It is well known that the final step of any product development must include consumer´s opinion. A brand and product success depends on many exceptional achievements such as finding the perfect active, substantiating claims correctly but also responding to the truthful desires on texture, fragrance, packaging, product delivery and efficacy. Being so, consumers cannot be neglected and referring to dermocosmetics the dermatologist is certainly one of the main consumers and greatest critics of any innovation.
Contract Research Organizations (CRO) play a major role in involving consumer´s networks, including the dermatological community in trials to achieve real product outcomes. Thus, when such projects are conducted in important markets with amazing skin and hair diversity, like Brazil, results are a key brick on a product development pathway. However, consumers’ studies must involve considerable panels with over three hundred patients and preferably a significant number of physicians, with at least 20 to 50 dermatologists to guarantee representativeness and accurate responses. In a country with a territory corresponding almost to a continent comprising environmental and socio-economic variety going from the Amazon forest to megalopolis like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro to enormous farmlands in South Brazil where temperatures can reach 5ºC, consumers studies find an ideal stage able to include incredibly diverse panels of users and professional prescribers.
Organizing such big projects engaging 10 to 20 cities, with 30 to 50 dermatologists and over 300 to 500 patients is not an easy task and requires not only clinical expertise, trained monitors, quality standards but also digital technology and maybe a little bit of imagination to reach inclusion and adherence goals in short deadlines. Artha Research, a CRO based in Rio, Brazil has proven its ability to face those challenges and conduct those trials creating an important network of dermatologists and users all around the country. One of the latest studies ran by Artha had the main objective of observing moderate to severe atopic dermatitis (AD) patients in use of immunobiological drugs to understand local prescription, disease and users’ behavior among six months. Clinical trials with large number of subjects and long periods of product use, over three months, represent a stunning challenge because participant´s adhesion is not a win situation from the beginning and so many unpredictable events can affect the smooth functioning of the study. Therefore, Artha has developed several procedures to undertake a placid trial but maybe the most crucial point is undoubtably a close relationship with stakeholder’s and dedicated researchers to the project, as well as the use of adequate technology allowing an easy and friendly access to all the study information which includes tailor-made trainings using videos, slide decks, document templates, product mode of use and expected and/or possible adverse events, frequently asked questions (FAQ) availability and last but not least a risk analysis approach. Artha Research is today ready to absorb incredible projects and manage them in record timelines thanks to an outstanding structure.
Contact
For quote requests: contact@artha-research.com
Name: Thais Pontes
tpontes@artha-research.com
