The BioPharma world is a fast-evolving one, but Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and Key External Experts (KEEs) remain the core component of transforming awareness into action.
What is KOL/KEE Identification and what are some scenarios in which it might be done?
KOL/KEE Identification and mapping is pinpointing highly respected, distinguished, and credentialed experts mapped to your desired therapeutic class(es), geographic areas, clinical expertise, and experience with similar products.
It’s often used in conjunction with virtually every major peer-to-peer healthcare communications strategy: Ad boards, new product launches, new indications and new clinical data, new competitor entrance, all which ultimately feeds into building and maintaining a speakers bureau.
We recently held a roundtable discussion with our own internal experts – Howard Drazner, Executive Vice President; Tim Dembinski, Vice President, Strategic Development; Michelle Haag, Senior Director, Technology Innovation and Creative Services; and Marc Sabau, Software Engineer II – to explore V2V’s focus on KOL/KEE identification and mapping. Here’s what they shared:
What are the common pain points that come from doing traditional KOL identification and mapping?
Michelle Haag
Senior Director, Technology Innovation and Creative Services
The data can often be provided in a very large and complex file that’s difficult to sort and filter. Trying to wrap your brain around that data set and figure it out can be a challenge. We try to simplify that process of drilling down to those actionable insights to make it faster and easier for you to get from point A to point B.
Tim Dembinski
Vice President, Strategic Development
The pain point is credibility. You share with the sales force who the KOLS are, and they question if they have not heard of or do not call on a particular KOL, often ask and question what criteria is that based on? A relevant, defendable, and compliant KOL study is very objective, very strategic in terms of how they’re scored, how they become included as a KOL. When you present objective data, you become much more credible for people who will challenge your list and say ‘I’m not friends with those people’ or ‘I don’t know those people in my territory. I’ve never met them, therefore they can’t be KOL.’ It takes some of the subjectivity and emotion out of it.
How can a strategic partner offer a nuanced perspective to the data?
Howard Drazner
Executive Vice President
A great partner delivers the information the client truly needs—not peripheral or superfluous details, but the core data that matters. One of our litmus tests is this: when we review the initial key data parameters for a study, and a customer asks whether a particular study (or set of studies) was included, 99% of the time it’s already there. That consistency builds credibility. Ultimately, our deep knowledge and understanding of KEEs are real differentiators.
How can technology and software assist in organizing complex data?
Michelle Haag
Senior Director, Technology Innovation and Creative Services
What we do that’s different from what the big box companies do is we offer a bespoke application. If you’ve got a feature that needs to work for your organization, if you ask most agencies to change their software to work with your workflow, it’s not gonna happen. You have to modify yourself to fit them. Because we have a bespoke application, we’re willing to turn your wish list into customized software solutions that work with you and your workflow versus the other way around.
Marc Sabau
Software Engineer II
I have never been a fan of email chains, especially when they are being used to collaborate on huge spreadsheets. The study I am working on right now has nearly 100,000 rows across multiple tabs, and that amount of data is overwhelming for most people. It becomes almost impossible to manage through email attachments. Everyone edits their own copy and sends it back and forth, which creates several different versions with no clear source of truth. With our KNECT enterprise offering, all contributors operate inside one shared portal, so updates stay consistent and real time, and no one has to chase down spreadsheet versions in their inbox.
How do we serve different teams at different stages of a product’s development cycle?
Tim Dembinski
Vice President, Strategic Development
We can customize and work with the company’s needs, where if you buy a big box report, you’re basically looking for pearls, hoping there’s enough in there that can make it worth your investment. We can be very focused and provide analysis based on their needs so that they’re not paying for anything extra that they don’t need.
Howard Drazner
Executive Vice President
Our study development strategy is driven by where a client is in the life cycle of an agent. For example, in early development, the types of KEEs you engage will differ from those needed in a late Phase 3 timeframe. Early on, the focus is typically on clinical trial development or determining whether the agent is worth pursuing. In later phases, the priorities shift toward curriculum and content development, as well as broader educational initiatives.
What does V2V do to ensure that all data is secured?
Michelle Haag
Senior Director, Technology Innovation and Creative Services
It’s a closed system, so there are no emails that go out from the system. What happens in the system stays in the system.
Marc Sabau
Software Engineer II
Your data is fully isolated. We use strict end-to-end encryption and place every layer behind strong firewalls. Your information stays protected, contained, and accessible only to the right people.
How often should identification and mapping be done?
Tim Dembinski
Vice President, Strategic Development
It depends on what’s going on in your particular market. Are you in a market that is evolving quickly? In oncology, there’s a lot of science and it’s moving quickly. You read something from last month and it’s now outdated. In a quickly evolving market, there could be a case where you do this once a year to stay ahead of the science. But for more established products, I would say once every two or three years, unless you have a new indication coming down the pipeline.
Howard Drazner
Executive Vice President
The appropriate frequency depends on the type of data you’re evaluating. For example, if the focus is on social media or digital opinion leaders—areas that evolve rapidly—you may need more frequent updates. In contrast, publications or guidelines typically develop more slowly. As a general rule, conducting a study annually is the most we would recommend. For medical affairs in early-phase development, a single study may be sufficient. Ultimately, the key is understanding who your customers are and what they truly need.
Identifying, recruiting, and retaining the best KOLs and KEEs is the foundational building block for impactful medical communications programs. From organizing complex data to bespoke platforms tailored to BioPharma, V2V is redefining what KOL identification and mapping—seamlessly blending technology with a deep understanding of the human connections at the heart of healthcare.
Learn more about how KOL ID & Mapping can set your peer-to-peer programs up for success.
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