Patient communities: A case study about the realities of this approach

Ferring Pharmaceuticals, who built its business on reproductive and maternal health, has been moving into gastroenterology with a revolutionary treatment for Clostridium difficile, better known as C. diff. In order to understand this patient population and develop direct-to-patient/caregiver materials, Ferring hired MarketVision Research to create and run an online community of patients.

C. diff is commonly found in older adults and those that take antibiotics often for chronic conditions. One of our biggest challenges was getting patients to share what can be unpleasant and embarrassing digestive symptoms. We needed to help them feel comfortable and safe when telling very personal stories. We will share how we overcame this and other challenges to help Ferring and their agencies truly understand the patient’s needs.

Key takeaways:

1. Grounded in the reality of challenges to recruiting and maintaining an online community of patients.
2. Understanding tactics employed to develop insights for direct-to-patient messaging.
3. Hearing from the client what they found most valuable as they prepared to launch this new medication.

Case Study Healthcare/Pharma Joint Presentation