Pharma Trend

What Pharma Trend does

Pharma Trend is a healthcare and consumer research services firm headquartered in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, with operations spanning the Middle East and North Africa. Founded in 2001 in Saudi Arabia and expanded across the MENA region by 2005, the company delivers custom-designed primary and secondary market research, physician profiling, mystery shopping, strategic consulting, medical translation, epidemiology studies, advisory board facilitation, and medical marketing support. Its primary customers are pharmaceutical, medical device, and FMCG companies seeking actionable market intelligence, prescription behavior insight, and sales force effectiveness measurement across MENA markets.

The firm operates a 16-city regional office network covering the GCC (Dubai, Riyadh, Kuwait City, Manama, Doha, Muscat), North Africa (Cairo, Tunis, Algiers, Rabat, Khartoum), and the Levant (Amman, Beirut, Baghdad, Damascus), supplemented by a Washington DC contact office. Its most differentiated asset is a proprietary Physician Profiling System that has profiled more than 15,000 doctors across the region, capturing prescription habits, ranking, potentiality, and optimal rep visit frequency. Field methodology spans PAPI, CATI, CAWI, in-depth interviews, and focus groups, delivered by a team of 60+ PAPI interviewers, 25 IDI interviewers, 15 moderators, and 12 focus group moderators, with epidemiology-trained specialists supporting healthcare-specific studies.

Pharma Trend generates revenue through bespoke, quote-based professional services engagements rather than standardized pricing. The go-to-market is sales-led and direct, targeting enterprise healthcare and consumer clients through regional presence, industry events, and direct outreach. The firm is privately held with no disclosed institutional investors, parent company, or funding rounds; leadership is led by founder Joanne Williams, alongside Director of Operations Fred Buster and Director of Human Resources Lisa Hoffman.

Name

Pharma Trend

Legal name

Pharma Trend

Website

https://pharmatrendme.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Pharma Trend is a MENA-headquartered healthcare and consumer research firm that delivers custom market research, physician profiling, medical translation, and strategic advisory services to pharmaceutical, medical device, and FMCG companies across the Middle East and North Africa.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Sharjah

HQ country

United Arab Emirates

HQ region

Middle East

Offices16 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Market Research Services: Primary and secondary market research services provided to pharmaceutical, medical devices, and FMCG firms. Services include qualitative and quantitative research, analysis, and consulting delivered through custom-designed studies addressing specific client and project objectives.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Pharma Trend provides primary and secondary market research services to pharmaceutical, medical devices, and FMCG firms, including quantitative and qualitative research, analysis, consulting, and advisory services. The core offering centers on a Physician Profiling System that captures prescription habits of more than 15,000 doctors across the region to support sales force effectiveness and multichannel marketing decisions. Services are custom-designed for each study to address specific client objectives.

Product overview

Pharma Trend is a healthcare and consumer research services firm offering a unified portfolio of interconnected research and advisory services. The core offering comprises Ad Hoc Research (custom primary research), Secondary Research Services (desk research), and Physicians Profiling (prescription behavior analysis). These are complemented by supporting services including Mystery Shopping, Multichannel Marketing Support & Database Management, Epidemiology Studies, Organizing Medical Events, Strategic Consulting, Advisory Board Support, Medical Translation, and Medical Marketing Support. The company operates across the MENA region, serving pharmaceutical, medical devices, and FMCG clients with qualitative and quantitative research capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ad Hoc Research Custom-designed primary research services for pharmaceutical, medical device, and FMCG clients offering both quantitative and qualitative methodologies including brand trackers, market sizing, concept tests, and sales force effectiveness assessments, executed through PAPI, CATI, CAWI, IDI, and focus group approaches across MENA.
• Secondary Research Services Desk research services drawing on government and nongovernment agencies, public libraries, educational institutions, and commercial information sources to deliver secondary market intelligence for healthcare and consumer clients.
• Physicians Profiling Sales management service that profiles and classifies physicians by prescription behavior, ranking, potentiality, and optimal rep visit frequency, drawing on a database of more than 15,000 profiled doctors across the MENA region to help pharmaceutical clients manage customer targeting.
• Mystery Shopping Mystery shopping visits conducted across all MENA countries to measure quality of sales and service, job performance, regulatory compliance, and competitor or market intelligence for healthcare clients.
• Multichannel Marketing Support & Database Management Digital multichannel marketing support and database management services for pharmaceutical companies, including remote detailing via email and phone, product websites, HCP portals, social networks, and database administration.
• Epidemiology Studies Healthcare-focused epidemiological research including cohort studies, case-control studies, and cross-sectional studies, conducted by teams with healthcare and epidemiology backgrounds for pharmaceutical and public-sector clients.
• Organizing Medical Events Event and conference management services tailored for the healthcare industry across MENA, providing end-to-end coordination of medical events for pharmaceutical and medical device clients.
• Strategic Consulting Strategic communication planning that combines scientific and healthcare landscape knowledge with evidence-based approaches to develop insight-driven plans and tactical execution for pharmaceutical and medical device clients across MENA.
• Advisory Board Support End-to-end support for developing and running valuable interactive advisory boards with KOLs at regional, national, and international levels, including meeting objectives, material preparation, and recommendations for pharmaceutical clients.
• Medical Translation Precision translation services for regulatory, clinical, scientific, and marketing documents including SmPC, PIL, ICF, CRF, study protocols, and promotional materials, with multiple quality control levels for pharmaceutical clients.
• Medical Marketing Support Marketing communication campaign development for pharmaceutical brands, including strategic positioning, claims and messaging development, competitive landscape analysis, branding, creative advertising, and telemarketing.

Quantifiable outcome

• 15,000+ doctors profiled with prescription behavior data
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Sermo: Physician social network and market research platform used by pharma for HCP insights and survey-based research. Comparable to Pharma Trend's physician profiling and ad hoc research products, with a more technology-driven, global delivery model.

Broad incumbents

• NielsenIQ: Global consumer and retail measurement company with a healthcare practice serving pharma and FMCG companies. Comparable on consumer research, brand tracking, and mystery shopping offerings that overlap with several of Pharma Trend's product lines.
• IQVIA: Global leader in healthcare market research, Rx data, and commercial solutions with active MENA operations. Highly comparable as the dominant incumbent serving the same pharma, medical device, and FMCG buyers with physician-level insights, market sizing, and multichannel marketing support.
• Kantar: Global insights and consulting firm with healthcare expertise across brand tracking, market sizing, and consumer health. Overlaps with Pharma Trend on quantitative/qualitative ad hoc research and healthcare-focused strategic consulting for multinational pharma and FMCG clients.
• Ipsos: Global market research firm with a dedicated healthcare practice covering pharma, biotech, and medical devices. Directly comparable on ad hoc research, brand tracking, mystery shopping, and epidemiology work for the same enterprise healthcare clients across MENA.

Direct peers

• SKIM: Specialized healthcare market research consultancy serving pharma, medical devices, and FMCG clients globally. Directly comparable on ad hoc research, concept testing, brand tracking, and pricing research methodologies for similar enterprise buyers.
• CMI Media Group: Healthcare-focused media and marketing agency offering multichannel marketing, HCP engagement, and market intelligence. Overlaps with Pharma Trend's multichannel marketing support, medical marketing, and advisory board offerings for pharma clients.
• Charles River Associates: Global consulting firm with a Life Sciences practice providing strategic, commercial, and market access advisory to pharma and medical device companies. Comparable on strategic consulting, market access support, and physician/KOL engagement services.
• ZS Associates: Global consulting firm specializing in pharma and medical device sales/marketing effectiveness, including physician targeting and Rx analytics. Closely comparable to Pharma Trend's physician profiling, sales force effectiveness, and multichannel marketing offerings.
• M3 (MDM Portfolio): Operator of physician panel networks and medical market research platforms, including services similar to physician profiling and Rx behavior analysis. Highly comparable as a healthcare-specialized research firm monetizing proprietary doctor relationships.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pharma-trend

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pharma Trend