Gochenauer Brings Oncology Passion, Expertise to Psyma’s Healthcare Team

Psyma International appointed Gordon Gochenauer to the position of Oncology Practice Leader to deepen our strength in healthcare marketing research. Gordon brings extensive experience in oncology marketing research with payers, patients and physicians enhancing Psyma’s pharma sector knowledge and expertise in the U.S.

Psyma International’s recent hire, Gordon Gochenauer, brings 15 years of oncology marketing research expertise to its Healthcare Practice as the Oncology Practice Leader. With an undergraduate degree in biochemistry and an MBA, Gochenauer has worked in pharmaceutical consulting solely in the oncology space in several capacities including drug development, competitive landscaping, competitive intelligence, brand messaging, market research, epidemiology, pricing, and market access.

His fascination with and passion for oncology stems from his unique background and his appreciation that cancer is a very technical disease, constantly evolving in how it is researched and treated by the pharma and medical communities. As Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of The Emperor of All Maladies: A biography of cancer wrote, “All cancers are alike, but they are alike in a unique way.” That variability has provided a rich and ever-changing landscape for Gochenauer’s work.

Constantly new targets for research

“What’s most exciting about oncology research, or any marketing research, is unveiling that nugget of information that changes perspective. It is like the unveiling of a mystery,” said Gochenauer. Leveraging his natural inclination to scientific inquiry and his familiarity with the history and biochemistry of cancer research and drug development, he collaborates with clients to solve business problems within the field of researching, treating, and curing cancer. “The nature of oncology is that there are constantly new targets for research, which leads to new opportunities for marketing research, as well. As more cancer patients are living longer, that opens avenues for later lines of therapies. Additionally, as we get better at treating the most commonly diagnosed cancers, researchers can turn to the less frequently diagnosed cancers with more financial feasibility.”

“I came into oncology at a time when we were moving beyond chemotherapy and radiation – treatments that were toxic to cancer cells, but which took out many healthy cells as well. The drugs that were being tested at that time were promising but were not passing the Phase III Clinical Trials. We tested them on 100 patients, and they would work very well for about 5 or 10 percent, and not at all for the balance of patients. Then we realized that cancer is unique to the individual. If we could find 100 patients with the same kind of physiology as the 5 or 10 patients who were helped, we could be more effective. We began to understand that we needed to know what individual cancer we were dealing with before we could understand how to treat it. We became more sophisticated, as did the drugs we could use.”

As the industry evolved, so did Gochenauer’s work and expertise. Initially, he worked with pharmaceutical companies on the technical aspects of cancer treatment, evaluating aspects of drug development. Then he moved to the commercial side of the business, working on pricing, market access, and brand messaging. Most recently, he has been working more on the treatment side of the industry, to evaluate how physicians treat cancer patients and the impact of newly-approved drugs. Additionally, he has been conducting research with patients on the cost and impact of living with cancer treatment and beyond.

The next wave of oncology drug development

Gochenauer is looking forward to working with Pharma and Biotech companies on the next wave of oncology drug development: “immuno-oncology” or using the patient’s own immune system to attack cancer.  In addition to the 10 IO drugs approved or likely to be approved in 2018, there are literally hundreds of different immuno-oncology drugs (IOs) in clinical trials, so the field is ripe for to assist development and commercialization of these therapies. “What’s really exciting about IOs is that, marketing research for the first time, we are helping people with advanced cancers to live long-term. We have a lot to learn about those patients who experience long-term survival from the current generation of IOs and how the upcoming generation of IOs might benefit refractory or non-responsive patients,” said Gochenauer.

“At Psyma, I hope to further develop the physician and patient marketing research work I have been doing as well as continue working with pharmaceutical companies. There are great opportunities for both qualitative and quantitative marketing research. I think our portfolio of immersive research tools including PsyDive, as well as our tracking and analytics expertise, could also be applied to the needs of the oncology industry,” said Gochenauer. “It is a huge market with large and critical information needs. We know so much more than when I started in the industry, but we still have a lot to learn about cancer, and as it evolves, perhaps we always will.”

Contact Gordon Gochenauer to talk about your marketing research needs