Abstract:

When a company is developing several important new compounds and one is facing challenges in formulation development, it is important to establish whether the potential for the product with an alternative formulation would be viable in sales terms. The market research investigation, which was conducted in the United States, Japan and Europe with an overall total of 298 respondents, used an adaptive conjoint approach (ACA) together with several interesting interlocking questions to assess the importance of the dosage form. It was possible to assess and model market penetration which clearly showed the impact of not having the oral formulation. Despite this, the product based on the conjoint work backed up by evaluation of an outline profile, demonstrated a very significant sales opportunity. The project was a high profile study within Zeneca which helped to enhance the standing of marketing research input.