Proof of Concept in the Pharma Industry

Founded in 1993, Alcimed is an innovation and new business consulting firm, specializing in innovation driven sectors: life sciences (healthcare, biotech, agrifood), energy, environment, mobility, chemicals, materials, cosmetics, aeronautics, space and defence.

Our purpose? Helping both private and public decision-makers explore and develop their uncharted territories: new technologies, new offers, new geographies, possible futures, and new ways to innovate.

Located across eight offices around the world (France, Europe, Singapore and the United States), our team is made up of 220 highly-qualified, multicultural and passionate explorers, with a blended science/technology and business culture.

Our dream? To build a team of 1,000 explorers, to design tomorrow’s world hand in hand with our clients.

Alcimed carries out consulting missions in a variety of fields and on topics as diverse as the uncharted territories of our clients! Our projects and the methodological approaches we develop are based on the specific needs and contexts of our clients. We for example support our clients in defining their R&D or innovation strategy, in studying their target markets, in identifying and exploring new opportunities, in investigating innovative technologies, in defining their sales and marketing strategies, in integrating CSR or data science into their practices, or in imagining the future of their activities.

Beyond analyzing the web and literature, and large internal or external data lakes using data science, our consultants target and interact with key stakeholders: these can be clients, suppliers, partners, experts, opinion leaders, end-customers or patients, … and we challenge their viewpoints. This investigative work enables us to build our clear opinion at the crossroads between the viewpoints of the different stakeholders, and leads us to build recommendations to allow our clients to make decisions.

A proof of concept is a concrete demonstration used to prove the applicability, feasibility or viability of a project. POC can thus take many forms, such as:

• A laboratory test to validate scientific questions;
• The design of a first physical version (minimum viable product) and its presentation to future users to test the receptivity of the market or the envisaged marketing strategy;
• The experimental implementation of a new organization within a small team before the roll-out to a company.
• Proof of concept comes into play relatively early in the development process of an idea, a product or a service, since it validates the feasibility of the project, in addition to a market study, for example.

Moreover, a POC is characterized by the fact that its cost is relatively low since it is a simple test at this stage.

A POC is a springboard to value creation and innovation, and can be a key step in the development of a project:

• A lack of time or a limited budget? The small scale of the POC allows for responses that are consistent with available resources;
• The concept has already proven itself and the question of its replicability arises? The POC can validate interest in a new target audience, a new use or a territorial extension;
• Doubts over the potential or the opportunity of an innovation? The POC provides an opportunity to test an idea and to evaluate the opportunity of its deployment to guide the development of new offerings.

The difference between a PoV and a PoC lies in their objective and approach.

PoC (proof of concept) aims to assess the technical feasibility of an idea or concept by testing its main functionalities. The aim is to demonstrate whether an idea can be realised in real-life conditions, in which case a rudimentary version of the project is tested.

On the other hand, PoV, or Proof of Value, goes beyond the simple feasibility of the project by assessing the economic impact of the solution on the company and the value created for end users.

In short, the POC focuses on technical feasibility, while the PoV emphasises the concrete benefits for the company and its customers.