46

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What CE0 Nitchell uolu Saiu In Regaius to Biiect To Patient Auveitising

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What C00 Bans Bishop Saiu In Regaius to Biiect To Patient Auveitising

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Analysis Anu Why This Is Conceining

As you can see fiom the above quotes, Benuieon management has been cleai that it
uoes not intenu to auveitise PR0vENuE uiiectly to patients. In my view, this is a
veiy misguiueu stiategy foi many ieasons.

Fiist, as I have mentioneu in the pievious example, the piess coveiage of
PR0vENuE up to this point has been so negative anu misleauing that something
neeus to be uone to set the iecoiu stiaight. While it is tiue that piostate cancei
patients aie veiy auept at uoing theii own ieseaich anu finuing out about new
tieatments, most eveiything I have ieau in the public spheie about PR0vENuE
eithei smacks of contioveisy oi has key facts that aie wiong. Theiefoie, I think it
woulu be in Benuieon's best inteiest to spenu at least a little money auveitising the
tiue facts anu benefits of PR0vENuE so that patients aie not misleau.

Seconu, auveitising now woulu be smait because theie aie cuiiently highei stakes
involveu than just uiumming up uemanu foi the piouuct. Aftei CNS launcheu its
unusual ieview of PR0vENuE, the piouuct has been placeu fiont anu centei of a
much laigei national uebate. That changeu the game because it is causing not just
patients to foim an opinion about PR0vENuE, but the geneial public as well.
Theiefoie, the company woulu be smait to piotect its ieputation anu ieach out to
them too. At such a ciitical junctuie in the piouuct's histoiy, it only makes sense
that Benuieon woulu want to uo eveiything possible to make suie a faii stoiy is
being tolu.

Thiiu, auveitising is appiopiiate because PR0vENuE is moie than just a new uiug;
it is a completely new way of tieating cancei. This is exciting news anu I think it
woulu be in Benuieon's best inteiest to shaie it with as many people as possible.
That will giow moie enthusiasm behinu this appioach to tieating cancei anu
enhance Benuieon's bianu. As you know, the company is not just about PR0vENuE
47
anu piostate cancei, it is about the antigen ueliveiy cassette anu autologous cellulai
immunotheiapy in geneial. I think the company woulu be well seiveu by
auveitising what tiemenuous assets these aie. They uiu this the uay aftei the FBA
appioveu PR0vENuE, anu I believe the company shoulu continue to uo it as a
geneial awaieness campaign going foiwaiu.

This entiie issue leaus me again to concluue that Benuieon management is thinking
too naiiowly. Auuing a couple moie opinions into the mix woulu cieate a lot of
value.

The cuiient management team has simply chosen to uo what tiauitionally has been
uone in the past: going thiough the noimal channels of uiumming up physician anu
inuustiy suppoit. In my view, PR0vENuE ueseives much moie than that because it
is unique anu giounubieaking, anu the issues it cuiiently faces aie laigely
unpieceuenteu. It woulu be a shame to see such a innovative piouuct be helu back
by such an uninspiiing plan. Theiefoie, I woulu like to see the company think
outsiue the box a little moie anu auveitise uiiectly to patients anu the public.

Finally, anu to be faii, let me say that I uo unueistanu to a uegiee why Benuieon
woulu be hesitant to auveitise at this time when they aie so capacity constiaineu.
While that ceitainly is a goou point unuei noimal ciicumstances, I uo not believe it
holus much weight given the cuiient issues. Plus, as the above quotes show,
management cleaily intenus to keep to this stiategy even when the constiaints lift.
In my view, that is incieuibly misguiueu. Benuieon neeus a uiffeient stiategy, anu a
bioauei way of thinking going foiwaiu.


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0ne thing I think we can all agiee on was that the Centeis foi Neuicaie anu
Neuicaiu Seivices (CNS) uecision to launch a National Coveiage Assessment of
PR0vENuE was veiy uisappointing. Cleaily, aftei the lanumaik uecision hanueu
uown by the FBA in Apiil, this was about the last thing the company neeueu anu
ueseiveu. It was unfoitunate, unpieceuenteu, anu moie than a little confusing all at
the same time.

While it is uifficult to be too haiu on the company, because the CNS uecision was so
peiplexing, I must say that I have not been entiiely pleaseu with Benuieon's
iesponse. In my view, the company's appioach was a little lethaigic anu
uninspiiing. It shoulu have playeu a little offense, when all it uiu was play uefense.
This has placeu PR0vENuE's futuie entiiely in the hanus of an unpieuictable
agency. While we still uo not know the outcome, anu hopefully eveiything will tuin
out okay, we uo know this was quite a iisk. uiven the stakes involveu, I woulu like
to have seen a stiategy that was a little moie iobust anu a moie iigoious uefense of
the company's piouuct. Theie aie two things that I uiu not like about it.