How Pablo Graiver plans to solve the problem of clinical-trial recruitment

MM&M – The CEO and founder of Antidote talks about what inspired him to start the company, which recently received funding from Merck.

Pablo Graiver is CEO and founder of Antidote, a clinical trial recruitment health startup. In September, Antidote raised $11 million in a funding round led by the Merck Global Health Innovation Fund.

What’s your morning ritual?

I (very) recently moved from London to the U.S. so I’m in the process of establishing a new morning ritual. It usually includes getting up at around 7 a.m. with no alarm, then a shower, making breakfast for my daughters, and doing the school run. And then I hop on the train into the city. Podcasts during the commute are essential — my favorites right now are “The Daily” and “This American Life.”

How did you get into the industry?

I grew up in Argentina and had a good friend who was a physician. I would ride my bike to the local hospital to shadow her, and it started a lifelong love of medicine. Eventually, I became an internet entrepreneur.

Fast forward to a glass of wine in London with the same physician friend, who is now a cardiologist. I was itching to start something new, so I asked her, “What is the biggest issue in healthcare today?” She spelled it out for me: While clinical trials are vital to the development of new treatments, many fail before they even begin. Researchers struggle to find the right people to take part in their trials, while patients have no way of easily finding trials to join. I felt uniquely suited to solve this problem, with my interest in healthcare and my expertise in meta-search technology at companies like Kayak. My wheels began spinning and that’s really when Antidote was born.

What is the last thing that inspired you?

Just last month, we received an email from a patient advocacy group that was talking about our impact — they had received more searches in their first month with our search tool on their site than in the past ten years combined. Knowing we’re making a difference is what inspires me.

What industry event are you most looking forward to?

We’re heading to the Global Site Solutions Summit in early October, and I’m really excited because it will be our first time attending that event. I’m going to be moderating a workshop around using social media to recruit patients for clinical trials, which I think is an area with the potential to make a huge impact, if done right. We’ll also be sharing our latest product, Antidote Base, through which clinical research sites can tap into our unique network to find patients who are eligible for their trials and interested in taking part.

What are some health gadgets or apps you’re currently using?

I’m loving my Apple Watch — I use it to track my activity, pulse, heartbeat. I’m a data guy, so that level of detail about my health is important to me. I also have it connected to the Nike running app and a cycling app.

This Q&A has been edited and condensed. 

 

Online patient communities consider the platform: Facebook, or somewhere more private?

Migraine.com is Health Union’s oldest and largest patient community, with more than 140,000 members on its Facebook page.

MM&M – Facebook itself has more than six million health-related groups.

As an expecting mother, Facebook executive Danielle Salowski is experiencing firsthand what it’s like to engage with online patient communities.

She is a member of two Facebook groups for mothers, where she can have daily conversations on topics ranging from where to find the best baby products and prenatal yoga classes to how to pick a pediatrician, she said.

“The community is incredibly open and active,” said Salowski, industry manager for Facebook Health. “I’ve met other expecting moms who have become ‘in-person’ friends in my area because of Facebook.”

Choosing to participate in online communities is a common behavior Facebook sees among new moms, whose use of the social platform increases by 348% by the end of a baby’s first year of life, noted Salowski.

According to a recent Wego Health survey of 433 members of online patient communities, 91% of respondents said those communities play a role in their health decisions. In addition, the patient advocacy network found that more of those patients (75%) share information privately through member-only groups, private phone calls, or emails, than publicly (61%) using Facebook posts, Tweets, or blog posts.

Facebook itself has more than six million health-related groups, with more than 70 million members, noted Salowski. And there are companies like Health Union and MyHealthTeams that focus on building patient communities on Facebook, as well as other social channels and domains.

MyHealthTeams’ MyMSTeam has more than 85,000 members.

What are the pros and cons of hosting a patient community on a social platform versus a standalone website? It comes down to a trade-off between an external social platform’s simplicity and accessibility, and the complexity and flexibility of a website dedicated specifically to the patient community, said Amrita Bhowmick, chief community officer at Health Union, which has 15 condition-specific patient communities, each with their own Facebook page, Twitter handle, Google Plus page and website. Its most active patient communities include Migraine.com, MultipleSclerosis.net, and RheumatoidArthritis.net, which each have a Facebook reach of up to two million visitors per month.

“Everyone’s on Facebook these days — you’re not asking them to go to a completely separate piece of real estate,” said Bhowmick. “But there are benefits on the other side. It might be more complex. [Users] need to sign up, learn how to use the site. However, you have a whole lot of flexibility. You can filter [and] set features that are most important to your members.”

There is also more flexibility when it comes to what users can post, added Bhowmick. “Sometimes, our community members will curse — they’re cursing at their condition, and it’s a really great way to vent,” she said. “Facebook will automatically filter those comments, which can then make them feel really badly.”

MyHealthTeams, which has about one million members across 25 condition-specific patient communities, focuses on standalone websites and mobile apps to engage its members. It has Facebook and Twitter pages for each of the conditions as well, but mainly uses them to introduce its communities to potential members.

“Many of our members don’t want to be talking about their chronic condition on an open network such as Facebook but do feel comfortable on a network designed just for people with the same disease or condition as them,” said Eric Peacock, co-founder and CEO of MyHealthTeams.

According to Peacock, between 20% and 50% of its members return monthly to the MyHealthTeams websites and mobile social networks. Its Parkinson’s disease group is one of its most engaged groups, with roughly half of its more than 32,000 members participating in conversations every month.

The sites and apps gather information such as when they were diagnosed, symptoms they have experienced, and the drugs they’re taking.

“A woman in her thirties who’s diagnosed with breast cancer and wants to get pregnant after chemo wants to connect with someone else who has dealt with or is dealing with this,” explained Peacock.

There’s no one size fits all solution, though, argued Tim Armand, president and co-founder of Health Union. “We analyze the market six months before entering it,” he said. “Then we have a read-and-react.”

MyHealthTeams and Health Union have branded pharmaceutical ads in their networks. MyHealthTeams works with drugmakers on sponsored unbranded education initiatives, and Health Union posts sponsored unbranded content on its Facebook pages about events drugmakers hope to promote. They offer aggregated, de-identified patient data to pharmaceutical companies, executives at both companies said.

Both Health Union and MyHealthTeams have worked with drugmakers to do research on how patients feel about the drugs they’re taking and how to match them with clinical trials.

“We sit between the patients wanting to find trials and sponsors wanting to find patients,” said Armand. “We help companies understand in the development process what kinds of outcomes would be meaningful to patients from the beginning, rather than when you have a product on the market.”

 

UDG Healthcare acquires MicroMass, for up to $75.8 million

MicroMass president Alyson Connor reports to Jez Moulding, chief operating officer at UDG Healthcare and EVP of Ashfield’s commercial and medical services.

MM&M – The company also this year has purchased Vynamic and Cambridge BioMarketing.

UDG Healthcare announced that it has completed the acquisition of MicroMass Communications, a healthcare communications agency specializing in behavioral science, in a deal worth up to $75.8 million.

UDG will pay MicroMass an initial consideration of $63.8 million, and up to an additional $12 million over the next three years, based on profit goals.

The acquisition is UDG’s third — and the largest — acquisition of a U.S.-based healthcare agency in recent months. In July it acquired healthcare management consulting firm Vynamic for $32 million and rare-disease marketing  agency Cambridge BioMarketing for $35 million. Everyday Health previously owned Cambridge BioMarketing.

The deals are part of the company’s aim to expand in the U.S. through its Ashfield division, which focuses on commercial and clinical services and communications, and has committed about $275 million to acquisitions for this year, according to Brendan McAtamney, CEO of UDG Healthcare.

“MicroMass provides the group with the ability to strengthen Ashfield’s presence and capabilities in the U.S. market, whilst also providing us with a platform to expand into the high growth areas of behavioral change and direct patient engagement,” McAtamney said in a news release.

MicroMass president Alyson Connor said the agency had been looking for “a home” and had narrowed it down to about 10 companies. Periscope Equity was MicroMass’ main investor. It invested in the agency in 2015.

“It made it easier to say ‘yes’ when they said, ‘You’re going to function as an autonomous agency. We’re going to help you grow it outside and within the U.S,’” said Connor. “They know this business, they’re a large company, they’re diverse in healthcare, and there are opportunities to collaborate and cross-sell. We can create more and better solutions for our clients in pharma, because we can share resources and ideas.”

Connor now reports to Jez Moulding, chief operating officer at UDG Healthcare and EVP of Ashfield’s commercial and medical services. No other staffing changes are expected to take place, and its office location remains in Cary, North Carolina.

Connor said she hopes to combine MicroMass’ expertise in behavioral science with Ashfield’s clinical and psychosocial know-how, to come up with behavioral techniques for nurses that improve patient outcomes. In addition, she said the acquisition allows MicroMass to better service clients that are working with other Ashfield agencies in the U.K.

MicroMass reported a 9% increase in revenue to $26.2 million in 2016, with 13 new account wins. It has hired 34 people this year to date, with a total of 110 employees in the U.S.

“We’ve reached that point where we have to invest in infrastructure [and] internal training, so we have growth development for our staff,” said Connor. “It’s great for us to tap into the resources UDG has to grow staff.”

 

Giant brings on new brand experience lead, as Armstrong departs

MM&M – Aaron Sklar, formerly of Welltok, replaces Christine Armstrong, who moved on to a Silicon Valley health startup.

Giant Creative/Strategy appointed Aaron Sklar as VP of brand experience. He replaces Christine Armstrong, formerly EVP/managing director, brand experience, who left the agency and started a new role as head of experience and growth at January, a Silicon Valley health startup.

Sklar most recently served as VP of design at health technology startup Welltok, and is a co-founder of Prescribe Design, a company that comprises healthcare executives and design professionals that work together to re-imagine medical products and services. He reports to Giant president Adam Gelling.

In his new role, Sklar is responsible for expanding Giant’s brand experience services with the aim of offering clients compelling brand narratives and purposeful design.

“Throughout my career, I have seen the magic that happens when human-centered design is applied in the healthcare setting,” Sklar told MM&M. “There is a huge wave of transformation happening at the intersection of design, technology and healthcare — and I’m thrilled to be positioned as a central part of that action.”

Sklar’s initial focus will be on using product design expertise to meet client needs, and he will also be expanding Giant’s in-house practices in design research and usability testing to better engage audiences, he said.

“Aaron has proven he can use his expertise to unlock the hidden potential of brands via meaningful conversations that drive loyalty,” added Gelling, in a news release. “Aaron is the ideal person to have at the crossroads of healthcare and strategic design.”

Giant also hired Andrew Wint as SVP of technology. Wint was previously VP and director of technology for The Bloc and VP and director of technology at FCB Health.

 

How Lauren Schulz is shaping Dr. Reddy’s OTC brands

MM&M – She is director of OTC brand marketing at Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories.

Lauren Schulz is director of OTC brand marketing at Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories. The Indian drugmaker, which acquired six OTC brands from Ducere Pharma last year, launched the first U.S. marketing campaign in August for pain-reliever Doan’s in twenty years. Ducere bought the brands from Novartis in 2013.

What’s your morning ritual?

I wake up at 4:30 a.m. to get to the gym for a 5 a.m. boot camp class. I try to carve out 30 minutes for myself every morning to have coffee and get ready for the day. Then I get myself ready for work. By 7 a.m., my seven-year old daughter, Maya, and my five-year old son, Miles, are awake and ready to go. They are very busy, enthusiastic children who require a lot of my attention. Mornings are usually hectic, but my husband, Craig, is very hands-on. With organization and a good partnership, we manage to pull it off and have fun along the way.

How did you get into the industry?

In one of my first jobs out of college, I worked as an account manager at an advertising agency. My boss at that agency and I stayed in contact for years. Ten years later, she hired me to run some OTC brands at Insight Pharmaceuticals. That role included brands such as E.p.t pregnancy tests and Uristat, an OTC urinary tract infection treatment. During that time, I learned the ins and outs of OTC marketing.

Prior to that role, my experience had mostly been in the food and hospitality industry at the corporate headquarters marketing departments at Wawa, a chain of convenience stores, and Aramark,a food-services company. Coming from a retail background gave me unique insight into the perspective of the OTC customer.

What is the best part of your job?

The best part of my job is the fact that I’ve been given the opportunity to develop a department that didn’t exist here at Dr. Reddy’s. When our company purchased six assets, including the Doan’s, Bufferin and Nupercainal brands, it represented the company’s foray into the branded OTC space. It was a strategic move for Dr. Reddy’s and as a result, the company is putting its money where its mouth is — investing fully in reenergizing these brands. I really enjoy building something from the ground up.

What is your greatest professional challenge?

The greatest challenge is delivering on the promises we’ve made to our shareholders and stakeholders when it comes to our branded OTC offering. It’s a real challenge to turn around these brands that have not had any real attention for more than 20 years.

What is the best career advice you’ve received?

Do what you love, and you will never have to work. I have a real passion for marketing and sales, and the people here at Dr. Reddy’s make it easy, which is why it doesn’t feel like work.

What do you do when you feel uninspired?

I eat cheesecake. Seriously, it’s easy to stay inspired when your products are great and you believe in them. I try to find personal, professional goals and tackle them one at a time. Little successes gather steam and become bigger and more important, and they help drive larger successes.

What is the last thing that inspired you?

I get inspiration from my kids’ enthusiasm for the little things that we take for granted every day like rain, cows, and their toys.

What industry event are you most looking forward to?

I’m really looking forward to going to the Association of National Advertiser’s Masters of Marketing. It’s a premier conference for consumer and B2B marketing held in Orlando each year. The lineup of speakers is phenomenal. It includes Tony Rogers, CMO of Walmart U.S., and other top leaders from companies like Google, Samsung, Procter & Gamble, and Facebook.

What are some health gadgets or apps you’re currently using?

I use my Apple Watch to track steps, and I use a Scosche heart rate monitor for my gym workouts. I also love the Aaptiv app, which allows you to pick workouts from trainers combined with music so I can stay motivated throughout a run.

What are you reading?

I just started reading “Flying Without a Net” by Thomas J. DeLong, and I’m about to finish “Leaving Time” by Jodi Picoult.