advisory
Board
Structures
National
KOLs vs
Regional
KOLs
Advisory
Board
Purpose
Therapeutic
Area
Clinical Trial
Experience
Geography
Need for
Scientific
Expertise

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Q, Please indicate the preferred reach of advisory board members.
N=11-23
Companies continue to seek out national participants or create advisory boards with a national reach, as opposed to a regional
reach. That said, regional participants can be important for both physician and payer advisory boards as companies will explore
regional regulations and differences that can influence how a drug is presented in a specific geography
National Participants and Reach Favored for Most Advisory Boards
% Respondents
Reach of Participants
Total Benchmark
Class 86%
47%
64%
52%
5%
26%
36%
13%
9%
26% 35%
Clinical Advisory Board Marketing Advisory
Board
Payer Advisory Board Physician Advisory
Board
National Regional Both
Small-cap
Companies
N=5-8
86%
50%
63% 63%
14%
33% 13% 13%
17% 25% 25%
Clinical Advisory Board Marketing Advisory
Board
Payer Advisory Board Physician Advisory
Board

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Q. Do you outsource any part of the advisory board work?
N=25
Fifty-two percent of benchmark participant outsource some part of advisory board work to vendors. Similarly, 55% of small
companies outsource advisory board related jobs to vendors.
Small Organizations and Total Benchmark Class Outsource Almost Same
Percentage of Advisory Board Work
% Respondents
Yes, 52%
No, 48%
Total Benchmark Class
Outsourcing
Yes, 55%
No, 45%
Small-cap Companies

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Q. What are the top three challenges you encountered when conducting advisory boards?
N=22
Benchmark class members identified several challenges that they face while conducting advisory boards meetings. The top
three challenges are selecting members (45%), managing and planning advisory boards (36%) and physicians availability (36%).
Selecting Appropriate Members is Most Tricky
% Respondents
14%
14%
18%
23%
23%
27%
27%
36%
36%
45%
Regulatory Hurdles
Others
Fees
Scheduling
Ensuring Actionable Endpoints
Content
Getting Active Participation
Physcian's Avaliability
Moderating/Management/Planning
Selecting Members/Location
Top Challenges
Other Responses
• How to keep a stable group of advisors
• Getting contracts back from Legal in a timely
manner
• Commercial involvement

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N=35
The vast majority of insights (approximately 63% ) in this benchmark study come from bio-pharma professionals serving the
United States market. Study insights were also contributed from bio-pharma leaders working in Asian, European, Middle East
and Australian markets.
Benchmark Research Captures Insights Mainly From US, Asia and Europe
% Respondents
US and
Canada: 63% Europe: 11%
Asia: 20%
Middle East:
3%
Australia:
3%
Q. Contact Information: Please provide the following information, which will be used for classification purposes and
to ensure that you receive your copy of the study deliverable.
Geography

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Q. Please indicate your industry. [Choose all that apply.]
Participation came from across various industries in each segments. Overall 71% of companies represented pharma industry
while around 20% were from bio-tech and medical devices each.
Insights Harvested from Organizations Representing Different Industries
% Respondents
N=35
Others: Nutrition
Service provider
Industry
71%
23%
20%
9%
6%
77%
30%
67%
0%
0%
80%
20%
20%
10%
10%
58%
25%
25%
17%
8%
Pharmaceutical
Biotechnology
Medical Device
Diagnostic
Other
Total Benchmark Class Large Companies Mid-cap Companies Small Companies

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Best Practices®, LLC is an internationally recognized thought leader in the field of best practice
benchmarking®. We are a research, consulting, benchmark database, publishing and advisory firm that
conducts work based on the simple yet profound principle that organizations can chart a course to superior
economic performance by leveraging the best business practices, operating tactics and winning strategies of
world-class companies.
6350 Quadrangle Drive, Suite 200
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
(Phone): 919-403-0251
www.best-in-class.com
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