For many start-up companies, finding and attracting investors can be among the biggest challenges they face as they look to build a sustainable business. In today’s economic environment, while finding the investors is tough, convincing them to take a calculated risk on a start-up may be even more difficult.

John Fox discusses the basics of market research and why it’s important to the early-stage life science start-up.

According to a recent survey of more than 700 health care executives conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers Health Industries Group, 76 percent indicated that the information gathered in electronic health records (EHRs) will be their biggest asset in the next five years. Unfortunately, as is discussed in a January 27, 2010 article in Advance for Health Information Executives, “few organizations are establishing processes to effectively use the massive amount of data being collected.

Ask anyone who has worked in marketing or sales for a pharmaceutical manufacturer what the greatest obstacle is to gaining market share and you’ll hear ‘habit’. In fact, changing physicians’ prescribing habits has not become easier despite the advent of technological strategies (i.e. e-detailing), or the myriad of creative sales force configurations.