The Medilink Innovation Impact MatrixTM is a bespoke tool developed by the Innovation & Commercialisation team at Medilink to provide a visual competitor summary in order for companies to understand the biggest potential threats within their target market.
A market and competitor analysis is important in understanding the landscape either from a market or technology perspective (and often both). This is a core aspect of the Medilink MediPath Innovation RoadmapTM Stage 2 – Opportunity Analysis that covers broader market and competitor analysis, unmet need analysis and concept generation. This can be a great way to assist in making early stage go/no decisions and support investment pitches.
Understanding the competitor landscape is complex, that can include products on the market, products close to the market (in clinical trial) and concepts which are far from the market, at preclinical or prototype stages. In addition, competitor alternatives can be associated with different levels of innovation and supportive evidence, which can be instrumental in driving market adoption and therefore commercial success. Competitor solutions to unmet needs are not always the same type of technology, and innovators should be aware of both products that use similar approaches and those that use alternative solutions to the same end goal. For example, a wound infection diagnostic could use traditional in-vitro methodologies that sample wound fluid or biopsy of the wound bed. An alternative competitor could be a camera that quantifies autofluorescence of bacteria within the wound.
A thorough competitor analysis is therefore highly detailed and presenting a succinct summary which highlights the most relevant competitors and those that could pose a threat in the future is a key part of this process.
The innovation and commercialisation team at Medilink have developed the Innovation Impact MatrixTM as a proprietary methodology and tool for presentation of this data, that is specifically designed as a supporting graphic to present the competitor landscape to senior management, investors or other key decision makers. The tool compares competitor alternatives by their level of differentiation and predicted performance to group them into the four quadrants of the matrix. These are divided as follows:
Substantial
A significant improvement on a product or service that aims to maintain or boost the position in an existing market. This provides a distinct markable improvement in performance, safety or cost. Companies will often develop substantial innovations to replace a pre-existing product. Although it requires considerable investment, it typically will not involve changes to an existing patient pathway, and the product will likely be used in a similar manner to existing alternatives.
Disruptive
A technology or service that has potential to secure a high market share and therefore disrupt the market. Those technologies in this section of the matrix are the competitors most in need of monitoring. They are likely to have the biggest impact on the market. A key difference between the disruptive and the radical competitors is that both commercial and technical risk has already been overcome through evidence generation.
Incremental
The companies in this section are likely the least threatening to a new product or service. They are generally ‘me too’ type products that have made small changes to those already on the market and are not expected to have a large impact. These are associated with small improvements in a process, product or service, which builds on existing knowledge and may allow a product to remain competitive by extending its lifecycle. Typically, these are low risk and although might maintain or slowdown rate of market decline, they are unlikely to increase market share.
Radical
A technology or service breakthrough that has the potential to transform industries and may create new markets. High potential but also at risk of either technical or market failure. They are typically built on new knowledge that disrupt existing technological solutions and create new ones. Radical technologies are expected to create a dramatic change in processes, products or services, leading to unprecedented performance. These might be considered as potential future game changers and are likely to change existing patient pathways and guidelines.
The Innovation Impact Matrix is a snapshot of the competitor market and should be considered dynamic as technology position can change quickly. Competitor alternatives that are currently considered to be appropriate in the radical quadrant are typically at an early stage and should be closely monitored as these technologies have the potential to become disruptive players in the future.
The proprietary Medilink Innovation Impact Matrix will provide a powerful tool during due diligence, proof of market, decision making and as a key slide in your investment pitch deck. If you are interested in seeing how this new tool can support your product development journey, our Innovation, Commercialisation and Regulatory team are available for a free consultation.
*The Medilink Innovation Impact MatrixTM is proprietary to Medilink North of England and may not be used, copied, or distributed without authorisation. The Medilink Innovation Impact Matrix is a culmination of research for a specific market, which gives a top level dashboard view of current and future competitors. The matrix itself is the output of proprietary qualitative data analytical methods.
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