KOL mapping that shows how experts will read your data.

KOL mapping is the work of identifying the key opinion leaders who shape thinking in a therapy area and understanding where each one stands on the science. KOL stands for key opinion leader, an expert whose views shape thinking in a therapy area. Insight-led mapping also records how experts read new data, where they agree and split, and which scientific questions they still consider open. Nextyn builds the map from moderated interviews with KOLs and practicing physicians in the United States and Europe.

A Nextyn KOL and scientific insight study delivers three outputs: a map of the experts who shape opinion in the therapy area, their views summarized by scientific topic, and a ranked list of evidence gaps and communication priorities. Each output comes from moderated interviews, not publication counts:

• Expert map: the KOLs and practicing physicians who shape treatment thinking, and where each stands
• Topic summary: how experts read the science, the unmet need and the emerging data
• Priorities: the evidence gaps to close and the points medical communication must address first

Nextyn interviews three groups of experts for KOL mapping, from KOL doctors to practicing physicians: national and international KOLs, regional and rising experts, and the practicing physicians who apply the science day to day. The profile and markets are agreed at scoping around the therapy area:

• National and international KOLs who shape guidelines and trial design
• Regional and rising experts whose influence is growing
• Practicing physicians, who show how expert views reach the clinic

Nextyn runs KOL mapping in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, among other markets. Markets are agreed at scoping, because the experts who shape practice in one country are not always the ones who shape it in the next. Recent Nextyn work includes in-depth interviews with KOLs and practicing oncologists in France on how upcoming Phase III data would shift treatment algorithms, and KOL and payer interviews on unmet need in Spain.

Nextyn recommends KOL mapping when new data is emerging in a therapy area, and before an evidence plan or scientific narrative is set. Expert views captured at that point keep new studies and medical messages focused on the questions the field is asking now. There are three other triggers for a fresh map: a competitor readout, a guideline revision and an expansion into new markets.

A Nextyn KOL mapping project runs in four steps, from brief to read-out, and nothing is commissioned until the client approves the plan. The client sees the expert profile, method and price before any fieldwork, and reads every interview with the Nextyn team at the end.

1. Submit the brief: the therapy area, the markets, the data in question and the decisions medical affairs must make.
2. Receive a plan within 48 hours: which experts Nextyn will interview, how, and what the work costs.
3. Approve the plan: fieldwork starts only after sign-off.
4. Review the read-out: every interview read together, showing where experts agree, where they conflict and what is still open.

Nextyn sends a research plan within 48 hours of receiving the brief, stating which experts will be interviewed, how, and what the work costs. The plan sets the fieldwork length for the therapy area, the expert profile and the markets in scope, so a single-country read and a US and EU4 map each get their own timeline. Nothing is commissioned until the client approves that plan and its price.

Nextyn's KOL mapping records what experts think about the science, in moderated interviews, while a publication-based KOL database ranks experts by publications, citations and congress activity. The database shows who is visible, and interviews show where each expert stands and which questions they still consider open.