Pharmaceutical companies operate in one of the most competitive and fast-moving industries in the world. With mounting pressures to bring therapies to market faster and navigate complex regulations, the demand for timely, actionable pharma market intelligence has never been greater.
Yet many teams still rely on traditional methods like advisory boards and surveys, which can be resource-heavy and slow, leaving companies vulnerable to delays and missed opportunities.
Today, technology and AI in pharma are transforming this process. By making HCP and KOL insights faster and more accessible, modern rapid insight platforms like NoeticInsight enable pharma and biotech companies to accelerate decision-making for faster, smarter launches.
To better understand how this shift is reshaping the industry, we spoke with James Shannon, Chief Commercial Officer at Onviv, who supports life science leaders in harnessing expert insights to inform strategy and launch.
The Shifting Landscape of Pharma Market Intelligence
Over the past decade, life science companies have seen a dramatic shift in how pharma market intelligence is gathered. With advanced analytics and AI in pharma and biotech now widely available, the opportunities are enormous, but many organizations are still slow to adapt.
According to James Shannon, “People tend to think of technology as all or nothing — as a replacement of something. But instead, it should be viewed as a tool to assist and alleviate some of the heavy lifting.”
Shannon points to several areas where pharma has historically underutilized technology:
- Efficiency: Too often, data capture remains slow and resource-intensive. Technology has been seen as a replacement instead of an augmentation tool to make processes more efficient.
- Access to Experts: Regulatory restrictions and geography often make it difficult to reach the right HCPs, particularly outside major metro areas. Technology in the form of rapid insight platforms can support this need.
- Application of Insights: Even when data is captured, pharma teams struggle to quickly translate it into implications for clinical goals and messaging strategy.
As Shannon puts it, “After they have the data and insights, deciphering — quickly — into real implications for their brand so they can act quickly and confidently is one of the biggest needs we see.”
This gap between collection and action leaves companies exposed to delays, missed opportunities, and ineffective messaging, particularly for those still relying heavily on traditional methods of engagement.
The Limits of Traditional Approaches to Pharma Market Intelligence
Traditional approaches like surveys, focus groups, and annual advisory boards have been the industry standard for decades, but their limitations are increasingly clear.
“Often, they require months of planning, significant budgets, and internal buy-in just to launch a single study,” notes the Onviv CCO. “And by the time results are ready, the market may have already shifted.”
Recruitment and planning alone can take months and cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. More critically, the results are one-off snapshots, not continuous streams of intelligence.
By contrast, rapid pharma market insight platforms transform market research and help shape marketing strategy, enabling teams to move faster and adapt to changes in real time. “Through our platform, you have access right away, whenever you want, and not even restricted to normal business hours,” says Shannon. “Being able to tap into quality expert insights like that is game-changing because data is released and changes so quickly.”
The shift from slow, episodic studies to always-on access lays the foundation for the next major transformation in the field: the rise of artificial intelligence.
How Is AI Used to Inform Pharma and Biotech Insights?
Artificial intelligence is a buzzword in nearly every industry, and AI in pharma is no exception. But how AI is applied in pharma market intelligence makes all the difference.
“With the rise of AI comes great speeds, refinements of language or messaging to elicit better discussions,” explains Shannon. “But also a level of mistrust. It can’t replace human intelligence, and the value of speaking directly with the individuals who are in a clinical setting in a position to treat patients.”
That’s why, within the NoeticInsight platform, AI doesn’t generate or replace HCP insights or KOL insights. Instead, it plays a supporting role to make interactions with experts more efficient and effective. “Our insights are unbiased and true feedback from professionals in the field who are actually making treatment decisions and developing these trials,” Shannon emphasizes.
Specifically, AI functions in the NoeticInsight platform in two ways:
- Expert matching: Makes sure questions are routed to the most qualified experts, based on client parameters.
- Question optimization: Assists clients in crafting questions that elicit the most meaningful, high-quality responses.
Unlike some tools, NoeticInsight doesn’t rely on AI to interpret the data. Instead, we draw on a team of medical professionals who craft custom reports with clear business implications. “AI isn’t analyzing the data or insights we provide,” Shannon explains. “We have a team of medical professionals here that can craft comprehensive summaries based on what actual experts write and respond.”
Looking ahead, however, we see exciting opportunities for AI in pharma and biotech to play a bigger role in shaping strategy:
- Market Access: Predictive models to simulate uptake scenarios under different reimbursement or guideline changes.
- Engagement Strategies: Segmenting experts into behavioral clusters (e.g., digital influencers, trialists, guideline writers) to tailor messaging.
- Medical Affairs: Identifying unmet educational needs and prioritizing scientific exchange efforts accordingly.
These applications show that the future of AI in pharma is not about replacing experts, but about amplifying the power of key opinion leader and HCP insights.
How NoeticInsight Delivers Faster HCP and KOL Insights
What sets the NoeticInsight platform apart is its combined technology and human intelligence approach to deliver rapid access to blinded HCP and KOL insights.
- Always-on access to experts: Teams can target the right HCPs and key opinion leaders 24/7 from anywhere, even those who are otherwise hard to reach.
- Flexible formats: Clients can capture KOL insights and HCP insights through polls, multiple choice, open-ended responses, or with supporting materials like data, graphics, or messaging. All formats are blinded.
- Human expertise layered on top: A dedicated team of medical professionals synthesizes responses into actionable insights tailored to each brand’s needs.
The result is a solution that collects data but also helps pharmaceutical teams organize and act on pharmaceutical market intelligence. With on-demand access, teams can easily pivot or prepare for an upcoming launch.
And the benefits extend beyond pharma companies to the patients they serve. With more reliable and immediate insights, companies can adapt strategies quickly and launch with confidence. “When patients are offered the best product for their particular case, as early on in their treatment journey as possible, their chance of better outcomes is greatly improved,” Shannon says.
Transform Your Strategy with NoeticInsight
Pharma companies can no longer afford to wait months for critical market intelligence or rely on outdated market research models. By embracing technology to access blinded expert insights, they can move faster and ultimately deliver better outcomes for patients.
NoeticInsight is at the forefront of this shift, providing pharma teams with the tools to gather personalized, rapid HCP and KOL insights, so you can synthesize findings into actionable strategies and adapt to an ever-changing market landscape. Connect with us to learn how NoeticInsight can improve your clinical or launch strategy and make sure you’re competitive in today’s evolving market.