What Do You Look for in a Widget? Warren A. Dardine President, Clinical Education Associates, a division of Dimensional HealthCare Inc. Suppose you were in the market to buy a new widget. You would probably read manufacturer information regarding the superiority of the newer widget compared with currently used widgets. You might even listen to a sales representative’s sales pitch, but probably hold what is said in suspect. That is because you want and need more. You need to remove the risk associated with trying the new widget. You will want to see the results of the studies and product trials of the new widget, for it is these trials that increase your believability in what the widget manufacturer claims. And then, of course, you will read as much as you can from as many different sources written by those who have had “real” experiences with the widgets. You will give more credence to what is said about the widget from authorities who know what makes a good and safe widget and what differentiates one widget from another. Third-Party Validation A third-party validation of the new widget is what you want — validation from people who have the credentials to make you value their opinion. After all, if there is anyone who can validate the benefits of the new widget, it is those who have not only used the old ones but who have also studied the trial results of many investigators and have used the new one firsthand. These authorities have identified how to successfully use the new widget. Any risk associated with trying the new widget has been dramatically reduced. Now you are ready to try the new widget because it has been confirmed as being the better widget. It’s Time to Get Real Real physicians, real patients, real results … are what is leading the way for new product use, whether a new formulation or a new form of an old formulation. Physicians within any given therapeutic class are influenced by the real results that community-based trials deliver. Why? Because these are real colleagues, real doctors who are recruited and serve as investigators in these trials. It is unlikely that biases and commercial interests influence the participation of these real-world physicians in trials that yield new findings or confirm old ones. It has clearly been reported and published that the single most valued source of information is the power of the printed word — medical literature. Physicians want to hear what recognized authorities are saying about trial results that are obtained from real physicians with real patients. They want to see the authorities’ interpretation of the data yielded by these clinical trials. The credibility that these authorities carry to the trial is what turns a sea of data into data that are seen by large groups of real physicians. Determining the most effective method of ensuring trial results of a pharmaceutical product is not all that different from the validation process associated with buying a new widget. Third-party validated, real-world trials, with real physicians and real patients and data interpreted by renowned authorities, comprise an essential marketing strategy for guaranteeing successful product usage. Third-party validated, real-world trials, with real physicians and real patients and data interpreted by renowned authorities, comprise an essential marketing strategy for guaranteeing successful product usage. Trial Data Dimensional HealthCare Inc., Cedar Knolls, N.J., designs, implements, and provides community-based research for the pharmaceutical and medical-device industries, focusing on the design and implementation of large, simple trials in the periapproval stages (Phases IIIb and IV) of drug development. For more information, visit dhcare.com. September 2005 VIEW on Marketing

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