Economic subjects | Social insurance » Dorottya Vincze - How to bridge the healthcare information gap between EuropaBio and some of its core stakeholders

http://www.doksihu Budapest Business School FACULTY OF INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ECONOMICS COURSE International Business Enterprises specialization AVANS HOGESCHOOL INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS SCHOOL BREDA FACULTY OF INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS STUDIES HOW TO BRIDGE THE HEALTHCARE INFORMATION GAP BETWEEN EUROPABIO AND SOME OF ITS CORE STAKEHOLDERS? Prepared by: Dorottya Vincze Breda, 2009 2 http://www.doksihu Table of contents Acknowledgements . 5 Executive summary. 6 1. Introduction. 8 1.1 Objective of report, current situation and problem definition . 8 1.2 Method of working . 9 2. Marketing communication for non-profit organization 10 2.1 Definition of non-profit organizations. 10 2.2 Marketing communication of non-profit organization . 11 2.3 Developing an integrated marketing communication strategy . 11 3. Formulating an effective communication strategy 13 4. 5. 6. 3.1 The communication process . 13 3.2

Multi-steps in developing effective communication . 14 Overall introduction of Healthcare Biotechnology. 20 4.1 What is biotechnology? . 20 4.2 History of healthcare biotechnology. 21 4.3 Healthcare biotechnology today . 21 Introduction of EuropaBio. 23 5.1 Europabio. 23 5.2 Organizational structure. 24 Analysis of the current situation. 25 6.1 External analysis . 25 6.11 Current market situation of healthcare bioindustry 25 6.12 Strengths and weaknesses 26 6.13 Future of healthcare bioindustry 27 6.14 Threats and opportunities 27 6.2 Internal analysis . 29 6.21 Secondary research 29 6.22 Primary research 32 6.221 Internal interviews 32 6.222 Interviews with patient advocates 33 7. Communication plan . 37 7.1 Objectives of the communication plan . 37 7.2 Target audience of the communication plan. 37 3 http://www.doksihu 7.3 8. Current communication channels . 39 Key gaps and obstacles driving action . 40 8.1 Developing online media channels . 40 8.2

Educating policy makers on healthcare biotechnology . 45 8.21 20 October Strasbourg 45 8.22 Brussels day 48 9. Measuring achievement of the communication plan . 52 10. Recommendation 53 10.1 Internal recommendation . 53 10.2 External recommendation . 53 Conclusion . 55 Appendix. 56 Bibliography . 60 4 http://www.doksihu Acknowledgements The preparation of my graduation report would not have been possible without the support of several people. I would like to express my gratitude to the whole Healthcare Biotechnology team who gave me the possibility to complete this thesis at EuropaBio. First I would like to thank the Director of Healthcare Biotechnology Mr. Ludovic Lacaine for giving me the possibility to spend my internship at the Healthcare Biotechnology sector of EuropaBio. I also would like to thank him for treating me as a colleague. Secondly I am deeply indebted to the Manager of Healthcare Biotechnology and my company mentor as well, Ms Julie Kjestrup, for her

continuous support and vital encouragement. Furthermore to Andrea Campbell, Communication Officer for the help and inspiration she expended. Finally, to the whole EuropaBio team, who all treated me as an equal colleague. Vincze Dorottya 5 http://www.doksihu Executive Summary The purpose of this report was to work out a communication plan for the Healthcare Biotechnology department of EuropaBio. The graduation assignment was given by EuropaBio in order to bridge the Healthcare information gap between EuropaBio and some of its core stakeholders, specifically policy makers. Nowadays in many different areas of our life we can hear the word biotechnology, but most of us have only a vague idea what it means exactly. I would argue that most of the people tend to associate the world biotechnology with GM food, biofuels or even cloning. However biotechnology covers a wide range of disciplines Normally, we can divide the technology into three different parts; industrial (white),

agricultural (green) and healthcare (red) biotech. There is also blue biotechnology, which is marine and aquatic applications of biotechnology, but its use is relatively rare1 and not dealt with at EuropaBio. One of the most important fields is the healthcare biotechnology. “Healthcare biotechnology refers to a medicinal or diagnostic product or a vaccine that consists of, or has been produced in, living organisms and may be manufactured via recombinant technology”2. New therapies like stem cell, gene therapy and proteomics are also part of healthcare biotechnology. To this date, more than 200 medicines have been developed using healthcare biotechnology. The industry is growing and more and more medicines in the pipeline are made using biotechnology. There is no doubt that healthcare biotechnolgy has a bright future and many areas of healthcare biotechnology are still waiting for exploitation. In my opinion, the recognition and public understanding of healthcare biotechnology is

neglected. Policy makers are not aware enough of the technology The political climate for the pharmaceutical industry is not favorable and biotech companies cannot communicate their messages directly to the patients due to European Regulations (Directive 2001/83/EC on Community code relating to medicinal products). To make the policy makers aware of healthcare biotechnology we have to improve the current communication channels and find the most effective channels to disseminate the information. 1 2 Wikipedia: Biotechnology, http://en.wikipediaorg/wiki/Biotechnology EuropaBio: Healthcare biotechnology, http://www.europabioorg/Healthcare/HC abouthtm 6 http://www.doksihu EuropaBio, the European Association for Bioindustries, recognized the need for an integrated communication plan to address these shortfalls. The overarching theme of the communication plan is the communication of healthcare biotech to EuropaBio’s stakeholders, especially policy makers. The aim of the plan is to

improve and shape the public understanding of healthcare biotechnology and “translate” the technology into easily understandable messages to the major stakeholder group, specifically policy makers. To strengthen the communication capabilities at European level, the Plan focuses on the development of the communication materials, improvement of the EuropaBio website and the communication of the messages through two events aimed at Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), taking place in October and December. Amongst the key developments are: ¾ development of the communication materials through research and website development ¾ further use of forward looking communication channels like Twitter and Facebook ¾ setting up an FAQ on the webpage ¾ distributing up-to-date news on the biotech sector by organizing networking events. 7 http://www.doksihu 1. Introduction 1.1 Objective of report, current situation and problem definition As a Healthcare and Communication Intern

at EuropaBio, the European Association for Bioindustry, I was entrusted to work out a communication plan to bridge the healthcare information gap between EuropaBio and some of its core stakeholders specifically policy makers. “Healthcare biotechnology refers to a medicinal or diagnostic product or a vaccine that consists of, or has been produced in, living organisms and may be manufactured via recombinant technology. It encompasses also gene and cell therapies”3 It has a tremendous impact on meeting the unmet needs of patients and their families. Biotechnology in healthcare not only encompasses medicines and diagnostics which are manufactured using a biotechnological process, but also cell and tissue engineered products, and includes the use and the application of key biotechnology tools in the research and development of all innovative medicines. 4 Today, the majority of innovative medicines, whether manufactured using biotechnology or via a chemical synthesis like a traditional

small molecule medicine, and many products, are made available by applying healthcare biotechnology in their development and/or manufacturing processes.5 The goal of the communication plan is to make EuropaBio’s stakeholders especially policy makers, more aware of the technology, increase their general knowledge about biotechnology and educate them on how healthcare biotechnology can make a difference in patients’ lives. In my opinion the majority of people tend to associate the word biotechnology just with GM foods or biofuels as these are the topics that usually get publicity in the media. However we rarely hear about healthcare biotechnology, and when we do, then often just in relation with cloning. 3 EuropaBio: Healthcare biotechnology, http://www.europabioorg/Healthcare/HC abouthtm EuropaBio: Healthcare biotechnology, http://www.europabioorg/Healthcare/HC abouthtm 5 EuropaBio: Healthcare biotechnology, http://www.europabioorg/Healthcare/HC abouthtm 4 8 http://www.doksihu

To address these shortfalls my task was to work out a communication plan for healthcare biotechnology and increase the general awareness on healthcare biotechnology. The objective of the report is two-fold. First, analyze the current communication strategy and its effectiveness. Secondly, to develop effective communications plan to overcome the challenges and improve and shape the general understanding of biotechnology. Furthermore to distribute up-to-date news on the biotech sector and convey dialogue between policy makers and EuropaBio’s members. 1.2 Method of working In order to better understand the current situation and work out an effective communication plan I had to split my work into three phases. The first one was an overall analysis of the current communication strategy and its effectiveness. It helped me to better understand the current situation and to recognize where a need for improvement is. The second was to work out the communication plan and implement it. In order

to make my communication plan effective, I divided this part into subparts. First I analyzed the available publications about the public perception of biotechnology. Then I conducted interviews with the competent persons within the organization to learn more about the current communication challenges. I also made in-depth interviews with patient advocates to know more about what kind of information the patients want to know. I interviewed advocates from different patient groups. I designed a series of questions for the aim to learn more about the needs and priorities of the patients. Thus I had enough information to develop the communication plan. Finally I implemented it In the last phase I measured the success of the communication plan and gave my recommendation for the future communication. I would like to emphasize that my communication plan focused on the healthcare biotechnology sector of EuropaBio and I did not go deeply into the overall communication strategy of EuropaBio. 2.

Marketing communication for non-profit organization 9 http://www.doksihu 2.1 Definition of non-profit organizations In the first part of my report, I am analyzing briefly the effective marketing communication of a non-profit organization, and then the second part is mainly about applying the theory into practice. First I am writing about the non-profit organizations in general, this part is followed by the marketing communication of a non-profit organization, including the multi-phase model for an effective communication. Then I am presenting the theory into practice by working out a communication plan for the healthcare department of EuropaBio. EuropaBio, the European Association for Bioindustry is a non-profit organization solely and uniquely bringing together bioscience companies. “A nonprofit organization is formed for the purpose of serving a public or mutual benefit other than the pursuit or accumulation of profits for owners or investors”.6 Non-profit organizations are

usually classified as either member serving (addressing the needs of only a select number of individuals) or public. There are several types of nonprofits: Charities- e.g American Red Cross Foundations- e.g, community foundations Social Welfare or Advocacy organizations- e.g GreenNet Professional/ Trade Associations- e.g, Chamber of Commerce Religious Organizations- e.g, churches7 The way how non-profit organizations collect their resources to fund their operation activity is different from a for-profit organization. The primary sources for a non-profit organization to fund its operation are donations from public or private donors. Thus they have to rely on the steady flow of donation to continue their operations. 2.2 Marketing communication of non-profit organizations 6 7 Kate Luckert: Non‐profit Organizations, http://learningtogive.org/papers/paper41html Kate Luckert: Non‐profit Organizations, http://learningtogive.org/papers/paper41html 10 http://www.doksihu Marketing and

communication are essential tools for a non-profit organization. Kotler defines “marketing as a philosophy, process, and set of strategies and tactics for influencing behavior-either changing behavior or preventing it from changing.”8 In order to achieve their objectives, non-profit and for-profit organizations are influencing behaviors directly by increasing incentives or reducing disincentives. But in the majority of nonprofit marketing strategies, influencing behavior is largely a matter of communication. It is a matter of informing target audiences about the alternatives for action, the positive consequences of choosing a particular one, and the motivations for acting (continuing to act) in a particular way.9 Non-profit organizations cannot ignore communication. Its products, employees, facilities are communicating something about the organization. To develop an influential and cost-effective communication strategy, the organization has to analyze its communication style, needs

and opportunities. The challenge to communicate the messages of a non-profit organization is a tough one. Till for profit organizations usually have one key customer group, one key benefit of a product and an aim to make profit, non-profit organizations are more complex. The objectives of a non-profit organization are usually non-financial; they have to satisfy the needs of multiple constituencies and their available resources are limited. Even so the difficulties, non-profit organizations have to deliver their messages to the target audience in a most efficient and effective way. 2.3 Developing an integrated marketing communication strategy To develop an integrated marketing communication strategy for a non-profit organization we have to begin with an analysis by looking at the market in which a sample nonprofit organization currently operates. 1) Relationship with the target audience 8 Kothler, Philip, Andreasen Alan R. (1987): Strategic Marketing for Nonprofit Organization, 3rd

edition, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, page 505 9 Kothler, Philip, Andreasen Alan R. (1987): Strategic Marketing for Nonprofit Organization, 3rd edition, Prentice Hall, New Jersey chapter 18, page 505 11 http://www.doksihu Usually non-profit organizations have to apply two strategies, as they have several constituencies for publics, both internal and external. On one hand they have to communicate effectively with their internal publics; members, clients, donors to provide the steady stream of donation to continue to serve the public good. On the other hand the organization has to communicate with the external publics; potential clients, donors, members, media, the community-at large in order to gain their support and goodwill. 2) Message control After the organization analyzed its relation with the target audience, they have to develop the messages and investigate how they can transmit the message from the source to the receiver. Is it possible to communicate with the internal and

external public directly? Does the organization have to rely on the mass media, volunteers or opinion leaders to convey the messages? The extension of the target audience will determine which intermediaries are the best to carry the messages. In case of a large audience, the mass media is the most efficient way to disseminate the message. 3) Implementation For an effective implementation we have to determine whether the message has to be communicated timely, does the implementation require more staffs or participation of volunteers, do the available resources enough or the organization has to hire an expertise. 4) Budget The final step is to set up the budget. The organization has to determine how much money can be spending to different activities.10 10 Donald R., Walter W Wymer, Teri Kline Henkey: Marketing communication for local non‐profit organizations, Volume 2, Best Business Books, The Hawroth Press 12 http://www.doksihu 3. Formulating an effective communication strategy

3.1 The communications process11 In any communication process the message sender is encoding the message and communicates it through a media to the message receiver (target audience.) who decoding it. However we have to highlight, in the real life perfect transmitting conditions, do not exist. At each stage, noise can distort the communication process which can result in a different message from what was intended. More parties involved in the process the greater the chance for distortion. In case of a non-profit organization it is important to analyze that the organization can directly communicate with its constituencies or have to rely on intermediaries such as media, volunteers or opinion leaders. To control the effects of the communication, we have to develop feedback channels to assess the audiences’ responses. In a situation, where the communication is face to face it can be easily obtained. Where it is not, pre-and post-test of message strategies must be always carried out.

Figure 1: The communication process Source: http://www.mindtoolscom/media/Diagrams/CommunicationsProcess GIF 11 Kothler, Philip, Andreasen Alan R. (1987): Strategic Marketing for Nonprofit Organization, 3rd edition, Prentice Hall, New Jersey 13 http://www.doksihu 3.2 Multi-steps in developing effective communication In order to develop an effective communication we have to consider several steps. To work out this part I applied the steps used by Philip Kothler in his book, Strategic Marketing for Non-profit organizations. a) Identifying the target audience Non-profit organizations usually have more constituencies for publics. The way how the organization communicates with its external and internal publics is not the same. When we have enough knowledge about the target audience, we can make decisions related to what, how, when and where to communicate and who will communicate it. b) Determining communication objectives Non-profit organizations have to define carefully their

objectives. Possible objectives could be: To make consumers aware of a product, service or social behavior To educate the target consumers about the offer To change beliefs To change perceptions about the sponsoring organization To influence governing agencies, commissions etc.12 c) Generating possible message Once the organization is defined its objectives it has to encode it in specific message. To design the message we can use the AIDA model as a framework. The concept of the model is that first we have to attract the attention of the target audience with our communication. After they are aware of the company, product or offer, we have to arouse their interest. The next step is to develop their desire to the company’s offer and finally to initiate them to take actions. 12 Kothler, Philip, Andreasen Alan R. (1987): Strategic Marketing for Nonprofit Organization, 3rd edition, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, page 511 14 http://www.doksihu We can use several approaches to develop

our message. First we can talk with members of the target market to learn more about how they see the product or service. Then we can make brainstorming within the organization to collect some ideas or simple use a formal framework (rational, emotional, moral, reward/situation or attitude change theory framework) to work out our possible messages. We have to consider several steps to develop an effective message. First we need to identify the content or theme of the message. The message can be rational, emotional and moral. Rational appeals aim at serving the audiences’ self-interest. It is applied to highlight the products’ quality, economic value etc. Emotional messages are tend to arouse negative or positive emotion that can motivate the desired behavior. Usually used to convince people to start doing something (collect their rubbish selectively) or stop doing something (stop smoking). Moral messages rely on the audience’s sense of what is “good” and “proper”. Moral

messages usually try to persuade people to support social causes such as better race relations, equal rights for women etc.13 The next step is to develop the structure of the message. There are three major ways to structure our message. The first one is whether to draw a conclusion or leave it to the audience. The second is to present a one-sided argument or a two-sided one The last one is to represent the strongest arguments first or last. Finally we have to give a format for the message. Formatting means to decide on the message size, position, color, shape and movement. d) Choosing media The next step is to define how the message will be transmitted to the target audience. Organizations can use some medium or a combination of media to convey the messages. The medium can be personal or impersonal Personal communication channels In personal communication channels, two or more people communicate directly with each other. The communication can be face-to-face, over the telephone,

through e-mail 13 Kothler, Philip, Andreasen Alan R. (1987): Strategic Marketing for Nonprofit Organization, 3rd edition, Prentice Hall, New Jersey 15 http://www.doksihu or via internet chat. Personal communication channels are allowing for personal addressing and feedback. In some cases the companies can control the personal communication channels directly by salespersons or contact buyers in the target market. However other personal communication channels can reach the target audience without the control of the company. These can be independent experts, friends, and family members talking to the target audience. In this channel we have to consider the effect of the word-of-month influence. Non-personal communication channels Non-personal communication channel are media that carry messages without personal contact or feedback. Non-personal communication channels include major media, atmosphere and events. Major media include Print media Newspaper: Newspaper is an effective way

for non-profit organizations to disseminate information about events to a particular community. However we have to take into account that people usually do not keep the newspapers after reading it. That is why we have to advertise number of times to reach effectively the target audience. Magazines: are usually used to reach a specific audience. Readers are buying magazines because they are interested in the topics what the magazine dealt with. Magazines contain reliable information, articles in the magazines are usually written by experts. Direct mail: is often used in fundraising campaigns. It is powerful and allows an immediate and measurable response. Broadcast media 16 http://www.doksihu Television: often used mass medium. It combines the sight and sound Advertising through television is relatively expensive compare to other advertising methods. Radio: Radio is one of the best ways to reach people on go. The majority of people are usually listening music when they are driving,

travelling, walking etc. Radio is often used to advertise special events and sponsorship. Display media Outdoor advertising (billboards, posters, vehicle ads etc.) Another best way to reach people on go. It can easily attract the attention But we have to consider that after a while people get used to it and it becomes dull. Internet: interactive and communicates with the public in such a way that they get the exact information they seeking. It has numerous applications The best ways for non-profit organizations to keep inform their constituencies. Members only section, on the webpage of the non-profit organization, makes it possible to have up-to-date communication. Using internet opened new ways to non-profit organizations to communicate with their constituencies. Blogging, e-mail, E-newsletters, social media venues are effective, particular and cheap ways to maintain communication and strengthening relation with both the external and internal publics of a non-profit organization.

Blogging: blog is a frequently updated online journal. Blog creates the easiest way to provide regular updated information. The creation of a blog is simpler than a creation of a website. As non-profit organizations you may first wonder how a blog can matter for you, because it is usually used by individuals, small groups etc to express their opinion on different topics. However I would say blogging is one of the easiest ways to publish constantly updated information to the constituencies of the nonprofit organization. 17 http://www.doksihu Social media venues: describes websites that allow users to share information, videos, express opinion about different topics etc. Popular social networking sites are Facebook and MySpace. Social media covers a wide range of websites, different photo and video sharing sites like YouTube, Photobucket, and Flickr are part of the group. We can use social media: ¾ ¾ To identify who we are and the products or services that we offer To create

relationship with people who might not otherwise know about our products or services or what our company represent ¾ To communicate and provide interaction with the external publics Non-profit organizations usually use different kinds of social media venues to deliver their messages. Facebook is one of the most popular one E-newsletter: As e-mail became one of the major communication channels for companies, newsletters delivered electronically via e-mail, replaced their printed correspondence. The aim of the E-newsletters is to distribute news and publication about topics that the subscriber is interest in. It is often used by non-profit organizations to convey news that affects its constituencies. It is also a good way to attract people to the organization’s website by providing more detailed information about the stories in the e-newsletter. RSS (Rich Site Summary): is “a format for delivering regularly changing web content”14. Different websites (especially news related

sites), blogs etc transmit their content as an RSS feed to those who subscribed for it. It is the best way to stay informed; you can get the timely updates from your favorite websites without visiting them. You can get the RSS feed from different sites Atmospheres are designed environment. For example banks are designed to communicate confidence. 14 What is RSS?, http://www.whatisrsscom/ 18 http://www.doksihu Events: are organized to communicate a particular message to the target audience. Events such as press conferences, grand opening, show, exhibitions are often organized by non-profit organizations. e) Selecting the message source The next step is to select the best message. The message has to be believable and provable and it has to say something which makes our offer exclusive and distinctive. As influencing behavior is usually involves persuasion. This requires preparation and transmitted of specific messages. The message has to contain the words and symbols that are

familiar to the receiver. Non-profit organizations often use spokespersons to disseminate their messages. However we have to be very careful in the selection of spokespersons. It is essential that the spokesperson has as strong a positive connection with the target audience as possible. The spokesperson has to be credible and trustworthy for the target audience f) Collecting feedback After we send out the messages, we have to measure its effectiveness. The simplest way to measure it, is to ask the members of the target audience. Feedback given to our marketing communication activity can help us to identify where a need for improvement is. 19 http://www.doksihu 4. Overall introduction of Healthcare Biotechnology 4.1 What is biotechnology? We can find a lot of definitions for biotechnology. One of them is “biotechnology is using organisms or their products for commercial purposes”15 Another approximation of the term is “Biotechnology is the use of biological processes,

organisms, or systems to manufacture products intended to improve the quality of human life.”16 It has four main sub-disciplines called healthcare (red), industrial (white), agricultural (green) and marine (blue) biotechnology. Red biotechnology: involves medical processes such as getting organisms to produce new drugs, or using stem cells to regenerate damaged human tissues and perhaps regrow entire organs. White biotechnology: involves industrial processes such as the production of new chemicals or the development of new fuels for vehicles. Green biotechnology: applies to agriculture and involves such processes as the development of pest-resistant grains or the accelerated evolution of disease-resistant animals. Blue biotechnology: rarely mentioned, encompasses processes in marine and aquatic environments.17 15 K. Keener, T Hoban, R Balasubramanian: Biotechnology and its applications, http://www.cesncsuedu/depts/foodsci/ext/pubs/bioapphtml 16 17 What is biotechnology?,

http://whatis.techtargetcom/definition/0,,sid9 gci1109187,00html What is biotechnology?, http://whatis.techtargetcom/definition/0,,sid9 gci1109187,00html 20 http://www.doksihu 4.2 History of Healthcare Biotechnology (Red biotechnology)18 The modern healthcare biotechnology industry is only 30 years old; the science of biotechnology has been explored since the 19th century when eminent scientists such as Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch first developed the science of microbiology, the forerunner of today’s biotechnology. In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick discovered DNA and in 1955, Fred Sanger determined the amino acid sequence of insulin. In 1972, Paul Berg created the first recombinant DNA molecule. DNA engineering has become the basis of modern biotechnology as it allows the re-arrangement (“recombination”) of so far unrelated genetic sequences and the use of those molecules for the production of recombinant proteins for medical purposes. The first biotech companies

were founded in the 1970s and many more in the early 1980s. In 1976 the first biotech company “Genentech” was established in San Francisco. Most of today’s healthcare biotech companies began life as small start-ups established by a handful of enthusiastic visionary scientist on a shoe-string budget. The hard work of the early pioneers has now come to fruition: today, over 350 million people have had their lives transformed by healthcare biotechnology treatments. 4.3 Healthcare Biotechnology today19 Healthcare biotechnology refers to a medicinal or diagnostic product or a vaccine that consists of, or has been produced in, living organisms and may be manufactured via recombinant technology. It encompasses also gene and cell therapies 18 19 EuropaBio and Biosimilar Medicines brochures 2008 EuropaBio: Healthcare Biotechnology, http://www.europabioorg/Healthcare/HC abouthtm 21 http://www.doksihu It has a tremendous impact on meeting the needs of patients and their families.

Biotechnology in healthcare not only encompasses medicines and diagnostics which are manufactured using a biotechnological process, but also cell and tissue engineered products, and includes the use and the application of key biotechnology tools in the research and development of all innovative medicines. Today, the majority of innovative medicines, whether manufactured using biotechnology or via a chemical synthesis like a traditional small molecule medicine, and many products, are made available by applying healthcare biotechnology in their development and/or manufacturing processes. More than 350 million patients have benefited from approved medicines manufactured through biotechnology and gene technology to treat or prevent heart attacks, stroke, multiple sclerosis, breast cancer, cystic fibrosis, leukemia, hepatitis, diabetes and other diseases, including rare diseases. Biotech medicines are estimated to account for more than 20% of all marketed medicines and about half of all

medicines in the pipeline. Healthcare biotechnology continues to grow annually at an average rate of 20% (more than double that of traditional pharma) and it is 7 times larger than it was 10 years ago. Currently, the leading classes of biotech therapies are growth factors for blood cells, cancer treatments, treatment of autoimmune diseases, enzyme replacement therapies to treat rare diseases and anti-diabetic therapies. For the first time in the history of human healthcare, biotechnology is enabling the development and manufacturing of therapies for a number of rare and very rare genetic diseases, collectively affecting some 20 to 30 million Europeans and their families. 22 http://www.doksihu 5. Introduction of EuropaBio 5.1 EuropaBio20 EuropaBio is the European Association for Bioindustries, solely and uniquely bringing together bioscience companies from all fields of research and processes. It has 72 corporate members operating worldwide, 5 associate members, 4 Bioregions and 26

national biotechnology associations representing some 1800 small and medium enterprises. It also welcomes associate members such as international commercial, financial, asset management and other service-providing companies, regional biotechnology development organizations and scientific institutes. The common denominator among all its members is the use of biotechnology at any stage of research, development or manufacturing. The Association was created in 1996 to provide a voice for the biotech industry at the EU level. EuropaBio’s mission is to promote an innovative and dynamic biotechnologybased industry in Europe Its corporate members have a wide range of activities: human and animal health care, diagnostics, bio-informatics, chemicals, crop protection, agriculture, food and environment products and services. The Association is actively engaged in dialogue with the European Institutions and contributes to the creation of a coherent legislation for the bioindustries.

EuropaBio ensures a steady flow of information about biotechnology to the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of Ministers. Through its member associations, EuropaBio fosters a standing dialogue with policy makers and stakeholders at a national level and cooperates with Member State governments, in particular as they prepare for an EU Presidency term. It is also devoted to informing all stakeholders, from journalists to farmers to patients, about the benefits of biotechnology. 20 EuropaBio: About EuropaBio, http://www.europabioorg/eu indexhtm 23 http://www.doksihu 5.2 Organizational structure21 EuropaBio has a board of management made up of representatives from among its members. They are assisted by sectoral councils representing the three main segments of EuropaBio: Healthcare (red biotech) Industrial (white biotech) Agriculture (green biotech) Experts from member companies and national associations actively participate in EuropaBios working groups

or taskforces which cover a very wide range of issues and areas of concern to its membership. Each working group, taskforce or committee is chaired by a member association or company and is coordinated by a EuropaBio staff member. 21 EuropaBio: About EuropaBio, http://www.europabioorg/eu indexhtm 24 http://www.doksihu 6. Analysis of the current situation 6.1 External analysis 6.11 Current market situation of the healthcare bioindustry As the leading voice for healthcare biotechnology in Europe, EuropaBio calls for healthcare systems in Europe that are committed to put the patient at the centre of any medical, social, economical and ethical consideration. EuropaBio’s healthcare sector is continuing to communicate the value of biotechnology innovation for healthcare systems in Europe. By now, more than 350 million patients have benefited from approved medicines manufactured through biotechnology and gene technology. This number will increase in the future as more and more

medicines in the pipeline are biotechnology based. Today biotech medicines are estimated to account for more than 20% of all marketed medicines. In case of innovative treatments such as growth hormones, vaccines monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancers etc, this proportion is growing. The scientific community constantly seeks to innovate and apply new approaches to address unmet medical needs. Researchers are focusing on understanding the pathway and molecular mechanisms of a given disease.22 EuropaBio’s role is to communicate the promising results to its major stakeholders and increase the awareness of healthcare biotechnology. For the better understanding it would interesting to study the opportunities of the healthcare biotechnology market. 22 EuropaBio policy document: A vision for innovation in biotechnologies in Europe 25 http://www.doksihu 6.12 Strengths and weaknesses Healthcare Bioindustry in Europe Strengths Weaknesses ¾ Healthcare biotechnology is in

the growing phase, more and more medicines in the pipeline are biotech-based ¾ It offers personalized ¾ Lack of general understanding of the technology ¾ In some cases the legislative framework is not appropriate to unique and solutions for patients with different diseases and developing therapies for rare and very rare diseases foster innovation in biotechnology ¾ Due to the complexity of biotech drugs, the development cost of a biotech drug is higher than for a conventional drug ¾ Healthcare biotechnology is a fast growing sector, the annual average growth rate of the industry is 20% EuropaBio Strengths Weaknesses ¾ It has three different working sectors (red, white and green biotechnology) ¾ As a small organization it has limited budget ¾ Healthcare biotechnology sector ¾ National Biotech Associations from different Member States are also has a higher acceptance than green biotechnology members of EuropaBio ¾ Facilitating a forward looking 26

http://www.doksihu communication strategy to communicate about the benefits of biotechnology 6.13 Future of the healthcare bioindustry To know more about the possibilities on the healthcare biotechnology market, I analyzed the future of the industry. According to a report conducted by the OECD by “2015 virtually all new drugs will be produced using biotechnology”23. A report from Ernst& Young also highlighted the growing perspective of the industry. As stated in the report after the bubble year in 2000 the industry continued its growth which attracted new investors. Since 2002 the annual growth rate of the amount of capital raised by the industry was 36%. Now the market is building on its sustained strength24 6.14 Threats and opportunities However, the industry will continue to face some significant challenges due to the credit crunch. As a result of the financial crisis, less capital is available to invest in biotechnology. This has put a big pressure on the biotech

companies, especially SMEs, as their funding opportunities are limited. Barriers like decreasing government spending, ongoing workforce shortages, healthcare service providers, and social acceptance are still in the way of the development of biotechnologies. 23 24 OECD report : The Biotechnology to 2030: designing a policy agenda chapter 4 Ernst& Young report: Beyond Borders, Global Biotechnology report 2008 27 http://www.doksihu Bioindustry in Europe Threats ¾ Due to the financial crisis, less capital investment in biotechnology ¾ Biotech drugs are still expensive compared to conventional drugs Opportunities ¾ More and more medicines in the pipeline are biotech based ¾ Patient are recognizing the importance of biotechnology ¾ Decreasing government spending ¾ Aging population is creating an and shortage of credit to finance increased demand for healthcare biotech development projects services To conclude this part, we can say that the opportunities for the

healthcare bioindustry are promising. The increased demand for healthcare services, higher positive public perception of biotechnology and its uniqueness to provide solutions for patients with rare diseases is contributing to the further growth of the healthcare bioindustry sector. However the industry is still facing some challenges. It has to overcome the financial difficulties, further increase the public perception of biotechnology and find out possible ways to collaborate with policy makers to facilitate a coherent legislation for biotechnology applications. 28 http://www.doksihu 6.2 Internal analysis The aim of the communication plan is to bridge the extant Healthcare information gap. We targeted two main groups with our communication plan; one of them is the policy makers such as members of the European Parliament, Commission and Permanent Representation, the other is the general public, especially patients. To be able to work out an effective communication plan and know

the most relevant characteristics and factors, I made secondary and primary researches. To know better the general public’s opinion about biotechnology, I analyzed the currently available publications about the public perception of biotechnology. In addition I conducted face-to-face interviews with the competent persons within the organization to have more insight on the current issues. Finally I interviewed patient advocates from different patient groups to understand better the needs of the patients. 6.21 Secondary research To widen my knowledge about biotechnology and how people see biotechnology I analyzed different studies measuring the public perception of biotechnology. By analyzing these reports I could learn more about the public perception of biotechnology and how it has been changed from 1990. As stated in a report, contrasting public perception of biotechnology in the United States and Europe, while in the United State GM crops were gaining more and more market shares in

the middle of the 90s decade, the cloning of the Dolly Sheep in 1997 became a largely negative prominent public and political issue in Europe.25 Life science companies started to launch different public relation campaigns to increase the public perception of GM crops in 1998. However the campaigns were not 25 G.Gaskell, N C Allum, M W Bauer, J Durant: The origins of the consumer revolt in Europe: A transatlantic comparison 1998, http://old.lseacuk/Depts/lses/restricted/literature/cup/transatlanticrtf 29 http://www.doksihu successful, with supermarkets introducing boycotts of GM foods in many European countries. A research study published in 1999 further hampered the situation The research said rats fed on a diet of gm foods suffered ill-health and in the media this exploded in a criticism of modern biotechnology. However whilst the perception of GM crops still remains an esoteric issue in the public, the pharmaceutical division of biotechnology became successful in the late

1990s.26 Different studies conducted by the European Commission also indicated that whilst the medical and industrial applications of biotechnology increased significantly after 2000, Europeans are still skeptical about agricultural biotech. The Commission conducted surveys in 1991, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2002 and 2005. They asked around 1000 people in every Member States and got a representative sample of 25 000 respondents. The result of the 2005 survey highlighted that optimism about biotechnology has increased since 1999, after a decline from 1991 to 1999. European citizens are more optimistic about technology, more informed and more trusting of biotechnology. 27 Figure 2: Index of optimism about five technologies Source: European Commission report: “Europeans and Biotechnology in 2005: Patterns and Trends” page 12 26 G.Gaskell, N C Allum, M W Bauer, J Durant: The origins of the consumer revolt in Europe: A transatlantic comparison 1998,

http://old.lseacuk/Depts/lses/restricted/literature/cup/transatlanticrtf 27 European Commission report: “Europeans and Biotechnology in 2005: Patterns and Trends” (Eurobarometer 64.3), http://ec.europaeu/research/press/2006/pr1906encfm 30 http://www.doksihu The study also measured the scientific knowledge and participation in activities related to biotechnology; the study called it ‘modes of engagement’ with biotechnology. Based on the citizens’ responses to the questions about participation and knowledge, the study divided the citizens into four main groups. We can see on the pie chart that 40% of the European ‘unengaged’ with biotechnology. This means, before the survey they not having heard, read or talked about biotechnology. Another large group is the ‘European Spectator’ who may have heard or read about biotechnology before the survey. The other two groups is the ‘active’ and ‘attentive’ European who has heard, read and talked about biotechnology or

even searched for information on the Internet. However the report emphasized that we cannot say that there is a simple relationship between knowledge and active engagement in biotechnology.28 Figure 3: Four modes of engagement with biotech 28 European Commission report: “Europeans and Biotechnology in 2005: Patterns and Trends” (Eurobarometer 64.3), http://ec.europaeu/research/press/2006/pr1906encfm 31 http://www.doksihu Source: European Commission report: “Europeans and Biotechnology in 2005: Patterns and Trends” page 63 From my secondary research I can conclude, the public perception of biotechnology increased from 1999. People are more optimistic about biotechnology and more and more people hear, read etc about biotechnology. However the general knowledge about biotechnology is still low, as indicated in the European Commission’s report, 40% of the Europeans have not heard from biotechnology before. 6.22 Primary research During my graduation assignment my main

task was to carry out a communication plan for the healthcare biotechnology department. In order to work out an effective communication plan first I made an overall analysis about the current communication strategy and channels of EuropaBio. Hereby I got a clear picture about the current issues. Then I executed secondary and primary researches to gather more information and have a better insight about the current issues. I conducted interviews with the competent persons within EuropaBio and I also interviewed patient advocates from different patients groups. 32 http://www.doksihu 6.221 Internal interviews The aim of the communication plan is to bridge the healthcare information gap between EuropaBio and some of its core stakeholders specifically policy makers. To learn more about the current issues I decided to interview the competent persons within the organization, those who has more interaction with healthcare biotechnology and its communication to the stakeholders Against

this reason the objectives of my interviews were the head and the manager of the healthcare biotechnology department and the communication manager and officer, as they can provide me the most relevant information. With my question I wanted to study two main areas. One of them was to find out how they tried to overcome the healthcare information gap before and why is it significant to educate the policy makers about the industry. Then in the second part I asked them about their ideas, expectations and suggestions to work out an effective communication plan. As a result of the interviews I could figure out what are the barriers in the communication of biotechnology to the general public and what we have to consider to overcome the obstacles. Based on the interviews with my colleagues I could learn more about how we can educate policy makers about the bioindustry. However we also have to take into account the general public specifically the patients in our communication process. To learn

more about the patients’ side, their priorities and expectations I decided to make interviews with advocates from different patient groups. 6.222 Interview with patients’ advocates Nowadays we can find patient groups for almost every disease. The aim of these groups is to support and inform patients and to contribute to the development of services and facilities offered to the patients. Interaction with patient groups enable pharmaceutical and biotech companies to learn more about the unmet patient needs and it gives a guide in the further development. In case of EuropaBio interaction with different patient groups is committed to understand better the needs and priorities of the patients’. 33 http://www.doksihu The Patient Advisory Group (PAG) within EuropaBio is facilitating the continuous information flow between the patients and policy makers. Different patient organization like; Alzheimer Europe, European Cancer Patient Coalition, European Multiple Sclerosis etc. are

part of the PAG In total, around 15 patient groups participate To be aware of the patients’ needs and expectations I decided to interview advocates from different patients groups. In my opinion for the successful communication plan it is inevitable to know more about the patients’ side. I selected as objectives of the interview mainly those persons who are members of the Patient Advisory Group and therefore know more about EuropaBio’s activity as well. I chose two patient organizations; one of them was Alzheimer Europe and the other one is the European Patients’ Forum. Annette Dumas, EU Public Affairs Officer of Alzheimer Europe Annette Dumas, EU Public Affairs Officer of Alzheimer Europe kindly accepted my request for an interview. Annette has been working for Alzheimer Europe since 2006 She has an extensive experience in the field of government relations, corporate and social responsibility information dissemination as she worked for a patient organization and pharmaceutical

company before joining Alzheimer Europe. In November 2009 the European Public Affairs Awards recognized her success and Annette was awarded the “Consultant of the Year” award. Alzheimer Europe Alzheimer Europe is a good example of the role a patient/carer organization can play in providing information to the public, people with Alzheimer’s disease, carers and health professionals. Through constant contacts with its members and partners, Alzheimer Europe is in a position to provide relevant information on dementia and Alzheimer’s disease to policy makers.29 Alzheimer Europe is a non-governmental organization aimed at raising awareness of all forms of dementia by creating a common European platform. In the longer term, it is striving to become the coordination and information centre for all organisations working in this specific field, such as day care centres, sitting services, training centres for 29 Alzheimer Europe, http://www.alzheimer‐europeorg/Alzheimer‐Europe 34

http://www.doksihu professionals and related organisations. With the current steady increase in the lifeexpectancy of Europes population, the number of people affected by age-related disease such as Alzheimers disease and related disorders is forecast to increase dramatically in the next few years. 34 Alzheimer associations from 30 countries across Europe are members of the organization. The Alzheimer Europe Board consists of 12 members from 12 different countries within Europe.30 My intention was to explore one main field with my questions. My questions were related to Alzheimer Europe’s communication strategy, how they are working together with various stakeholders to provide information to patients, to the policy makers and to the general public, how they collect the information from the patients, how they disseminate their messages to the policy makers and what kind of information they want patients to know. Alzheimer Europe is using different communication channels to inform

its stakeholders (patients, carers, health professionals, pharmacists, pharmaceutical industry, EMEA, national regulatory authorities and patient organizations). The website, information booklets, newsletters, awareness campaigns (Memory walks, Alzheimer’s disease Tea), conferences and helplines are providing information on the diseases, available treatments, and diagnosis and policy actions. Throughout its communication channels Alzheimer Europe seeks to identify any gaps and areas for improvement for the benefit of the patient, the carer and the whole community. Another objective of my questions was to know more about the patients’ priorities and needs, how they collect information about their diseases and the available treatments for their diseases. According to Annette’s answers I can conclude that the basic needs for patients is to be informed about their diseases, available treatment and the side-effects of the treatments and their access to the different services.

“Patients usually collect information from their healthcare professionals, from the patient groups and from the internet” highlighted Annette. However she pinpointed that in some cases the available information on the different web pages is not reliable. “We have to provide quality, reliable information to the patients” said Annette. 30 Alzheimer Europe, http://www.alzheimer‐europeorg/Alzheimer‐Europe 35 http://www.doksihu ”Giving information to the patients is clear merit in empowering citizens to be health educated” mentioned Annette. “We have to raise the awareness about the diseases and the availability of treatments and encourage people to benefit from the available treatments.” emphasized Annette Roxana Radulescu, Senior Policy Advisor of European Patient Forum My other interviewee was Roxana Radulescu, Senior Policy Advisor of European Patients’ Forum. Before joining EPF, she worked for the World Health Organization in Bucharest and in Brussels and

for several Brussels-based health advocacy NGOs. European Patient Forum EPF is the umbrella organization of pan-European patient organizations active in the field of European public health and health advocacy. It was founded in 2003 The aim of the organization is to become the collective patients’ voice at EU level, manifesting the solidarity, power and unity of the EU patients’ movement. It represents 40 patients organizations which are chronic disease specific patient organizations operating at EU level and national coalitions of patients organizations.31 My intention was to learn more about how European Patients’ Forum communicates with its stakeholders, how they are collecting the information from the patients and how the organization conveys its messages to the patients. Different European Patients organizations and National Coalitions of patients’ organizations are full members of European Patients’ Forum. EPF is standing for to pass through the messages of the patients

organizations to the European Commission and European Parliament. Roxana highlighted that the member organizations of EPF have strong relations with patients suffering from different diseases; they usually have dialogues with patients and health professional to explore the needs of the patients. “To collect information from patients, taking into account their opinion is extremely important, especially in case of a rare disease where we have a lack of knowledge about the disease and how it affects the life of the patients” mentioned Roxana. 31 What is the European Patients’ Forum (EPF), http://www.eu‐patienteu/about us/what is epfphp 36 http://www.doksihu As many other non-profit organizations, European Patients’ Forum is also using its webpage to communicate with the general public. Furthermore every six weeks they are distributing newsletters to their members. In the newsletter members can read about the current issues and news happening on European level in the

healthcare sector. Furthermore annually organized conferences and training seminars help patients’ organizations to better understand how the legislative framework works in Europe. From my interviews I can conclude that amongst others, the most important issues for patients are to get information about their diseases, and the available treatments. Usually they collect the information from their healthcare professionals and patients’ organization. However collecting information from the Internet is becoming more and more a common practice for patients. Patient started actively searching for information on the Internet about their diseases and the available treatments. I was led to the conclusion that in our case the best way to reach the patients and communicate about the benefits of biotechnology is to use EuropaBio’s webpage and help people to find the find the way to the website. 7. Communication plan 7.1 Objectives of the communication plan As EuropaBio has the leading voice

for bioindustries in Europe, it has to communicate the value of biotech for the upcoming years. The aim of the communication plan is to communicate the benefit of biotechnology to EuropaBio’s core stakeholder. Our objectives are: To establish a favorable political arena to support biotechnology applications by educating the Members of the European Parliament about healthcare biotech To increase awareness of healthcare biotechnology among new and returning Members of the European Parliament to identify possible biotech champions for the next 5 years To communicate the technology by developing the existing online tools, making the website more user-friendly and setting up the FAQ for healthcare biotechnology 37 http://www.doksihu To continue to use social networking and Web 2.0 tools to spread the good news about biotech by increasing the number of friends on Facebook, number of followers on Twitter and number of available videos on YouTube. 7.2 Target audience of the communication

plan The communication plan focuses on two main target groups. The primary audience which is the key target group, including those people who have the biggest influence on the adaptation of Healthcare Biotechnology. In our case, the members of the European Parliament (MEPs), the European Commission, Permanent Representatives and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) are belonging to this group. To improve the political environment for Healthcare Biotechnology, we have to raise their awareness on the current healthcare biotechnology issues. If they are aware of the benefits and importance of healthcare biotechnology they can facilitate the development of a coherent legislation for healthcare biotechnology. People who belong to the secondary audience are groups and individuals, who we would like to be informed about Healthcare Biotechnology and its value for the society. The secondary audience is the general public such and the media. The aim is to provide them timely and accurate

information and to assist their involvement in healthcare biotechnology issues. To reach the primary audience and spread the messages we will use primary and secondary communication channels as well. We would like to use mainly the tools of the personal communication channels like workshops, conferences, meetings and event organization. The aim of the personal communication is to give information to the MEPs at first hand on the events. The two biggest events will be in Strasbourg on the 20 of October and in Brussels on the 1-2 of December. We will give a brief review to policy makers about the current issues, obstacles of healthcare biotechnology, its future and challenges. Beside the personal communication we will use secondary communication channels as well. The main secondary communication channels are the webpage, newsletters, social media venues and Web 2.0 tools With the secondary communication tools we would 38 http://www.doksihu like to bring the achievements in life

sciences closer to the wider public in order to be able to acknowledge its importance. 7.3 Current communication channels I investigated the current internal and external communication channels of EuropaBio. As a non-profit organization it has constituencies for publics, both internal and external. Internal groups are including the member organizations and national biotech associations all of whom also providing the funding for EuropaBio’s activities. External publics are including patients, potential members, the media, the community-at-large and the policy makers. To reach its constituencies EuropaBio uses different communication channels including personal and non-personal channels. Concerning the internal groups EuropaBio prefers to use the personal communication channels including face-to-face meetings, telephone, e-mails and teleconferences. Apart from this, on the webpage there is a separate part for members called “members only”. Through this application members have

special access to more detailed information. 39 http://www.doksihu However the fastest and the most efficient way to keep the contact with the members is via e-mail. Members get the important news, press releases, invitations and information about the upcoming events through e-mail. Furthermore daily, weekly and monthly newsletters are distributed to the members about the latest news coming from the media and news from the side of EuropaBio. The aim of the newsletters is to provide a continuous flow of information about biotechnology. On the other hand to reach its external publics including patients, potential members, the media, the community-at-large and the policy makers EuropaBio is mainly using its webpage (www.europabioorg) General information, news, position papers, press release, videos are available on the website for the general public. Furthermore, to increase the awareness and spread the messages to the external public EuropaBio started to use the social media venues.

You can find EuropaBio on Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. On Facebook, EuropaBio has a personal page called Biotech Europe and a corporate page called EuropaBio as well. To deliver the messages as soon as possible EuropaBio is using the Web 2.0 tools You can subscribe to EuropaBio’s RSS feed and learn about new content on EuropaBio’s site as it is posted online. 8. Key gaps and obstacles driving action 8.1 Developing online media channels Webpage EuropaBio’s webpage To communicate the useful, most relevant information, news, results and objectives what the organization achieved EuropaBio mainly uses its webpage. Every working sector of EuropaBio has its own part on the website. However the pages for the healthcare biotechnology were neglected. When I 40 http://www.doksihu analyzed the webpage, I realized that 26 different sites tried to explain what healthcare biotechnology is about. Several pages contained the same information, in most cases the

information was out-of-date and the pictures on the side-menu were also irrelevant. I proposed to reduce the number of pages and to make a user-friendly, effective webpage explaining healthcare biotechnology and its working areas in an understandable way. To find out the most appropriate way for a user-friendly webpage, I worked together with the healthcare team. We found out that with an FAQ tool visitors can easily learn about healthcare biotechnology. We decided to split healthcare biotechnology into five different working areas (biosimilars, orphan drugs, rare diseases, health technology assessment, and advanced therapies) for each I raised around 5 questions to describe them. I developed the answers with the help of the healthcare team. Our aim was to formulate answers which are understandable for non-professionals as well. Furthermore I updated the pictures of the side-menu and the healthcare biotechnology pictograms? I redesigned, reduced and updated the pages, so that now the

healthcare biotechnology sector has five main pages - an FAQ, About Healthcare Biotechnology, Facts & Figures, Press Releases and Position Papers. It helps visitors to find the appropriate information in a faster way. I put the new webpage online right after the Strasbourg event, expecting that participants of the event will visit the webpage to learn more about EuropaBio and healthcare biotechnology. Facebook EuropaBio’s corporate page on Facebook In the case of EuropaBio the initiative to join social networking sites was to get into a dialogue with other people, open minds and raise awareness, as the traditional communication channels like press release, position papers etc are mainly one-sided communications. On Facebook and Twitter, people can chose to follow EuropaBio and have access to the content of our page. Furthermore, we can open dialogues with the friends/followers Now Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia and LinkedIn are part of EuropaBio’s communication

channels. 41 http://www.doksihu At the beginning the number of friends on Facebook and the number of followers on Twitter were a relatively small number. I suggested to the communication team to focus on increasing the numbers as through Facebook and Twitter we can reach people who might not otherwise know about us. On Facebook you can find us under the name of Biotech Europe and EuropaBio. You can not invite friends as a corporate member on Facebook, the only possibility is to suggest to your friends to become a fan of a company/corporation etc. To tackle this problem first EuropaBio registered on Facebook as Biotech Europe. Then I started to search for friends. I invited students, people who are interested in science, people who are working in the Commission or in the European Parliament to become our friends. After they accepted the request I suggested them to be a fan of EuropaBio. Now Biotech Europe has 469 friends and EuropaBio has 314 fans. However, I realized that increasing

the number of friends is not enough, to open minds and raise awareness we have make our pages effective. We decided with the communication team to post the latest news and achieved results regularly on Facebook. We are uploading photos and videos from our events. Twitter EuropaBio’s page on Twitter The initiative to join Twitter was to exchange messages, open up dialogues and spread away the latest news about biotechnology. When I came in, I realized that if we want to use Twitter as a channel to communicate our messages, than we have to increase the number of followers. With the communication team we started to collect followers, currently we have 518 followers (people who follow us on day-to-day basis) and 480 following (we are receiving their messages). Our followers are mainly biotech interested. Now, we have a good reputation on Twitter Besides Facebook, we are posting our latest news on Twitter as well. A new initiative by the search engines like Google also increased

our accessibility as they are going to start to show Twitter content in search results. 42 http://www.doksihu Our aim was to increase the numbers of friends and followers to around 400; we can say that we achieved our goals, as Biotech Europe has 469 friends and EuropaBio has 314 fans and the numbers are increasing day by day. I experienced that communicating our messages through Facebook and Twitter is effective. This motivated us to keep searching for friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter. With a big group we have very good possibilities to inform more people about biotechnology on a day-to-day basis. Using Facebook, Twitter or YouTube is also a competitive advantage for EuropaBio, as other biotech associations and associations we normally compare ourselves are not as active users of the social media venues. YouTube EuropaBio on YouTube EuropaBio started to use the biggest video sharing website called YouTube in 2006. The first video on YouTube was a short film called

“Invisible Revolution” which is explaining how biotechnology changed our everyday life. This video was very successful (viewed over 30 000 times). However, in 2007 and in 2008 no new video was posted that could reach those numbers. I worked closely together with the communication team. I realized that in most cases when people hear the word biotechnology they cannot associate it with a product. Posting videos on YouTube and informing the public about the current issues in biotechnology through videos is a good opportunity. Everybody has free access to the webpage so they can get information easily and it can help to make biotechnology more tangible for the people. We decided to use YouTube to give an idea about biotechnology - (Get the facts about biotech). 43 http://www.doksihu We started to post videos regularly. The videos are mainly interviews with industry representatives, or topic leaders of the different working groups, presentations about projects conducted by EuropaBio

and event videos. The videos are facilitating the internal and external communication as well. If somebody cannot participate in an event he/she is able to follow up and watch one of the videos from an event. Now we have 27 videos available and the number is increasing. When we are posting a new video on YouTube we are making a new feed on Facebook and a new tweet on Twitter to this video and mentioning it in the next newsletter. Newsletter The daily newsletter One of EuropaBio’s communication materials is the monthly and weekly newsletters. The monthly and weekly newsletter is circulated externally. Recently EuropaBio also started developing daily newsletters. It is distributed to members only. The initiative was to provide adequate information to members on what is happening in the different sectors. It has five different parts; red biotech, white biotech, green biotech, EU Presidency (as we are lobbing at the EU level we have to involve the Presidency site as well) and other.

There is also an event part where you can find information about the upcoming events and you can also contact us to share information. Information to the newsletter is collected from the internet. The daily newsletter is mainly a service to inform the members about the good and bad news around biotechnology. However, the weekly newsletter is concentrating mainly on EuropaBio’s work. It contains articles, videos, pictures from our events, the latest news happening in each sector. Members can easily subscribe to it On the other hand if somebody does not like to get e-mails then they can subscribe to the newsletter via RSS. I found the newsletters are very useful tool to communicate with the members and nonmembers. I proposed to distribute the daily newsletter to the non-members as well There are a lot of interesting articles around biotechnology in the daily newsletter which can contribute to a better understanding. 44 http://www.doksihu 8.2 Educating policy makers on healthcare

biotechnology 8.21 20 October Strasbourg As I mentioned before biotechnology is a growing sector and more and more patients have benefited from approved biotech drugs. Against this background EuropaBio would like to communicate on the value of healthcare biotechnology for patients and society and organize an event to educate policy makers (new and returning Members of the European Parliament) on healthcare biotechnology, taking advantage of the fact that 60% of the MEPs are newly elected and are therefore unlikely to have had interaction with EuropaBio before. Against the background that the October Plenary Session is in Strasbourg where a large number MEPs present, we organized the event in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The objectives of the event as mentioned above, was on the value of healthcare biotechnology for patient and the society as a whole, but also to: 45 http://www.doksihu • Present EuropaBio and healthcare biotechnology to new and returning MEPs as 60% of

the MEPs are newly elected; this is a big opportunity to highlight the importance of healthcare biotechnology and identify the possible biotech champions for the next years. • Educating the participant about the current issues and necessary changes in the legislation to facilitate patients centred healthcare systems in Europe • Cement relationship with other public health interested parties • Provide a networking opportunity for participants The target audience of the event • MEPs (mainly those who are members of the Environment Public Health and Food Safety and/or Industry, Research and Energy Committee) • MEPs’ assistants • Patient groups Invitation I was in charge of the invitation. I split the invitation into three phases The first phase was to send out the Save-the-Date to the members of the European Parliament. This announced the date of the event so the participants will know to keep the date free. The second phase was the actual invitation (see in appendix

1). Members of the European Parliament, Patients Groups, European Commission Officials, Healthcare professionals got the invitation through e-mails. I chose the e-mail because it’s personal and allows an immediate and measurable response. For the key MEPs, those who are members of the Committee on Environment, Public, Health and Food safety (ENVI) or Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) I gave out also hard copies of the invitation coupled with the Healthcare Manifesto, which is EuropaBio’s political roadmap. The third and last phase was to remind; Members of the European Parliament got the reminder one week before the event. 46 http://www.doksihu Appendix 2: EuropaBio invitation: Strasbourg event Interactive networking lunch In order to attract as many MEP as possible, the event should be a spectacular event. That is why we decided to organize an interactive networking lunch with visuals and videos explaining how biotech works, including speeches of the host MEP

Christofer Fjellner, senior EuropaBio representatives Thomas Bols and Andrea Rappagliosi and a patient advocate Roxana Radulescu. Beside the interactive tools we used impersonal media tools as well such as posters, brochures and banners. Every participant got a folder which contained information materials from EuropaBio. It was really important to invite spokespersons who have as strong positive connection with the target audience as possible. As Sweden holds the Presidency of EU from 1 July 2009, we decided to organize the event with the help of the Swedish National Biotech Association and get an MEP from Sweden. Christofer Fjellner MEP from Sweden who is also rapporteur on the Information to Patients part of the Pharma Package, which is a major political issue in the healthcare sector (for more details on this issue please visit32), fitted in the bill to invite him to be the host of the event. He will also be hosting at the upcoming event ‘Brussels Day’, taking place on 1-2

December, where National Associations bring CEOs of key biotech SMEs to Brussels, to discuss how Europe can boost innovation and increase investment in research. From the side of EuropaBio Thomas Bols, Chair of the Healthcare Council and Andrea Rappagliosi, Chair of EuropaBio delivered the messages. Andrea Rappagliosi highlighted the healthcare biotech ‘time line’ and explained the current situation of biotech SMEs in the face of the financial crisis whilst Thomas Bols introduced the Healthcare Manifesto 2009-2010 and EuropaBio position on the Pharma Package. To understand the patients’ perspective, Roxana Radulescu Senior Policy Advisor at the European Patients’ Forum has spoken about their position on the Pharma Package and highlighted the urgent need to update and modernize current legislation on information about medicines to make sure that patients all over Europe are empowered. Outcome of the event It was the first time that EuropaBio organized this event. 11 Members of

the European Parliament including key MEPs like Vittorio Prodi, Alojz Peterle and Milan Cabrnoch 32 http://ec.europaeu/enterprise/pharmaceuticals/pharmacos/pharmpack enhtm 47 http://www.doksihu and among others joined 8 MEP assistant and around 20 members and 5 other public interested parties. I think that the event was successful indeed, with a good turn-out amongst both Members and MEPs. It is notoriously difficult to commit MEPs to come to your eventand then actually also turn up I suggested to the healthcare team to make video interviews with the speakers on the event. My initiative was to ask their opinion about the necessary steps to increase awareness on healthcare biotechnology. Christofer Fjellner MEP and Thomas Bols, Chair of the Healthcare Council answered our questions. The videos were posted on the webpage of EuropaBio and on YouTube as well. A press release and an article in the weekly newsletter are also highlighted the success of the event. To inform the general

public as well the pictures from the event were uploaded to Facebook. A follow-up e-mail was circulated to all MEPs and assistants who participated at the event. Finally, the face-to-face meetings with MEPs and MEP assistants proved the event achieved its goals. As the event went successfully, the healthcare team aims to continue to organize the event on a yearly basis. 8.22 Brussels Day Aim of the event EuropaBio has 72 corporate members operating worldwide, 5 associate members, 4 Bioregions and 26 national biotechnology associations representing some 1800 small and medium enterprises. EuropaBio is representing and delivering the messages of its Members at EU level. To establish a favorable political climate for biotechnology, it is inevitable to facilitate the continuous communication between the Members of EuropaBio and policymakers. As policy makers have the biggest influence to open the road for biotechnology at National and European level. However in lot of cases a decision has

been made at EU level but the implementation is neglecting in the Member States thereby hampering the development. To help the National Biotech Associations to carry through their lobbying messages, EuropaBio is organizing the Brussels Day annually or semi-annually. 48 http://www.doksihu Brussels Day is a national outreach event where CEOs of key biotech SMEs from EU Member States meet their national representatives from the European Parliament, European Commission and the Permanent Representation. National delegations made up of the head of the national biotech association and one or more company CEOs or senior executives of biotech SMEs. The aim of Brussels Day is to give a platform to the biotech SMEs to spread away their messages to EU decision makers on core biotech issues. Brussels Day 2009 The theme for Brussels Day 2009, which was the seventh in a row, was to discuss the opportunities of biotech SMEs in the shadow of the global economic instability and to learn more about

the national biotech issues. This year Brussels Day took place on 1-2 December. Representatives of 11 National Biotech Associations and 22 CEOs from Member States biotech companies converged for EuropaBio Brussels Day 2009. Brussels Day is a two days event; the first day is usually a dinner debate or a networking reception, where national delegations and Members of the European Parliament, European Commission and representatives of the Member States Permanent Representation present. On the second day, throughout the day, the delegates split into national delegations to meet with a host of MEPs or Representatives from the Permanent Representation. One of my main tasks was the organization of the event. After I studied the programme of the previous years and how the events were structured, I suggested making the evening reception more interactive by giving the opportunity to the policy makers to discover, interact with biotech products to make biotechnology more tangible for them. As I

noticed, in many cases when somebody hears the word of biotechnology, they cannot associate it with a product. That is why I started to collect different kind of products from the member companies of the National Associations. Different kind of products like natural plastics for food& beverage packaging, jeans being “stonewashed” using enzymes instead of stones, dyed scarf etc were presented on the event. The objective of the event was: ¾ To highlight the importance of biotechnology ¾ To bring the key industry messages from different Member States to EU decision makers on core biotech issues 49 http://www.doksihu ¾ To discuss the opportunities of biotech companies in the next coming years Target audience of the event: ¾ MEPs and MEPs assistants ¾ European Commissioners ¾ Representatives from the Permanent Representations of the Member States ¾ National Biotech Associations and their Member companies Invitation The invitation process was in three phases. Firstly I sent

around the Save-the-Date to the members of the European Parliament, European Commission and Permanent Representation. This announced the date of the event so the participants will know to keep the date free. The second was the actual invitation (see below in appendix 2). Members of the European Parliament, European Commission Officials and Permanent Representatives got the invitation through e-mails. I chose the e-mail because it’s personal and allows an immediate and measurable response. The third and last phase was to remind; the confirmed guests got the reminder two days before the event. The National Associations helped me out to invite the CEOs and high level representatives of key biotech SMEs. Appendix 2: EuropaBio invitation: Brussels Day event 1 December The event on the 1 December was an interactive networking cocktail hosted by Christofer Fjellner; he hosted our previous event in Strasbourg. We put the emphasis to invite spokespersons who have strong positive connection

with the target audience. Tom Saylor, Chair of EuropaBio’s SME Platform and CEO of Arecor who was another keynote speaker on the event, highlighted the importance of biotech SMEs and its contribution to a health economy. However he pinpointed the problem areas where the European biotech SMEs is blocked in financing ventures. Jan Wisse, Chair of Committee of National Biotech Associations, also speaking at the event, emphasized the cooperation within the Member States is essential to overcome the current challenges. 50 http://www.doksihu 2 December On the 2 December during a breakfast discussion Bernd Reichert, EU Commission DG Research, Head of Unit for SME& Research informed the delegates of the policies within the Commission concerning biotech SMEs access to finance. Then the delegates split into national delegations to meet with a host MEP or representative from the Permanent Representation. Outcome of the event Both sides agreed that the event was successful indeed, with a

good turn-out amongst National Biotech Associations. Compare to last year, when seven National Biotech Associations and their CEOs participated on Brussels, this year we can almost double this number. To know more about the current biotech issues in different Member States, we made video interviews with CEOs of key biotech SMEs from Hungary, United Kingdom and Italy. The videos will be posted on the webpage of EuropaBio and on YouTube as well A press release and an article in the weekly newsletter are also highlighted the success of the event. To inform the general public as well the pictures from the event were uploaded to Facebook. A follow-up e-mail was circulated to those who participated at the event. Finally, the face-to-face meetings with MEPs on the 2 December proved the event achieved its goals. As the event went successfully, EuorpaBio will organize the event next year as well. 51 http://www.doksihu 9. Measuring achievement of the communication plan The success of the

communication plan requires a timely, adequate communication strategy. Deliverables of the plan can help me to assess progress toward achieving the goals. Attendance of the events, number of friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter, number of video interviews on the webpage, the website navigation and FAQ tool will give me a feedback about the successful implementation of the communication plan. To conclude I can say the implementation of the communication plan was successful. The number of friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter increased to around 400. The number of videos available on YouTube has increased significantly. Now 27 videos are available on YouTube. The attendance of the Strasbourg event was high and the face-to-face meetings with the MEPs and MEP assistants proved the event achieved its goals. The personal meetings with the MEPs can help to establish a favorable political background for healthcare biotechnology. The meetings of the national delegations with

their MEPs are also help to establish the favorable political background on national level as well. 52 http://www.doksihu 10. Recommendation My recommendations to the healthcare team of EuropaBio are covering the internal and external points of view. The internal point of view is referring to the way of working of the healthcare team inside the company and the external point of view is covering their relation with the public. 10.1 Internal recommendations The ideal would be to hire a communication officer for the healthcare biotechnology sector. As I experienced the healthcare biotechnology team within EuropaBio, it is a small, young, dynamic team with two staff members. However, this number is not enough to cover the communication tasks next to the daily office work. But due to the limited resources it will be not possible to hire a full-time communication officer in the near future. That is why I would recommend hiring an intern who to a large extend has a communication focus

and could cover communication activities like; updating the webpage, strengthen the communication with the general public etc. Through closer collaboration with the knowledge management officer and communication manager, the Healthcare Biotech Team should be more involved in the 53 http://www.doksihu Web 2.0 activities- as for example Twitter is mainly focusing on white and green biotech issues currently. National Biotech Associations are also members of EuropaBio. This is a big advantage of EuropaBio as with the help of the national biotech associations they can spread the message at European and national level as well. EuropaBio should take this advantage and deepen its relation with the National Biotech Associations. For example EuropaBio could participate on the events of the National Biotech Associations and vice-versa. The Healthcare biotechnology team should continue to develop easily understandable materials like the Healthcare Factsheets to increase more the general public

awareness on healthcare biotechnology. 10.2 External recommendations Continuing the website development and making it more active and lively to bring the achievement in life science closer to the general public. As we experienced, the Invisible Revolution was very successful. However the video was made in 2006 and since then the bioindustry has changed enormously. A second more up-to-dated version of the video would emphasize the uniqueness of the bioindustry. With the social media venues EuropaBio can reach people who may not otherwise know about the organization. Although to become effective on Facebook or Twitter, EuropaBio should further increase the number of friends and followers and make the pages lively by posting messages regularly. Video sharing on YouTube is good opportunity to make biotechnology more tangible. EuropaBio should keep posting videos on YouTube and develop ad-hoc videos representing EuropaBio’s position around the current burning issues. To make people

aware of the difference between biotech drugs and conventional drugs, EuropaBio should develop an animation video highlighting the difference between the development of a biotech and a conventional drug. Next to the current communication channels EuropaBio could use a blog to provide updated information to its stakeholders. The difference between the blog and a press release is in the blogs’ personal voice in which the stories are told. The healthcare 54 http://www.doksihu biotechnology team could use the blog for example to tell a story of a patient with a rare disease. Furthermore EuropaBio can summarize, point out other articles relevant to its stakeholders or invite experts to express their opinion on a critical topics or even do „real-time” reporting from a conference. Conclusion Healthcare biotechnology is one of the most complex fields of biotechnology. The techniques of healthcare biotechnology opened new ways for researchers to learn more about the molecular base of

health and disease and in this way to improve methods treating and preventing those diseases. It develops products and therapies that have less side-effects and safer vaccines. Due to the complexity of the technology people usually do not understand what healthcare biotechnology is about. There is an information gap between the science and the public. During my graduation placement, my task was to work out a communication plan to bridge the healthcare information gap between EuropaBio, the European Association for Bioindustry and some of its core stakeholders. The aim of the communication plan was to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and educate policy makers and the general public about the benefits of biotechnology. 55 http://www.doksihu Primarily, the communication plan targeted the policy makers to awaken them to the potential benefits of healthcare biotechnology and to conducive to a favorable political environment and enable the sector to develop. On the other hand the

plan also focused on the general public to raise their awareness on healthcare biotechnology. We used different techniques to help people, find the way to our webpage and learn more about healthcare biotechnology. To conclude I do feel the implementation of the communication plan was successful. The face-to-face meetings with MEPs, number of friends on Facebook, numbers of followers on Twitter, the redesigned healthcare biotechnology webpage proved the plan achieved its objectives. Appendices I – EuropaBio invitation 1. 20 October Strasbourg event Page 57 2. Brussels Day event Page 58 II – The healthcare biotechnology market 3. Growth in global biotechnology, 2006-2007 Page 59 4. Consequences, opportunities and challenges of biotech in Europe Page 59 56 http://www.doksihu Appendix 1: EuropaBio invitation : Strasbourg event33 33 EuropaBio intranet 57 http://www.doksihu Appendix 2: EuropaBio invitation: Brussels Day event34 34 EuropaBio intranet 58

http://www.doksihu Appendix 3: 59 http://www.doksihu Growth in global biotechnology, 2006-200735 EU Commission’s Bio4EU study: “Consequences, opportunities and challenges of biotech in Europe” (March 2007)36 35 36 Ernst&Young report: Biotechnology Beyond Borders, Global Biotech report 2008, page 28 www.europabioorg 60 http://www.doksihu Bibliography − Literature 1. Anthony Arundel, David Sawaya ’The Biotechnology to 2030; designing a policy agenda’ OECD report 2009 2. EuropaBio and Biosimilar Medicines Brochure 2008 3. EuropaBio policy document: A vision for innovation in biotechnologies in Europe 2009 4. European Commission report: “Europeans and Biotechnology in 2005: Patterns and Trends” (Eurobarometer 64.3), 5. Glen Giovannetti, Gautam Jaggi, Siegfried Bialojan ’ Beyond Borders, Global Biotech report’ Ernst & Young report 2008 6. Philip, Kothler, Alan R Andreasen (1987): Strategic Marketing for Nonprofit Organization, 3rd edition, Prentice

Hall, New Jersey − Internet sites 1. EuropaBio Corporate Site www.europabioorg/healthcare 30092009 2. Biotechnology http://en.wikipediaorg/wiki/Biotechnology 12112009 3. EuropaBio intranet 4. Pharma Package http://ec.europaeu/enterprise/pharmaceuticals/pharmacos/pharmpack en htm 10.122009 5. GGaskell, N C Allum, M W Bauer, J Durant: The origins of the consumer revolt in Europe: A transatlantic comparison 1998 http://old.lseacuk/Depts/lses/restricted/literature/cup/transatlanticrtf10122009 6. K Keener, T Hoban, R Balasubramanian: Biotechnology and its applications http://www.cesncsuedu/depts/foodsci/ext/pubs/bioapphtml-06122009 7. What is biotechnology? http://whatis.techtargetcom/definition/0,,sid9 gci1109187,00html30112009 8. What is RSS? 61 http://www.doksihu http://www.whatisrsscom/-05122009 9. The communication process http://www.mindtoolscom/media/Diagrams/CommunicationsProcessGIF -28.112009 10. Kate Luckert: Non-profit Organizations

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