OracleBio – Exporting Experience Case Study
OracleBio is a digital pathology CRO providing quantitative image analysis services to support pre-clinical and clinical research. The company provides accurate cellular quantification of protein and mRNA levels within histologically-stained tissue sections allowing assessment of different cell type numbers and biomarker levels within the tissue. John Waller (OracleBio COO) explains “our services have tremendous application in areas of research such as immuno-oncology where researchers need to determine the specific immune cell population and/or target expression within the tumour microenvironment and surrounding stromal tissue. The data that we generate are vital for tissue-based therapeutic response measurements, proof of mechanism, target expression and biomarker validation studies.” OracleBio’s services are applicable across most therapeutic areas including fibrotic diseases, inflammatory diseases and Central Nervous System disorders.
OracleBio’s target customers are pharma and biotech companies and the company has a customer base across Europe, Asia and the USA. Priority markets are the key pharma/biotech hubs in Europe and the US (East and West Coast). John says “the nature of our digital services means that it is just as easy for us to work with clients in Cambridge in the USA as it is with clients in Cambridge in the UK. Consequently, we are not limited by geography and can work with clients all over the world.”
The company uses a number of different approaches to target these markets. Primarily, digital marketing in the form of email newsletters, social media and its website to raise OracleBio’s visibility and increase brand awareness. On top of this, the team attend a handful of key conferences every year and find they are a great opportunity to meet potential new customers as well as build relationships with their current clients. Face-to face contact with customers is key and John notes “ultimately, we have found that the best approach is to get out there and visit our clients in person. Online communications are great, but face to face meetings have much more value so we try to visit clients as much as we can, although this can be challenging when clients are an 8‑hour flight away.” OracleBio has taken advantage of SDI support to visit international target markets to better understand the opportunities and build relationships with potential customers.
Established in 2011, OracleBio has also reaped the benefits of being part of Scotland’s thriving Pharma Services sector. John says “We currently partner with other Scottish Pharma Services companies who offer related services, enabling us to collectively offer clients a complete services package. We have also benefitted from jointly attended conferences in the past.” John advocates that companies get out and speak with other Scottish-based companies to discover those who offer complementary services “investigate ways to potentially collaborate in order to offer a broader service offering to your clients. This collaborative approach of a number of expert companies coming together under one umbrella can deliver a more attractive offering to clients. In our experience, this has led greater marketing reach and more business for all those companies involved.”
Find out more about OracleBio here or by contacting info@oraclebio.com
John Waller (COO) and Lorcan Sherry (CSO) of OracleBio