Evolving a therapy manufacturer’s genetic testing program for a rare solid tumour 

THE PROBLEM:

Streamlining Genetic Testing

A small innovative medicines company, needed to streamline their complementary genetic testing that identified patients for its emerging therapy, an FGFR2 inhibitor to treat a rare solid tumour, cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). The client needed to assess if medical oncologists have sufficient knowledge and access for FGFR2 genetic testing which identifies eligible patients for therapy. 

The Solution:

On-Demand Insights To Guide Marketing Strategies

KeyOps co-created a 15 minute question survey targeting medical oncologists who treat CCA rare solid tumour of interest. A total of 24 participants were surveyed.

Working with the therapy manufacturer on their recruitment criteria for the survey, nearly half of the respondents were from Quebec where experience with the therapy is unique given easier access.

The manufacturer felt they were less experienced in working with community hospitals given their focus on academic centers, and asked to have some representation from medical oncologists in this practice setting.

While KeyOps works with clients to recruit targeted physicians, for this study, they suggested recruiting off target participants in Quebec and Ontario as well. This allowed the client to get a fuller picture of what physicians need to identify these rare disease patients.

The Outcome:

“We identified who to interact with and what to do in order to support hospitals in Canada to test more patients”
says Medical Affairs Manager.

Only about half of medical oncologists assess the private insurance coverage of their cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) patients for genetic testing.

A strong majority of medical oncologists agreed that FGFR2 genetic testing should be included in the standard panel, but the level of knowledge of this genetic testing was low.

Molecular pathologists have a sizeable voice in what assay is used for patients and that many institutions are willing and able to send patient samples outside of their institution for testing.

The client confidently determined what new topics for education were needed for medical oncologists in academic and community settings.

With the understanding that institutions are able to send patient samples out for testing, the client identified what logistical and financial assistance can be offered to ensure eligible patients for its therapy are identified.

This case study was published anonymously to protect the competitive intelligence of our client.