Summer 2016 : Opening of the US office

This summer 2016, Axess Research has opened its US office in Princeton (NJ). Xavier Boutry, research director and owner, has relocated in New Jersey to best serve Axess Research US based global and domestic pharmaceutical market research departments.

Newsletter February 2014

Patients’ survey :  How to recruit patients and interview them

More and more informed about treatments on Internet, they have an increasing influence on physicians’ prescription behaviors. Patients, at the centre of decisions, can describe the role and respective weight of physicians, pharmacists and caregivers all along the “patient journey”. Patients, when organized through patient associations, can also influence payers. This probably explains why our clients frequently ask to include patients in market research. But how to best recruit patients and interview them?

Patient recruitment:

There are many ways to recruit patients. The can be recruited indirectly by the physicians, retail pharmacists or patient associations. Or they can be recruited directly through panels or web community (when available). The indirect recruitment through physicians guarantees that the recruited patients meet the right screening medical criteria regarding their disease, symptoms and co-morbidity. The recruitment through pharmacists permits to recruit patients for who a specific drug is delivered either Rx or OTC. Direct recruitment through panels gives fast direct access to the most common chronic diseases. And direct recruitment through web community offers the opportunity to have access to deeply implicated patients into less frequent chronic diseases.

Patient interviewing:

Patient in-depth interviewing individually or in focus group can provide precious insight complementary to healthcare professionals’ insight. The use of interviewing projective techniques will generate greater depth of output and often different responses than direct questioning. If comparison of healthcare professionals versus patients experience and beliefs is the main objective, mirror interviewing and analysis will highlight to what extend patients and healthcare professionals’ differ each other. The standard mirror questioning approach is to ask the same questions in separate interviewing, but mixed groups including both patients and healthcare professionals both can be considered in addition to separate interviewing.

If quantitative data is required, information can be collected directly on-line, by telephone or at patient home. But short questionnaire can also be collected indirectly by the physician or retail pharmacists.

The 3 take away are :

-          Patient centric survey can bring decisive information

-          The selection of the adapted recruitment technique is key step

-          The use of specific questioning techniques can bring additional information

Newsletter September 2013

TRADE-OFF : 4 GOOD REASONS TO USE THIS RESEARCH TECHNIQUE

How should I price my new product in order to optimize my turnover?  Should I launch a new form, what would be the evolution of my market shares? If my product shelf life was 24 months instead of 12, would it generate extra sales? 

One technique addresses specifically these questions: the trade-off (also known as conjoint-analysis). 

This technique, born in the 1960s and broadly used today in marketing research, enables you to analyse the weight of each key decision driver (effectiveness, tolerance, method of administration, price, related services, etc.) when selecting your product (or your competitors!) , and simulate your potential market shares in every possible scenario.

In practical terms, this means the respondent needs to rank, from the preferred option to the least interesting option, 12 or 16 cards showing various product profiles. He can also be asked to split his prescriptions or purchases between the various product profiles shown.

Here are the 4 good reasons to use this technique in your upcoming market research projects:

•Easy to implement:

Except for the phone, the trade-off technique is adapted to all methods of data collection (face to face or internet, in depth interview or quantitative research). The trade-off usually lasts 10' within a questionnaire which length varies between 20-60'.

•Fun to do… but gives extra information:

Derived from experimental processes, the ranking of trade-off cards leads the respondent to simulate real-life choices: through a fun-filled exercise, the physician, or the payer, will make choices in terms of prescriptions or purchases, without explaining them. This technique goes beyond verbal statements.

•The possibility to confidentially explore new strategic pathways:

Ranked products are fictitious, and scenarii are simulated ex-post. Hence, your potential strategic alternatives are not revealed to respondents (possible price drop, possible new form, etc.). Your strategy remains absolutely confidential.

•Sustainable data, that can prove useful long after the research has taken place:

All scenarii can be simulated, even those which had not been anticipated when the research took place. We have conducted simulations long after the research had ended, because hypothesis had changed.

News May 2013

Axess Research managed the methodology support for a phase IV clinical study presented at ISPOR 18th Annual International Meeting in May 18-22, New Orleans, USA

News October 2012

Axess Research celebrated its 10th anniversary in Paris.

The event took place thursday 4th of October 2012 at:

Pavillons de Bercy - Salons Vénitiens

53 Avenue Terroirs de France  

75012 Paris