Building a Go-To-Market Strategy with AlphaBiomics
Hardian supported AlphaBiomics' co-founder and CEO, Anthony Williamson, to develop a go-to-market (GTM) strategy to help them bring precision medicine to chronic inflammatory diseases.
AlphaBiomics aims to create precision medicine solutions based on peoples’ microbiomes. Their first product RxSelex™ is a microbiome-based predictive diagnostic tool for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It is difficult to currently predict which drug would benefit a particular patient and as a result, patients are often cycled through various drugs including biologics. RxSelex™ aims to match IBD patients with the right biologic drug at the right time by analysing their microbiome. From the comfort of their home, patients can send a stool sample which the RxSelex™ algorithm will then analyse and support doctors to make informed decisions about the best drug treatment for that particular patient.
To develop RxSelex™, AlphaBiomics has secured multiple grants from various sources – including Johnson and Johnson and several NIHR awards. The team is now in the final stages of validating the RxSelex™ algorithm using 300 clinical samples from patients with IBD. The next phase for the product is a clinical utility investigation where the RxSelex™ platform will be used in hospitals to collect real-world evidence and evaluate the impact of the predictive test on patient outcomes.
Anthony, an immunologist by background, developed an interest in the relationship between the microbiome and the way people respond to drugs whilst working at healthcare giant, Johnson and Johnson. Along with two other technical colleagues – Angélique B. van ’t Wout and Marcus Rauch – they were inspired to start AlphaBiomics.
As a startup in the early stages of product development, the founders of AlphaBiomics sought help from Hardian to develop a GTM strategy, to minimise risk and optimise their chances of success and adoption into healthcare systems like the NHS.
Anthony and I reflected on how through a collaborative approach, AlphaBiomics is now armed with a robust GTM strategy for its launch into the healthcare market.
The go-to-market strategy is not just the marketing plan
“The go-to-market strategy is a key part of any company's evolution towards its commercial phase.” Anthony Williamson
There are many risks when entering a new marketplace or launching a new product. The GTM strategy is the master plan that will help take your product or solution and describes everything (or at least should do if done properly!) that is needed to market, sell, and deliver the product. They identify the target market, articulate value propositions, craft a marketing plan, and develop a strategy for sales and distribution.
We appreciate that developing a sound GTM strategy is a complex and challenging process requiring expertise in multiple areas. Founders have to wear multiple hats at the same time, covering various domains including strategy, regulations, health economics, IP, design, and marketing.
Through my own experience supporting startups through Hardian, I’ve come to realise that there is a lot of confusion among early-stage companies about what a GTM is and what it isn't (hint: the GTM is not just the marketing strategy), and many founders can find this process challenging to navigate.
In healthcare, having a solid GTM strategy is crucial for achieving commercial success and getting your technology into the hands of patients that need it the most. For many digital health technologies, a GTM strategy is the building block for the transition from R&D to commercialisation – which is where AlphaBiomics found themselves. Crafting your GTM strategy should start as early as possible to ensure seamless product-market fit, doing so will streamline product commercialisation and make it easier to secure investment along the way. A solid GTM strategy has helped many of our clients raise more investment, faster and at a higher valuation. It will jump-start your pre-revenue sales traction, and help you develop and hire the right talent and expertise.
Partners for the journey to market
AlphaBiomics' founding team – who all have academic backgrounds – acknowledged their gap in skill set in developing a business model for RxSelex™, prompting them to seek external advice.
“We knew that there were gaps in our thinking and gaps in our skill sets in terms of pulling a very holistic and solid go-to-market strategy together.
So we were really keen to bring in external expertise, people who had been through this journey multiple times in the course of their own careers and had achieved commercial success.
People who really knew how to craft a good go-to-market strategy that's fit for purpose. That I think, is what we've been able to achieve with Hardian.” Anthony Williamson
Our collaboration with AlphaBiomics began with the Innovate UK Fast Start grant, which offers financial support to enable small companies to overcome business challenges, whether that be evidence generation, commercialisation, or idea development. With our extensive experience in assisting companies with this particular grant, we were able to support AlphaBiomics with a successful submission, gaining them £50,000 funding and enabling us to work with the team on developing a GTM strategy for them. Leveraging our network of domain experts we brought together a team of consultants best suited to support AlphaBiomics.
The onboarding process with Hardian is speedy. Our focus starts with gaining a solid understanding of the company and product. With AlphaBiomics, our consultants spent a day in London with their team to obtain a fundamental understanding of the project and set a foundation for the work. Going forward, regular fortnightly meetings were scheduled, alongside ad hoc meetings as needed. With all our clients we promote a collaborative approach to the work we do, ensuring we can pass on our insights and better equip our clients with their future endeavours. Our work with AlphaBiomics was no different, we identified gaps and weaknesses within the teams' prior work and advised on solutions that would solidify their path to market.
Another integral part of the GTM strategy is competitor analysis; this involves understanding the competition, their developments, and the position of your product in the market. Despite its importance, competitor analysis can be overlooked by founders. We conducted a thorough competitor analysis for AlphaBiomics and provided market intelligence to help them gain an essential understanding of their competitors, bringing clarity to RxSelex™ position in the market.
We are firm believers that creating a GTM strategy that works in the real world requires speaking with the right people in the field. To establish RxSelex™ as an innovation that could be adopted by the NHS, our experts identified and interviewed individuals who understand the procurement landscape. Doing so helped us gain an understanding of the needs of key decision-makers and end users, a factor that is crucial within healthcare.
We’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with the AlphaBiomics team on the GTM strategy. In Anthony’s words, the company went “from a very rudimentary go-to-market strategy… to a more convincing holistic, more fact-based go-to-market strategy.”
The development of a GTM strategy was a significant milestone for AlphaBiomics and they can now approach commercialisation with greater confidence. Importantly, the strategy also demonstrates to potential investors that the team not only has a technically sound solution but are able to commercialise and realise the potential of their innovative technology in a difficult and competitive ecosystem.
Challenging assumptions
Anthony recommends that companies starting out on their GTM journey should be open to having their ideas and assumptions challenged by third parties. At Hardian, we pride ourselves on providing honest, high-quality advice to our clients, it may not be what you want to hear but ultimately we will help you to develop a stronger proposition and facilitate your company's growth.
As strategic experts in the healthcare landscape, we continue to support innovative companies like AlphaBiomics. Now equipped with the necessary know-how to take their product to market, we look forward to seeing their success in transforming care for patients with inflammatory conditions.
Hardian Health is a clinical digital consultancy focused on leveraging technology into healthcare markets through clinical strategy, scientific validation, regulation, health economics and intellectual property.
