MedTech

Case Studies

Device Launch Support

As part of a long-term collaboration with a global biopharmaceutical company spanning a range of medical and market access activities, we were asked to extend our support to the launch of a new companion autoinjector device that aimed to improve the self-injection experience for their patients.

The portfolio of activities included development of, and close engagement with, a multi-stakeholder advisory panel throughout the peri-launch period, generating expert strategic advice and guidance on the implementation of the new device in clinical practice, and on the continued development of the client’s device portfolio. The team also developed a range of internal training materials and standard response documents to best prepare the medical and marketing teams across the regions where the new devices were launched, as well as external training materials for health care professionals that were trialled and refined in selected pilot centres. A suite of global value materials was created to consistently and compellingly communicate the beneficial impact of the device on the patient experience of self-injecting to payer stakeholders, and several abstract and manuscript publications reporting on device preference and human factors studies have been supported.

Costello Medical’s valuable and insightful support to the successful launch of this self-injection device has resulted in a continuation of the collaboration as the client further develops and evaluates future generations of self-injection devices.

Value Materials and Training to Sales Teams

To help promote interest in novel surgical devices, we were approached by a medical device manufacturer to develop a comprehensive evidence-based value dossier to communicate the value proposition for their products and, at the same time, to help them train their sales team.

By integrating all relevant clinical and economic evidence identified through extensive literature searches into one value story, the dossier responded to the needs and challenges of teams in different countries, provided a central point of reference for all users and ensured the coherent and consistent communication of value messages about the product.

We developed comprehensive content and training for sales teams, helping to capitalise on opportunities for communicating the key value messages and succeed with particularly challenging conversations. These included an interactive sales aid to use directly with customers and companion training materials to promote skills in engaging meaningfully with different stakeholders, responding to difficult questions about the products and adapting use of the sales aid to fit customer meetings of different duration. These training materials became so vital that we were asked to support the client with more formal training sessions, which resulted in the generation of a library of objection handling training videos; each tailored to dealing with stakeholder-specific objections.

Positioning of Novel Technologies

To help with product positioning and reimbursement, we were asked to evaluate how the performance of a novel non-invasive surgical device compared to its main competitor technologies. We started by scoping the literature, and in the absence of sufficient head-to-head studies or analyses, designed and executed a systematic literature review to identify all the clinical and economic evidence describing each technology.

Following a feasibility assessment, we used both matching-adjusted indirect comparison (MAIC) and simulated treatment comparison (STC) methods to compare the effectiveness of the interventions. We subsequently used these data to inform the development of a cost-effectiveness model, and compiled the results from the literature review and adjusted indirect comparisons to create a value dossier describing the comparative value of the brand.

Being the first technology of its kind in this disease area, we will be preparing a manuscript for publication on the analysis that we have performed.