Market assessment / Voice of Customer (VoC)
Market validation of a novel therapy for knee osteoarthritis
Client overview
A UK university had developed a novel treatment for knee osteoarthritis (OA) that combined cognitive and physical therapy to reduce pain. Adoption by the NHS would require completion of large-scale clinical studies which would take many years. In the near term, the client was keen to assess the opportunity to launch the therapy through private practice physiotherapy. To support this assessment, Strategic Allies Ltd. (SAL) was tasked with reaching out to physiotherapists to gauge interest in the therapy, understand expectations for training and access (including pricing) and evaluate any perceived hurdles to adoption. To support the development of an effective marketing strategy, SAL also benchmarked the therapy against existing knee OA treatments to better define key benefits.
The search
At the start of the search, SAL used secondary research (e.g., literature reviews, healthcare websites, blog articles, etc.) to appraise current methods for treating knee OA. Solutions ranged from exercise and weight loss, to orthotics and injections. Gathered information included length of intervention, evidence of success, costing and NHS availability.
This enabled SAL to define the key benefits of the new therapy over existing treatments. From there, SAL began reaching out to private physiotherapists across the UK with expertise in knee pain, ranging from directors of multiple private practices, through to early-stage physiotherapists still looking to specialise further. Through these engagements, SAL assessed appetite within private practice for novel knee OA therapies, identified target patient demographics, defined the level of evidence required to drive uptake within private practice, and provided insights on how best to market the therapy to both physiotherapists and patients. The insights were used to develop an effective ‘go to market’ strategy and inform the client’s future marketing approach.
“It’s brilliant, a huge help in progressing this project” – Commercialisation and IP Manager
Outcome
The client used the results of this study to develop and implement the commercialisation and marketing strategy for this novel therapy.
SAL provided a list of physiotherapists interested in further discussions with the University regarding training and possible launch of this therapy through their private practices.