Best Practices for Recruiting Preclinical Patients in Healthcare Market Research

Pharmaceutical innovation is evolving fast—particularly in the realm of preventive therapies and early intervention drugs. But as more companies develop treatments intended for people before a disease presents itself, market research must evolve too. Understanding the attitudes, concerns, and unmet needs of preclinical patients is no longer a “nice to have”—it’s essential, and Escalent has been asked by clients to both identify and deeply understand what it means to be “preclinical” before someone is even a patient.

So how do you find and engage someone who doesn’t yet have the disease for the purposes of pre-clinical market research? And how do you make sure your insights are meaningful, representative, and ethically sourced when they don’t have the disease you are seeking an indication for? Let’s explore best practices and Escalent’s methods for recruiting and screening participants for healthcare market research when your ideal end user is a person with little to no symptoms, and no diagnosis.

1. Define Your Preclinical Population with Precision Before Healthcare Research Begins

Before recruitment starts, clarity is key. “Preclinical” could mean many things: genetically at-risk individuals, people with early biomarker changes, or those with specific lifestyle or family history profiles. Get as technically precise as you can for the purposes of market research screening criteria. At Escalent, we work closely with medical teams, in addition to our specialized market research teams, to develop the screening criteria. This ensures scientific precision and allows us to then layer in attitudinal criteria to assess potential participants’ readiness to engage in the research.

• Best Practice: Collaborate with clinical and biomarker experts to define inclusion criteria for your target group—this offers the most precise lens for recruitment. Separately, ensure you assess psychological readiness, as some individuals may be biologically at risk but emotionally unprepared to engage.

2. Use Predictive and Risk-Based Recruitment Approaches for Preclinical Patients

Because some preclinical individuals don’t have a diagnosis and traditional patient databases may fall short, look to predictive factors and risk models. At Escalent, we intentionally work with recruitment partners whose panels reach across industries, not just within healthcare. The person who was recruited for the candy study and the tourism study, for example, is also recruited by the same partner for the preclinical study. We are casting a wide net across gen pop to be as representative as possible instead of limiting ourselves to healthcare panels alone.

• Best Practice: Partner with health systems, genetic testing companies, or digital health platforms that can identify individuals with elevated risk profiles. Plan to use polygenic risk scores, family history screening tools, or wearable data to help assess eligibility.

3. Engage Potential Research Participants Ethically, with Transparency and Empathy

Recruiting people based on risk can be sensitive. These individuals may not be aware of their risk status or may be anxious about it. Ethical considerations in healthcare research recruitment must be at the heart of the process. At Escalent, we are fully transparent from the very first point of connection with a potential respondent about the intention of the study and what research will entail. Whether they continue is up to them. Through insight communities, pharma companies also have the opportunity to dive deep with at-risk people throughout their journey—surfacing key insights around the right intervention points for different individuals.

• Best Practice: Clearly explain why individuals are being contacted, what the research involves, and that participation is voluntary and non-diagnostic. Involve patient advocacy groups and behavioral science experts in messaging development to avoid fear-based framing.

4. Design Inclusive Market Research Recruitment Strategies

To ensure insights that reflect real-world populations, diversity in recruitment is crucial—especially in genetics-driven research, where underrepresentation can reinforce disparities. At Escalent, inclusivity is at the heart of everything we do, and we have experts who ensure our recruitment design and approach are equitable by considering whose voices aren’t currently represented and any potential accessibility issues that need to be addressed.

• Best Practice: Partner with community health organizations and local leaders to build trust among historically underserved populations; Make inclusion part of your brief to recruitment agencies from day one.

5. Focus on Mindset, Not Just Biology, to Ensure the Right Pre-Clinical Research Participants

Someone who is technically “at risk” may not see themselves that way. Understanding perception of risk, motivation for prevention, and readiness to act is just as important as genetic markers. At Escalent, our BeSci experts assess mindset and attitudes as extensively, if not more, than someone’s clinical qualifications. This is an imperative for patient recruitment strategies preclinical work, and we have an extensive library of psychographic questions and prevention mindsets that we assess to ensure we are tapping the right people at the right time.

• Best Practice: Include psychographic questions in your screeners to identify individuals who are open to talking about prevention.

Recruiting for market research in the preclinical space is more than a logistical challenge—it’s a strategic opportunity. The insights gathered from these individuals can shape not only product development, but also trial design, education campaigns, and commercial strategy. By approaching recruitment with rigor, empathy, and inclusivity, pharma companies can build meaningful relationships with the very people their future medicines aim to help—before they ever become patients.

At Escalent, this type of work is only increasing as more and more pharmaceutical companies develop assets in the preclinical space, and we would love to partner with you to help precisely identify and deeply understand who your preclinical patient is. Please reach out if you would like to discuss—we are ready when you are!

Want to learn more? Let’s connect.