Med-Tech Innovation New product introduction


people to lead longer, healthier and happier lives? The model whereby smaller companies, academics and individual entrepreneurs work alongside global corporations such as Boots UK, appears to be working well and is exemplified by the recently launched MediCity health, beauty and wellness innovation hub on the Boots site in Nottingham.


Collaborating on product innovation Why is this the model for the future? Simply because a great invention or superior product is not enough to win in the market, and even big companies cannot succeed on their own. Product development and innovation for commercial success is at the heart of newly emerging opportunities to collaborate. For example, Boots pushed the boundaries in product innovation in the beauty market by launching the first clinically proven skincare product several years ago, No7 Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum. At the time, serums containing high concentrations of anti-ageing ingredients were not well known or understood outside specialist skincare circles, and at first the product struggled to find its niche. But the skincare experts at Boots had such confidence in the product that they took the bold, and at the time unheard of step of putting it forward for testing in a way that no beauty product had previously been tested. The experts at Boots approached Professor Griffiths,


Professor of Dermatology at the University of Manchester and consultant dermatologist at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, and asked him to test the anti- ageing potential of the serum in a clinical trial. Professor Griffiths was initially skeptical that any cosmetic beauty preparation could show genuine anti-ageing results, which made the results of the clinical trial he conducted even more remarkable. Professor Griffiths and his team’s clinical tests showed that the serum was able to stimulate the repair of fibrillin, one of the key proteins of the skins elastic matrix, in a way that was thought could only be achieved by treatment with tretinoin (also known as all trans-retinoic acid), a prescription only treatment. It was the first time that the performance of a cosmetic product had been shown in this way. Testing was conducted on volunteers, not in test tubes, and by assessing levels of fibrillin in the skin, Professor Griffiths’ team identified that the serum had initiated repair processes in the skin. In 2011, Boots UK worked closely with Bradford University and the University of Nice in France on a serum clinically proven to reduce skin age related pigmentation. Further innovation from Boots UK included collaborating with a UK start-up company to develop the world’s first consumer device to deliver permanent hair removal through Intense Pulsed Light technology, and in 2012 it launched the No7 Match Made Service through which No7 customers are better able to choose the right colour tone of products for them based on their measured skin tone. This was achieved through collaboration with X-Rite, Inc., a leading practitioner in colour science and measurement.


By bringing together the relevant academic expertise with product development teams, the first steps on the


www.med-techinnovation.com


route to market are achievable. Preliminary research and testing will doubtless lead to refinements, or a return to first principles, but once proof of concept is reached the possibility of translating science into an unmet customer need is tantalisingly within reach.


Proof of concept in a controlled environment A major function of MediCity, the collaboration between BioCity and Alliance Boots, is to place the entrepreneur in the right environment at “proof of concept” stage. As an innovation hub, MediCity delivers mentor support along the lean start-up principles of build, measure and learn; a new discipline in entrepreneurial management. Key thought leaders in entrepreneurship such as Eric Ries (Lean StartUp) and Steve Blank (4 Steps to Epiphany) are redefining best practice for launching a business by identifying the key steps to eliminating uncertainty and really understanding the customer. From leap-of- faith assumptions to vigorous testing, with the potential opportunity to work with the Boots Innovation Teams, the entrepreneur can create the minimum viable product for first evaluation. Trial and error in a controlled environment such as MediCity, guided by experts in product development and market testing, allows the entrepreneur to decide whether to “pivot” (change course with one foot anchored on the ground) or persevere. It is at this point that market research in the form of focus groups becomes crucial, therefore access to the Boots customer studies centre where consumers test and trial product technologies is extremely valuable. As an example of this, MediCity recently provided the opportunity for six innovators to showcase their ideas. This early exposure to the market provided invaluable consumer feedback that will enable the entrepreneurs to refine their propositions. Boots will discuss in-store potential with at least two of the innovators.


Market understanding Inventors of new products can forget the end user or do not fully appreciate their needs. In this sector it is necessary to continuously consider: What drives people to buy things? And, equally as important, what brings them back to buy again? An effective example from the Boots Healthcare portfolio is the award winning Boots Pharmaceuticals Non-Contact Thermometer (Figure 1). Boots scoured the world for technology to suit a new purpose: a thermometer that measures temperature using infrared technology in a portable device. The parent buying the product, however, is not especially interested in the novel technology or the features of the thermometer that make it so accurate. A concerned parent nursing a feverish baby does not want to wake their sleeping child to take its temperature, and this non-contact thermometer meets this requirement, which is a much more obvious product- use benefit.


Customers need to know that the product is available, they need to be prepared to buy it and then to repurchase it. And ultimately they need to trust it. Getting the product narrative right, in line with the packaging design, is a major plank in the launch to market. This involves


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