Posts tagged ‘Market Research’
Pieter Droppert in a previous position worked as a Global Project Director for a phase II Alzheimer’s clinical trial program in emerging markets. He maintains an interest in this area and the new products in drug development.
In a new post on Biotech Strategy Blog, Pieter writes about research published in the journal Neurology that showed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could detect pre-symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
Brad Dickerson and colleagues from Mass General and Rush University in Chicago looked at two groups of subjects who were cognitively normal, and then over time investigated the brain differences seen in those patients who developed AD.
Their conclusion is that changes in cortical thickness are a biomarker for AD, in other words structural brain changes can be seen before they develop clinical symptoms.
This research is still very early and has a number of limitations, including the low sample size and the need for computer power to do the analysis.
That said, the promise of all the biomarkers under development to diagnose early stage AD, whether they be amyloid imaging of plaque through PET scans or via MRI, is they offer the hope of being able to detect those patients at risk before the brain becomes irreparable.
By the time clinical symptoms of dementia or mild cognitive impairment manifests itself, then it’s likely the damage has already been done, and the brain has been snagged or disrupted by the disease in a way that is hard to reverse.
Early detection of those individuals at risk allows the prospect of using neuroprotective drugs to delay the onset of clinical symptoms.
Recognition of the importance of preclinical diagnosis i.e. before symptoms develop was also shown by the announcement yesterday by the National Institute on Aging, a branch of the NIH – National Institutes on Health of new diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer’s patients.
These guidelines divide patients into three diagnostic groups: preclinical, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. The preclinical group is completely new and a recognition that structural and molecular changes occur in the brain before clinical symptoms manifest themselves.
There is considerable research into AD biomarkers to suggest that in the next 5 years we will be able to detect those people at risk, but the challenge remains in developing new drugs that slow down or reverse the onset of the neuronal tangling that occurs.
AD is a disease that will touch many families as the population in many countries becomes older. If you are interested in this area, you can read more on Biotech Strategy Blog.
All those in the pharma/biotech industry who perform market research will be familiar with ESOMAR, the worldwide organization whose code of practice governs how we conduct market research.
So, we are pleased to be invited to the ESOMAR – Best of New York, 2011 event to be held at the offices of Microsoft in NYC, later today. Networking opportunities are always welcome, and Pieter Droppert from Icarus will be attending.
The meeting has four speakers covering a wide range of topics, including employing robots to mine twitter, and how to draw on the wisdom of crowds to generate winning concepts. It is good to have an opportunity to hear what other market research practitioners are doing outside of the pharma/biotech industry.
Information about the key opinion leader (KOL) market research services that Icarus Consultants offers can be found here.
Innovation is one of the themes that Pieter Droppert writes about on the Biotech Strategy Blog. As management consultants we are interested in new product development strategy, and how to bring novel drugs and devices to market.
In his latest blog post, Pieter discusses an article published on the Harvard Business Review blog that suggests we may be able to learn from how innovation is taking place in emerging markets.
Emerging markets, in particular the BRIC countries: Brazil, Russia, India & China, are driving the growth of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies. It’s interesting to think that the developed world may be able to learn from emerging economies.
Sally Church on Pharma Strategy Blog analyzes a recent study published in Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, that suggests there is a reduced risk of high grade glioma if you have allergies.
Why is this the case? Sally looks closely at whether this is a valid or spurious correlation.
Sally Church, PhD is a professional member of the The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). Later today she will be at a meeting organized by the cancer & signaling discussion group.
The event titled “Oxidative Stress in Cancer and Exploitation of Negative Regulators as Therapeutics” seeks to explore the role that reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) have in cancer and inflammation.
There is an impressive line up of speakers. Meetings such as these provide an occasion to hear about early-stage research, translational medicine and provide a window on where oncology new product development opportunities may arise.
They also provide the chance to network and meet key opinion leaders (KOL). Icarus Consultants undertakes KOL market research, and personal relationships are often key to obtaining access to physicians and researchers with extremely busy schedules.
You can find Sally’s forthcoming conference schedule on the Icarus Consultants web site.
Icarus Consultants would like to wish all our clients, friends and colleagues around the world a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. Puisse la nouvelle année vous apporter paix, bonheur et prospérité.
This year we made a donation to GRACE, Global Resource for Cancer Education instead of mailing greeting cards.
Our office will close on Friday, December 24 2010 and reopen for business on Monday, January 3, 2011.
Luke Timmerman on xconomy.com refers to Sally Church’s predictions published on Pharma Strategy Blog of what’s hot at ASH in 2010:
