What does it really mean to put patients first?

At the global drug delivery company Nemera, the moniker “We Put Patients First” can be seen virtually everywhere. It’s all over the Nemera website, it’s a key part of every PowerPoint deck and its even emblazoned on signs and banners throughout their offices at multiple locations. But how is this dedication to patients demonstrated in real life? One action that helped to erase any doubt about the validity of their slogan is the recent acquisition of Insight Product Development⁠—a design innovation firm with a long history of working to put patients’ needs at the center of device development.

We are here with a Co-founder of Insight Craig Scherer and Bernhard Rohn, the VP of strategy at Nemera whose key role on the strategic M&A team made this acquisition possible.

Craig, what was it about Nemera that made you want to join forces?

Craig: Well, the most obvious attribute was what you have already mentioned. The slogan of “We Put Patients First” was such an obvious common mindset. For decades, Insight has focused on uncovering and understanding user needs and creating solutions that support adherence and ultimately, lead to better healthcare outcomes. To have a company like Nemera, whose aspirations are to truly serve patients, wanting to acquire us…well, it was just too good to be true.

Bernhard, how do you feel that this new Insight/Nemera relationship helps to foster the goal of serving the patient first?

Bernhard: For quite some time, Nemera has gathered patient feedback to support the development process, however, the Insight acquisition now adds very structured and valuable processes to the existing Nemera capabilities. Insight’s industry recognized design research, user experience and human factors engineering are now integral elements of the Nemera “New Product Innovation” process (NPI) and will help us to to even better achieve our “we put patients first” goals.

Craig, how will the new combined offerings benefit customers?

Craig: From the perspective of the newly branded Insight Innovation Center, and our consultative innovation services, it really completes the story of de-risked innovation. The iterative user research and user-centered design from the legacy Insight Product Development team is perfectly complimented by the innovation center at Nemera: providing complete lab services, verification and design for optimal manufacturing and assembly. Together, it results in the ideal suite of tools for our customers.

Bernhard, we have seen the newly enhanced value proposition in your sales materials, tell us what “safe, effective and differentiated combination products” means to Nemera?

Bernhard: Safety and efficacy are essential criteria in the product development process. It is critical to have a solid understanding of the user population, the specific use cases, and overall workflows in order to help avoid potential safety or efficacy risks. Understanding how users interact with our devices by executing a robust verification testing process leads to safe and effective products. In addition, the deep understanding of the user experience can help us to design products which are not only safe and effective but can also make a real difference in the quality of our patient’s lives by supporting every stage along the patient’s journey.

To both of you, has it been worth it? Are there any regrets looking back on this alliance?

Craig: I can tell you from Insight’s perspective, we have absolutely none. This relationship now rounds out the offerings that Insight has built our reputation on and adds all the back-end capability in lab services, verification and manufacturing. We now have the complete offering where clients and customers can benefit from a well-integrated development and manufacturing team that has an undeniable focus on patients to help drive better healthcare outcomes.

Bernhard: The answer is very clear – it was absolutely the right move for both Nemera and Insight. This partnership is highly complementary as it combines the strengths of Insight Product Development’s front-end innovation, design research, human factors, and design engineering with Nemera’s strong late-stage lab services, development, and clinical and commercial manufacturing capabilities. These newly enhanced capabilities enable Nemera to now offer complete end-to-end development services to all its customers globally and to collaborate with them earlier, supporting their complex drug delivery and medical device strategies

During the early stages of this partnership we could feel a very similar culture between the two companies which is helping to make the current integration process very smooth ultimately helping us to achieve our customer goals more efficiently and to always put patients first.