Our patient experts don’t just participate — they co-lead the research, co-design the solutions, and co-create the content. Here’s what that looks like in practice.
A global pharma brand team needed a content strategy for the launch of a new MS treatment. Merakoi recruited patient experts and content creators in multiple countries to co-design authentic, patient-centred campaign materials. The content co-created with patient experts performed 10x better than expectations in the multichannel launch campaign.
“To be able to involve merakoi patient experts directly gave me confidence that we are developing the content that will actually resonate with patients.”
“I have been living with MS for over ten years. I don’t want to stand on the side lines and cheer the researchers on, I want to play!”Read the full story →
A biopharmaceutical company preparing for a Phase 3 rare disease trial needed to understand barriers to recruitment, retention, and participation across five countries. Merakoi conducted patient-led research with a patient expert co-designing the discussion guide. The project identified key motivators and logistical burdens that informed strategies to reduce participant burden and improve communication.
“Having the patient expert co-lead the research is something that I think is very valuable that I haven’t seen done in any of the other engagements, to be honest.”
“It quickly became obvious to me with each interaction with various team members that this is an organization that really cares about patients.”Read the full story →
With several late-stage IBD molecules in the pipeline, a pharmaceutical company sought a long-term differentiation strategy driven by digital health and patient services. Through 6+ months of workshops across 7 geographies, merakoi facilitated a dramatic shift in the team’s mindset — patients became partners and co-designers, not just end-users. The result: a clear patient value proposition and an accelerated global omnichannel campaign.
“We witnessed a dramatic shift in our team’s mindset, as patients were no longer viewed simply as end-users and consumers, but as partners and co-designers in product strategy.”Read the full story →
A diagnostics company was considering pivoting from a dedicated mobile app to a responsive web-based interface for heart failure patient monitoring. Merakoi recruited 5 patient experts for 6-day usability testing across 2 sprints. In under 5 weeks, the project validated patient preference for the simplified SMS/web approach with a willingness score of 4.8 out of 5 and identified key desired features.
“Having Merakoi as a partner for the project was a great blessing. The team showed powerful empathy, both with the patients and with the product team.”Read the full story →
A leading oncology company sought a differentiated digital offering for a new targeted therapy in non-small cell lung cancer. Merakoi recruited 6 patient creators who produced stories and articles in 4 languages. Three years later, the digital service is still running strong with organic traffic, referrals, and expansion to additional oncogenetic areas.
“Merakoi gave us access to a global network of patient experts. Without them, patients would not have had a voice.”Read the full story →
A medtech company with limited clinical trial experience needed a best-practice document adaptable for individual trials. Merakoi brought together 5 patient experts across 3 virtual workshops to co-create a clinical trial communications playbook. The playbook became the cornerstone of the company’s R&D program over the next 3 years, guiding trial processes and improving patient engagement.
“The project allowed me to do work that was both personally fulfilling as a breast cancer survivor, but also professionally fulfilling to help other patients.”Read the full story →
ARTIDIS was developing a ground-breaking nanotechnology cancer diagnostic tool and needed to understand the breast cancer diagnosis journey from the patient perspective. Merakoi conducted patient-led research, interviewing 60 patient online influencers and community managers. The insights uncovered a USP that resonated more strongly with patients and guided the commercialisation and go-to-market strategy.
“This project was an eye-opening approach to market research for me: patient-led!”Read the full story →
Explore our broader portfolio of patient-led projects across therapeutic areas and service lines.
A multinational healthcare company sought to understand millennial MS patients’ pain points and digital tool usage to create a differentiated support solution. Merakoi curated a Patient Experience Panel of MS community experts who collaborated throughout design, content creation, and campaign development. The campaign successfully launched a knowledge hub in five countries and six languages, shifting the MS narrative toward patient empowerment.
“We have trusted, open collaboration allowing us to bring out the project’s best. The quality of patient experts and diverse team mix really helps us co-create meaningfully.”
“The project gave me autonomy to express ideas and make contributions. The merakoi team provided instructions and time for tasks. It was a great growth experience.”Read the full story →
A global pharmaceutical company needed to address persistent low medication adherence rates for a PAH treatment. Merakoi created a Patient Experience Panel of five patient experts who conducted four agile sprints over three months — from discovery and ideation through co-design, prototype testing, and communications refinement. The co-designed recommendations achieved unanimous support and have been adopted globally.
“This was my first time co-creating digital content with patients and it has been a phenomenal experience seeing the level of ownership and passion that patient experts are able to contribute.”
“Knowing my experiences as a patient shaped the core of this patient support program and helped to make it truly patient centric has been empowering.”Read the full story →
ARTIDIS needed to understand the breast cancer diagnosis journey from the patient perspective to position their ground-breaking nanotechnology diagnostic tool. Merakoi recruited 20 diverse patients and conducted one-to-one interviews and focus groups led by trained patient experts. The research uncovered a stronger value proposition than ARTIDIS’s initial assumptions, directly guiding their commercialisation and go-to-market strategy.
“This project was an eye-opening approach to market research for me: patient-led!”
“The project allowed me to do work that was both personally fulfilling as a breast cancer survivor, but also professionally fulfilling to help other patients.”Read the full story →
ARTIDIS needed support optimising clinical trial design across U.S. sites for their pioneering nanotechnology cancer diagnostic. Merakoi assembled a Patient Experience Panel combining professional clinical trial expertise with personal breast cancer experience. The team co-designed an optimised protocol, patient-centred communications narrative, and a best-practice playbook with six key principles for maximising participation and minimising dropout.
“This is such an opportunity to help people feel like partners, like part of a team. I would love to see this become a leading practice across the trial space.”Read the full story →
A pharmaceutical company was considering reformulating a cutting-edge lung cancer drug from multiple daily doses to once-daily. Merakoi’s patient expert — himself a lung cancer patient using the drug — led interviews with 11 patients across multiple geographies. The research revealed that frequent dosing was valued by patients as a differentiator, not a burden, preventing a costly reformulation misstep and identifying other improvement opportunities.
“The results of this patient-led study surprised some members of the team but the explanations were very clear. This research gave us relevant outputs we will take into account to continue to improve and simplify patients’ lives.”Read the full story →
merakoi enables healthcare innovators across the world to work with patients to design and launch truly patient-beneficial solutions.
Our team contributes to industry research and publishes on patient engagement, digital health, and health technology assessment.
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