Our Solutions

Patient-Led Market Research

Real insight surfaces in the flow of conversation — when the people who live the condition run the research.

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patient experts

trained to design, run & interpret research

diseases covered

across 20+ therapy areas

languages moderated

native, in-region patient experts

What you get

More than a findings report

Co-designed

A guide patients shaped

The discussion guide is co-built with patient experts — including the questions a researcher wouldn’t think to ask.

The deliverable

A rigorous findings report

Standard market-research structure — the decision, the evidence, the recommendation — fully traceable.

What’s different

Patient-expert commentary

Every finding annotated with why it matters from inside the experience, not just what was said.

Patient-Led MR vs a traditional MR agency

	Traditional market research	Patient-Led Market Research
Discussion guide	Researcher-built; patients react	Co-built with patient experts; questions reflect what patients actually want to be asked
Moderation	Professional moderator (often non-patient)	Patient experts moderate, recognise the unsaid, probe what matters
Interpretation	Researcher-led analysis	Patient experts interpret with the researcher, surfacing context an outsider misses
Surfaces "questions you didn't ask"	Rarely: the guide constrains the conversation	Frequently: patient experts spot the missing question and bring it in
Output	Findings report	Findings grounded in lived experience, with patient-expert commentary integrated

How it works

From decision to grounded insight

Scope

Frame the research question and the markets.

Co-build

Patient experts shape the discussion guide.

Moderate

Patient experts run or co-moderate sessions.

Interpret

Findings read through lived experience.

The formats, matched to the question — tap to explore:

In-depth interviews

One-to-one depth where the experience is personal or the question is sensitive.

Group discussions

Patient experts build on each other, surfacing patterns a single voice would miss.

Async & diaries

Patients contribute over time — diaries, reactions, and reflections between live sessions.

Co-moderated sessions

A patient expert and a merakoi researcher run the room together — rigor plus lived experience.

Optional Add-on

Patient QualiCheck

Quick-turn quantitative validation of qualitative findings, run with target-precision patient or caregiver samples. Add-on to any patient-led market research engagement when your team needs a numeric check on signal strength before committing to a decision.

Pulse-check the themes that matter, validate prioritisation, or dimension a preference, without scoping a full quantitative study.

Learn about Patient QualiCheck →

Case Study · Clinical trial design

Global biopharmaceutical sponsor, uncontrolled gout

A global biopharma sponsor needed to design a clinical trial in uncontrolled gout — a high-unmet-need area with heavy patient friction.

What the patient expert changed

Trial-stage-specific recommendations — tactical input the client fed straight into protocol design.
A real patient-friction map — the day-to-day barriers a generic patient-voice deliverable would miss.

The result: a better-designed trial, targeted to the client’s exact stage of development — since repeated across asthma, prurigo nodularis, type 2 diabetes, and beyond.

See related case studies →

Gary Ho, patient expert and co-founder of the Gout Support Group of America, in conversation on the Merakoi Voices podcast

In the patient expert's words

“We are not just input providers. We are experts in our condition.”

Gary Ho

Patient expert · co-founder, Gout Support Group of America · co-researcher on the uncontrolled gout project

Insight from inside
the experience.

The questions you didn’t know to ask — answered by the people who live it.

Frequently asked questions

What is patient-led market research?

Market research designed, conducted, moderated, and interpreted alongside trained patient experts. The patient experts are not just respondents. They help build the discussion guide, run the sessions, and interpret what is said.

How is patient-led market research different from a traditional MR agency?

A traditional agency uses professional moderators and a researcher-built guide. We replace both with trained patient experts. The result: insights reflect how patients actually think, speak, and decide, not how an outsider thinks they might.

What therapy areas and regions does merakoi cover?

174 diseases across 20+ therapy areas including oncology, immunology, neurology, cardiovascular, rare disease, and mental health. Patient-expert coverage spans 11 languages and regions including the US, Canada, EU, UK, Switzerland, LATAM, Japan, Middle East, South Africa, and Thailand.

Who moderates the research sessions?

Trained patient experts who have lived with the condition and completed our moderation training program. They work alongside a merakoi researcher who handles study design and analysis structure.

What output do I get from a patient-led market research study?

A standard market research findings report, plus integrated patient-expert commentary on each insight, so the reader knows not just what was said but why it matters from a patient perspective.

How is this different from a patient advisory board?

An advisory board gathers reactions and guidance from patients on your plans. Patient-led market research is a structured study — patient experts help design the guide, moderate the sessions, and interpret the findings, producing a market-research deliverable you can act on. Use an ad board to pressure-test direction; use patient-led MR when you need rigorous, decision-grade insight grounded in lived experience.

Book a Consultation to scope your study.

A short call to frame the decision, the geographies, and the right engagement shape.

Book a Consultation

Patient Experience Lab (PEL)

Patient-Led Market Research

Patient Testing Panels

Patient Expert Connect (PEC)

Patient-Led Market Research

Patient Experience Panels

Patient-Led Market Research