Our client, a global pharmaceutical company, had launched a novel cardiology therapy across Europe and North America. While clinically superior, uptake varied widely by market.
The core challenge was that a long-established, low-cost generic remained the default standard of care. Despite its clinical limitations and the burden of frequent point-of-care monitoring, it benefited from entrenched prescribing habits, mature reimbursement pathways, and strong provider ecosystems — creating powerful inertia against switching to the new therapy.
Key questions included:
Where could the new therapy realistically displace the generic — and where would resistance remain entrenched?
Could digital infrastructure (EMRs and cardiology IT systems) be used to drive prescribing and guideline adherence?
Which providers and technology partners controlled access to prescribers and patients?
What partnerships could unlock faster and more sustainable adoption?
1. Strategic Alignment
We worked closely with the client’s global and regional leadership teams to define the commercial priorities, pressure-test assumptions, and align the research around the decisions they needed to make — including market prioritisation, partnering strategy, and route-to-market design.
This ensured the research addressed not only clinical adoption, but also commercial feasibility.
2. Market & Ecosystem Mapping
Across three priority global markets, we conducted a structured investigation of the cardiology decision ecosystem, including:
Internal stakeholder interviews
Key opinion leader (KOL) interviews
Desk research and vendor interviews covering EMR and cardiology information systems
This created a detailed view of:
Where and how prescribing decisions were being shaped
Which IT platforms controlled cardiology workflows
How fragmented or concentrated access to prescribers was by segment
3. Insight-Led Strategy Development
An interim synthesis phase translated the early findings into targeted hypotheses and stimulus for in-depth clinician testing.
This allowed us to refine:
Market segmentation
Partner shortlists
Conceptual models for using decision support and digital pathways to drive adoption
4. End-User Clinician Market Research
We conducted in-depth research with cardiologists and primary care physicians across hospital, office-based, and GP settings to understand:
Current prescribing behaviour for the target indications
How EMRs and cardiology systems influence treatment decisions
Attitudes to clinical decision support
Reactions to alternative partnership and activation models
This provided the final validation layer for the commercial strategy.
The project delivered a comprehensive strategic foundation, including:
A map of EMR and cardiology IT penetration across hospital, office cardiology, and GP settings
Market share and positioning of major EMR and cardiology system vendors
Legal and regulatory constraints around clinical decision support
Provider attitudes toward third-party integrations and pharma partnerships
Detailed physician workflows for the target indications
Prescribing behaviour by care setting
Response to digital decision support and therapy prompts
Concept and strategy testing, including strengths, weaknesses, and barriers to adoption
By combining market structure analysis, digital ecosystem mapping, and deep clinician insight, we enabled the client to:
Identify where digital decision support could materially change prescribing
Prioritise markets and segments with the highest commercial leverage
Select the right EMR and cardiology IT partners
Design a partnership-led growth strategy to accelerate adoption of the novel therapy
Following the final global workshop, the client initiated formal engagement with selected platform partners and launched a structured partnering programme — directly informed by the insights and strategic frameworks developed through the project.
This allowed them to move from slow, fragmented uptake to a scalable, ecosystem-driven growth model for their cardiology franchise.