On November 14th, 2018 OBIO hosted “Talking to Doctors and Patients: Using Primary Market Research Data to Seal the Deal with Investors” at ONRamp.
The day featured a presentation by Claude Piché, President & CEO, and Martin Lafontaine, Chief Commercial Officer, of Locemia Solutions who shared the market research work they did to demonstrate that the small market size for hypoglycemia rescue significantly underestimated the potential market for the intranasal glucagon they were developing. They then demonstrated how this allowed them to build the case with investors and ultimately resulted in a licensing deal with Eli Lilly.
Claude and Martin emphasized that market assessment is a critical component at every stage of research and development, and the market need and acceptance of the solution is as (if not more) important then the solution itself.
In addition, Dr. Mike Cooke (Co-Founder, AmacaThera) talked about how he used interviews with surgeons to evaluate product concepts, identify their first indication and how it has helped in dealings with investors. Practical tips included:
Interview 100+ potential users covering multiple specialties to get a clear consensus
Keep interviews brief
Go back once you have revised your ideas
The day also included a workshop from OBIO on accessible market research databases, which included some less commonly used sources of data on market size and trends, disease and procedure numbers, and clinical trials.
The audio and slides for each presentation are available on the OBIO Member portal.
Check out the event photo gallery below:
