Scott Kratzer

September 1, 2006

3 Min Read
Contributors

CONTRIBUTORS

Competing in the crowded medtech marketplace requires dynamic marketing approaches. At its best, medical marketing not only catches the attention of its targeted consumers, but also conveys valuable information and convincing data to support the use of a product.

In this issue, MX looks at medtech marketing from a variety of perspectives—including those offered by winners in the Medical Marketing Association's 2006 International Awards of Excellence competition.

Market Analysis

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An examination of a manufacturer's patent portfolio can tell a lot about where a company has been and where it is headed. For the past 30 years, intellectual property research and advisory services firm ipIQ (Chicago) has tracked corporate innovation across multiple industries by analyzing the strength, breadth, and quality of patents and patent portfolios. Based on these measures, ipIQ publishes an annual report called the Patent Scorecard, which ranks 15 patenting industries. In "Medtech's Patent Strongholds", Scott Kratzer provides an in-depth look at this year's Patent Scorecard for the medical device industry. Kratzer is vice president of advisory services for ipIQ. He can be reached at 949/369-0214 or via e-mail at [email protected].

Business Planning & Technology Development

The cost of clinical research represents a major outlay for small and large medtech manufacturers alike. Therefore, it is imperative that clinical research be designed in ways that protect manufacturers' investments. A study's design should minimize the risk that the research will not fulfill the needs of the company and maximize the value of the data produced.

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Colquhoun

In "Capitalizing on Clinical Research", Helen Colquhoun, MD, describes strategies for ensuring that these goals are attained. Colquhoun is president and CEO of Pleiad Devices (Cambridge, MA), a clinical research organization focused exclusively on medical device trials. She spent several years practicing clinical medicine before entering the life sciences industry in 1988. Initially working in the pharmaceutical industry, Colquhoun became an independent consultant in 1995. Since that time she has spent increasingly more time working with medical device and drug-delivery companies. She can be reached at 617/621-3037 or via e-mail at [email protected].

Advertising, Distribution, & Sales

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Fine

With more medical device companies competing in nearly every technology sector in the marketplace, it is increasingly difficult for firms to set their products apart from competitors in the minds of customers. In "Differentiating Medtech Products", Allan Fine describes ways in which manufacturers can develop and implement strategies for effective product differentiation. Fine is a director in the life sciences and healthcare practice of Navigant Consulting Inc. (Chicago) and leader of the firm's medical device practice. He specializes in strategic planning, market analysis, product commercialization and reimbursement strategies, product development, strategic partnering, mergers and acquisitions, market research, and sales strategy. He can be reached at 312/583-6915 or via e-mail at [email protected].

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Kinslow

Drug-device combination products represent a burgeoning sector projected to grow to an $11.5 billion market by 2010. However, current marketing practices in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries take vastly different shapes. In "Marketing Combination Products", Rob Kinslow examines how drug marketing and device marketing differ and how medtech companies can overcome such differences to successfully market combination products. Kinslow is senior director for quality assurance at Seidler Bernstein Inc. (Cambridge, MA), a marketing communications firm focused on healthcare and life sciences. His nearly 20 years' experience in medical marketing includes work on campaigns for hospitals, devices, diagnostics, and other life sciences products. He can be reached at 617/225-0400 or via e-mail at [email protected].

Copyright ©2006 MX

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