EXPANDING MANAGEMENT
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We are pleased to announce the following senior appointments.
 Erik Coats, Ph.D.: Promoted to Full Partner. Since joining the firm in 2005 Erik has made significant contributions to Observant LLC’s quantitative capabilities to address pre-launch market research questions. As a full partner Erik will continue to serve clients needs on individual engagements while taking on a larger role in company management. See Erik’s page on our website.
 Jennifer Potter, Ph.D.: M.P.H.: Director. Jennifer is a clinical psychologist who joins the firm from Harvard Medical School where her research specialties included pain, substance use disorders, and the design and management of clinical trials. She has worked part-time as a market research consultant for several years, managing studies across a range of therapeutic categories.
 Rob Ramirez, M.B.A.: Director. Rob brings many years of experience developing and managing market research strategies in the health care industry. He joins us from Pfizer Inc., where he managed local market, multi-cultural, and therapeutic level market research projects. Rob has particular expertise in the Ophthalmology area. Prior to Pfizer Rob worked at Oxford Health Plans (MCO) and Merck Medco (PBM).
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SOFTWARE WEB SITE LAUNCHED
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 Observant LLC invites you to visit www.QUESTRILL.com, the new web site showcasing our proprietary patent-pending qualitative analysis software.
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IMPROVED COMPANY WEB SITE
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NEWS FROM THE PARTNERS
 We are proud to announce that our CEO, Mike Feehan, was recently named one of the “100 most inspiring people” in the pharmaceutical industry by PharmaVoice magazine. This honor is yet another sign of Observant LLC’s emergence as an important voice in the pharmaceutical / biotechnology market research community. For more information on the award, see our Forbes press release. |
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| We are also pleased to report that our revenue and staff size continue to grow at a rapid pace. Yet we have taken steps to manage this growth in such a way as to ensure that our client focus and the quality of our deliverables remain high. To that end, much of the first six months of this year has been devoted to enhancing our internal training program for new and existing employees that will improve our market research skills, quality control protocols, and keep us at the forefront of rapidly developing categories, such as vaccines, oncology, and infectious disease. |
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RESEARCH COMMENTARY:
Leveraging Caregivers for Research Insight |
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| It has been estimated that more than 50 million Americans care for someone with a chronic illness, disability or advanced age. As these caregivers age, they are likely to play a more important role in a broader range of therapeutic areas than at present. Yet caregivers are rarely included in market research outside of a few therapeutic areas (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, pediatrics). Even for highly functioning patients, caregivers often share responsibility for decisions related to seeking medical treatment, filling prescriptions, and compliance. |
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| Market researchers should pay more attention to caregivers across a broader range of therapeutic areas. You may want to consider including caregivers in any research project that seeks to understand patient attitudes or behavior (e.g. DTC, messaging, brochure testing), even when patients are themselves competent decision makers. Here are a few issues you may want to consider when planning research with caregivers: |
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Be prepared for the possibility of an emotional interview. Caregivers are often under a high level of stress as they have taken on the responsibility of caring for someone in addition to managing their own lives |
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Recognize that there are multiple definitions of caregivers. While the generally accepted definition includes anyone providing care for a loved one or friend, as researchers we must be careful to consider anyone who is compensated for these activities as a potentially valuable source of insight |
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Be conscious of potential ethical issues that can arise during an interview. For example, it is possible to unintentionally disclose disease information with someone (e.g., through testing an educational piece) that their doctor has not yet disclosed about the prognosis for a loved one |
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| Take care with caregivers, and you may be rewarded with perspectives that add real value. |
Rob Ramirez
Director
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