Case:
Bringing a new treatment to HCPs and patients

Our client, a Global Biopharmaceutical Company, launched a pioneering medical treatment for a hereditary heart condition. We helped them build a position in an emerging treatment landscape.

Here’s an overview of our strategic approach and key results:

• The client launched a pioneering hereditary heart condition treatment.
• They faced challenges in an unestablished therapeutic area.
• We recommended a three-step, iterative strategy for market entry.
• The initial pilot phase provided key insights for detailed research in the following phases.
• We identified causes for likely underdiagnosis outside specialized centers.
• Recommended educating general practitioners and partnering with key opinion leaders.
• Advised that raising pre-launch awareness and an updating of guidelines would be beneficial.
• Enabled quicker uptake, optimizing sales efforts and potentially improving early patient treatment.

Challenge

Our client’s new drug is the first medication to treat the root cause of a specific heart condition. No established practices existed in this therapeutic area. They needed a strategy to establish a presence in a therapeutic area with no available medical treatment options.

Key questions included:

• Where should this new drug fit in the treatment sequence?
• What does the future patient journey look like, and which HCP stakeholders will gatekeep each step?
• What are the unaided awareness and initial perceptions of this new treatment?

Solution

We advised the client to follow a three-step process that allowed flexibility. A short pilot informed a deeper dive. In the final phase, we used Target Product Profiles to map product perceptions.

“Our approach was to ensure we gathered the most comprehensive and fit-for-purpose data.” said Søren Esben Hansen, Chief Advisor and Advanced Market Research Lead at Signum. “We aimed to understand not only the immediate needs but also the potential barriers to adoption.”

The pilot phase provided initial insights. These guided the subsequent, more detailed research. This iterative approach enabled us to refine our strategy in dialogue with the client.

We learned that while interventional cardiologists handle severe cases at a few, specialized centers, early stages lacked focus beyond beta blockers and monitoring, leading to underdiagnosis outside these centers. This gap highlighted a significant opportunity for the new treatment.

“We realized that raising awareness among general practitioners and smaller, regional hospitals was key,” noted Søren. “By focusing on education and collaboration, the client could address the underdiagnosis issue head-on.”

Results

Based on our findings, we advised the client to:

• Address underdiagnosis by educating smaller, non-specialized hospitals and partnering with key opinion leaders at specialized centers.
• Generate pre-launch interest by advocating for a guideline update to include the new, non-interventional treatment and raising awareness of the upcoming launch among HCPs treating early-stage patients.

The client gained a platform for quicker uptake and an action plan to optimize sales efforts, targeting the most valuable stakeholders and HCPs. More patients can now be treated earlier.