Rare Disease Account Specialist, Northeast

About Ionis

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is headquartered in Carlsbad, California, with offices in Boston, Massachusetts, and Dublin, Ireland. For more than 30 years, Ionis has been the leader in RNA-targeted therapy, pioneering new markets and changing standards of care with our novel antisense technology. Ionis currently has multiple approved medicines marketed by our partners and a premier late-stage pipeline highlighted by industry-leading cardiovascular and neurological franchises. Our scientific innovation began and continues with the knowledge that sick people depend on us, which fuels our vision to become the undisputed leader in genetic medicine, utilizing a multi-platform approach to discover, develop and deliver life-transforming therapies.

About the role

RARE DISEASE ACCOUNT SPECIALIST - ZILGANERSEN

SUMMARY:

The Account Specialist, reporting to the Brand Lead and Business Unit Head, Neurology / AxD, is a field-based role responsible for building and managing long-term relationships with physicians, Centers of Excellence (COEs) and other customers for the accounts in their assigned territory. The Account Specialist is a hybrid role, providing access/reimbursement support and product/disease education to the accounts, providing key account management and product logistics support, while also delivering key promotional messages to advocate on behalf of people suffering from Alexander disease (AxD). The Account Specialist will represent the organization in the AxD community educating external Healthcare Professionals (physicians, nurses, billing managers, pharmacists, office/hospital staff and other account stakeholders) about the approved indication and clinical information in relation to the AxD disease state and the appropriate use of zilganersen once FDA approval. The Account Specialist role is also responsible for supporting healthcare provider offices with access & reimbursement support in a compliant manner.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Account Specialist will possess a deep understanding of the healthcare market in their respective territory and the AxD community, including the key customers and accounts treating AxD (primarily pediatric neurologists, neurologists). This will include understanding the unique objectives and needs of each customer/account in their pursuit of improved patient outcomes. The Account Specialist will achieve this by building, maintaining, and leveraging networks and relationships in the local healthcare system to develop and execute effective business plans to meet customer and Ionis goals. The Account Specialist will serve as a cross-functional teammate: building trust and collaborating with a diverse team of people with deep functional and therapeutic area expertise and engaging effectively and compliantly across the therapeutic field teams to bring a novel treatment to people suffering from AxD, Ionis’ 1st wholly owned neurology product launch. All statements regarding the roles and responsibilities of the Account Specialist are dependent upon zilganersen approval.

Reimbursement Support: Provides support for any reimbursement questions that may arise from COEs (reimbursement support for other injection sites may be covered ad-hoc)

Stakeholder Management: Provides some (~20% effort) proactive account management and ad-hoc support to key stakeholders (within COEs, but may also include injection sites ad-hoc

HCP education & promotion: increase awareness of AxD & promote on-label clinical data information to drive demand

Surround sound support: engage with key accounts / centers of excellence and collaborate with field team to enhance HCP awareness, support, & overall experience

Strategic insights: Track sales performance and gather market insights to improve patient outcomes

Customer Engagement and Experience

• COE account management and logistics for Intrathecal administration
• Educate HCPs, COEs, and office staff about zilganersen, its brand messages, efficacy, and safety using approved marketing materials and verbiage with a focus on appropriate patient identification for possible treatment
• Educate HCPs and office staff on the zilganersen access process (including high-level steps, payer-specific coverage policies, typical challenges faced, etc.)
• Use patient hub / specialty pharmacy data to provide patient access status updates to customers to ensure appropriate patients get treatment
• Raise AxD disease state awareness, educate on patient need, and instill HCP urgency to act and appropriately refer/treat AxD
• Create positive prescribing and access support experience for HCPs and account
• Educate on Ionis patient services offerings to encourage customer/patient participation and appropriate program utilization
• Participate in conferences, congresses, and other scientific meetings to educate HCPs on AxD disease state and treatment

Market Knowledge

• Gather insights to profile accounts and provide feedback to leadership and marketing to inform zilganersen sales & marketing strategy
• Understand local market dynamics, including all potential drivers/barriers for AxD patients and/or accounts
• Identify, validate, and document potential HCPs treating AxD patients to inform commercial strategy

Account Planning

• Execute the brand strategic plans by developing and executing customer (and account) focused territory strategic plans to maximize business/patient opportunities and customer satisfaction
• Build insight-driven focused tactics by understanding brand requirements & anticipating the current and future needs of our key customers/accounts
• Adjust strategies to meet business goals in assigned territory through territory strategic insight
• Develop strategic account plans in conjunction with field team and brand leadership to appropriately engage accounts based on customer needs and brand strategic objectives
• Build Ionis champions
• [Before launch only] Create a comprehensive launch day engagement plan with specific strategies and activities
• [Before launch only] Schedule customer meetings for post-launch and visit accounts based on the territory plan

Training

• Participate in field meetings and training programs to understand zilganersen and brand messaging strategy, AxD disease state, and customer engagement tactics to effectively engage customers
• Understand the patient journey and apply those learnings to customer/account strategy
• Strengthen knowledge of evolving payer landscape and policies as relates to HCP/office and ultimately patient needs.
• Certify on approved label, compliance training and all applicable customer engagement policies
• Learn and adhere to the company's mission and vision, policies and procedures, including the Ionis Code of Ethics and Business Conduct.

Teamwork

• Collaborate effectively and compliantly with other Account Specialists and other field teams (e.g., Patient Education Managers, Field Medical Directors) in pursuit of customer/account success
• Share learnings from customer engagement activities with other field team members and leadership (e.g., Brand Lead, marketing, field ops, analytics, market access) as appropriate
• Leverage all available platforms and technology to engage customers through multiple channels and enhance their overall experience
• Partner on accounts with patients who are seen by multiple specialties in multiple geographies
• Incentive Compensation will be National target for RDAS team (3) to achieve together with flexibility across territories and geographies to engage HCPs and COEs where necessary

REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor’s Degree with at least 12 years of related experience
• Master’s and/or advanced degrees (e.g., MBA, PhD, PharmD) preferred with at least 8 years of related experience
• At least 4 years of experience in Pharma sales or Field Reimbursement and/or access roles across the following competencies

*Neurology or Rare diseases and product launches

*COE, HCP and IDN engagement

*Cross-functional field team coordination

*Successful launch experience

*Customer reimbursement and drug access education and support

• Extensive comprehension of the healthcare ecosystem including market access landscape and payer reimbursement policies for rare disease products
• Extensive knowledge of key Centers of Excellence and ability to effectively navigate complex accounts with demonstrated success
• Analytical skills to build product knowledge competency in pharmaceuticals, competitor products, and relevant disease states
• Self-driven with the ability to solve a wide array of customer challenges with integrity and in a compliant manner
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Proven track record for consistently and compliantly meeting or exceeding financial and/or other quantitative and qualitative targets
• Solid understanding of and adherence to external laws, codes, and company policies that apply to the healthcare industry and proper interaction with healthcare professionals
• Travel ~50% given territory geography (1. West/2. North-East / 3. South-Central)

Ionis offers an excellent benefits package! Follow this link for more details: Ionis Benefits

The pay scale for this position is $177,000 to $200,000

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and all its subsidiaries are proud to be EEO employers.