07 · Market & Buyer Landscape

The market is inside our book.

External TAM math is useful - but it's the wrong starting point for a Day-30 PM at ZoomRx. We already serve 19 of the top 20 pharma. The relevant market is the bolt-on opportunity sitting on top of every existing tracker contract. This page sizes both, picks the wedge, maps the buyer, and frames the competitive set against the wedge.

Two markets, one wins

Acquisition math vs expansion math.

External market

Real but not where we win

$1-2B pharma qual TAM globally, <2% AI-moderated today. Useful for an investor deck. Wrong starting point for Day-30 GTM at ZoomRx, where the buyer relationship already exists.

Internal wallet

Where the next $20-30M comes from

19 of the top 20 pharma already buy ZoomRx trackers. A 25-35% bolt-on on a $400K tracker is $100-140K new ACV per brand team - and ZoomRx covers hundreds of brand teams. The expansion math beats the acquisition math.

Funnel

From $142B to the right $25-40M.

Global insights industry

$142B

Global pharma PMR

$3-5B

Pharma qualitative (~30-40%)

$1-2B

AI-moderated qual today (<2%)

$15-30M

ZoomRx existing tracker wallet (US pharma)

$30-60M /yr

Sagan SOM @ Year 3 (operator bet)

$25-40M

$142B · Global insights industry · ESOMAR Global Market Research 2024

$3-5B · Global pharma PMR · Industry analysts · pharma slice of primary research

$1-2B · Pharma qualitative (~30-40%) · EphMRA training materials · industry rule-of-thumb

$15-30M · AI-moderated qual today (<2%) · Triangulated · mostly non-pharma

$30-60M /yr · ZoomRx existing tracker wallet (US pharma) · Industry estimate · ~150 brand teams × $200-400K avg tracker

$25-40M · Sagan SOM @ Year 3 (operator bet) · 25-35% bolt-on on 30-50% of existing tracker wallet · disciplined penetration

Wedge use case

Three candidates. One wins on wallet math.

Pre-IDI hypothesis generation

PASS

AI qual narrows the question set before a deep IDI runs.

Incremental ACV: $20-30K incremental / study
Why it could work: Defensive - protects existing IDI revenue · small change to buying behavior
Why we sequence it later (or pass): Modest ACV · doesn't expand wallet · feels like a feature, not a product

Always-on listening between tracker waves

WEDGE

Continuous async HCP qual fills the visibility gap inside tracker programs.

Incremental ACV: $100-140K / yr (25-35% of tracker TCV)
Why it could work: Expands wallet · rides existing MSAs · no traditional alternative · committed-capacity model anchors renewal
Why we sequence it later (or pass): Requires BD positioning to avoid cannibalization perception · platform must run continuously, not study-by-study

Med Affairs continuous KOL pulse

YEAR 2

New buyer cross-sell - Medical / Med Affairs rather than Commercial / Insights.

Incremental ACV: $200-500K / yr (new buyer)
Why it could work: Highest LTV · new budget pool · low cannibalization
Why we sequence it later (or pass): Longest sales cycle · new procurement / compliance review · 9-12 months to first revenue

Buyer org chart

Four roles. One is the lighthouse.

                ┌─────────────────────────────┐
                │   VP / Head of Insights     │   <- Conv 3 archetype · Day 60+
                │   (anchor + framework deal) │
                └──────────────┬──────────────┘
                               │
       ┌───────────────────────┴─────────────────────────┐
       │                                                 │
┌──────────────────────────┐                  ┌──────────────────────┐
│  Brand Insights Director │                  │  Procurement / SSO   │  <- quiet · MSA exists
│  · existing tracker buyer│ <- LIGHTHOUSE    │  · 21CFR / HIPAA gate│
│  · Conv 1 archetype      │                  └──────────────────────┘
└──────────┬───────────────┘
           │
           ▼
┌──────────────────────────┐
│  TA Insights Lead        │  <- SME validator
│  (Oncology / IO etc.)    │
└──────────────────────────┘

VP / Head of Insights

Approves >$500K · multi-brand framework

Final approver on platform deals · owns I&A budget

TELLS

Talks portfolio insights, AI tooling shortlist, vendor consolidation

CONVERSATION

Conv 3 archetype · Day 60+ only

Lighthouse buyer

Brand Insights Director (existing tracker buyer)

Approves up to $250K · sole signoff for bolt-on under MSA

Day-to-day buyer · already buys ZoomRx · the lighthouse

TELLS

Asks about between-wave gaps, deliverable cadence, panel match rate

CONVERSATION

Conv 1 archetype · Day 30-45

Therapeutic-area Insights Lead

Influences, doesn't sign

Domain SME · validates methodology fit

TELLS

Probes probe-quality, HCP depth, clinical accuracy in the moderator

CONVERSATION

Co-attends Conv 1 + Conv 3

Procurement / Strategic Sourcing

Veto on terms, not on need

Owns MSA · gates new vendors · less relevant for bolt-on under existing MSA

TELLS

21 CFR Part 11, HIPAA BAA, data residency, indemnification

CONVERSATION

Background actor in Conv 1 · primary in Conv 3 framework

Buy cycle (bolt-on path)

Twelve weeks to pilot SOW. Annual plan by November.

01Bolt-on conversationWeek 0Triggered by tracker review · BD opens with always-on listening pitch

02Single-page pilot briefWeek 1PM + BD draft · use case + success metric + panel scope

03SOW under existing MSAWeek 2$50-70K · 90-day pilot at half bolt-on rate · no new procurement gate

04Pilot fieldingWeek 3-10Continuous HCP listening · 50-100 conversations · weekly digest

05Readout + bolt-on quoteWeek 11-12Brand-team readout · standard bolt-on rate for full-year · 25-35% of tracker TCV

06Annual-plan inclusionSept-NovSagan named in client's next-year research plan · enters annual budget

Note the orange row. Pharma research budgets are set Sept-Nov for the following year. A pilot that closes outside that window must be actively renewed into the client's annual research plan, or it dies in experimental budget. This is the “innovation theater” failure mode tracked in the Plays tab.

Competitive landscape

Three buckets. None can do what we do.

AI-NATIVE HORIZONTAL

Outset

$51M raised · $30M Series B, Dec 2025

Customers: Microsoft · Nestlé · WeightWatchers · Uber · HubSpot · Away
Pharma logos: None published
Wins on: AI-native polish · HIPAA-compliant posture · 8x growth in 2025
Weak against Sagan: No pharma panel · no therapeutic depth · no tracker integration · generic discussion guides

Strella

$14M Series A, Oct 2025 (Bessemer-led)

Customers: Amazon · Duolingo · Chobani · Apollo GraphQL
Pharma logos: None published
Wins on: AI + human hybrid · research-ops white glove
Weak against Sagan: Smaller scale · no pharma panel · hybrid model harder to scale to continuous listening

Listen Labs

$69M Series B, Jan 2026 · $100M total raised

Customers: 1M+ AI interviews · '8-figure ARR'
Pharma logos: None published
Wins on: Sheer scale · capital · viral marketing
Weak against Sagan: Volume-first · no clinical context · no panel verification · brand-unsafe for pharma

PHARMA INCUMBENT AGENCY

Kantar Health / Oracle Cerner Enviza

Oracle-owned post-$28.3B Cerner deal

Customers: Most top-20 pharma · long MSAs
Pharma logos: Yes - incumbent
Wins on: Trust · embedded relationships · RWD adjacency
Weak against Sagan: Slow · expensive · qual is tail offering · talent flight to AI-natives

IQVIA Primary Intelligence

NYSE: IQV · ~88K FTE

Customers: Most top-20 pharma
Pharma logos: Yes - incumbent
Wins on: Data depth · 1.2B patient records · global ops
Weak against Sagan: Enterprise inertia · slow qual turnaround · no AI moderation native

Trinity Life Sciences

PE (Kohlberg) · ~$100-500M revenue

Customers: Top-20 pharma brand teams
Pharma logos: Yes - incumbent
Wins on: Senior-led strategy · brand transformation work · Oct 2025 AI announcement
Weak against Sagan: Consulting markup · no platform · vulnerable on cost · co-sell candidate (Year 2)

PANEL / FIELDWORK

M3 Global Research

M3 Inc. subsidiary · TSE-listed

Customers: 14-of-15 top pharma
Pharma logos: Yes
Wins on: Largest US HCP panel · ISO certified
Weak against Sagan: Panel-only · no AI moderation · no synthesis · no continuous listening product

Sago (Schlesinger)

PE-owned · acquisitive (Market Cube, 20|20)

Customers: Pharma + consumer · qual platforms
Pharma logos: Yes
Wins on: Acquired qual-tech stack · global panel
Weak against Sagan: Bolt-together platforms · no continuous AI moderation

Sermo

Abry Partners-owned

Customers: 1.5M physicians · 150 countries
Pharma logos: Yes
Wins on: Community + sponsored conversations
Weak against Sagan: Community-first · not a research platform · weak synthesis

The pharma logo gap

The three best-funded AI-native qual platforms - Outset ($51M raised), Strella ($14M Series A) and Listen Labs ($69M Series B) - command roughly $134M in venture capital between them, and none of them lists a single pharma logo. That gap closes in 12-18 months. Sagan's window to lock the second-vendor slot in our existing accounts is now. If we wait, an AI-native lands as the second AI qual vendor inside our top-20 accounts - and replaces us at renewal.

Reference deployment

1L EGFR+ NSCLC. A live brand fight, today.

US patient pool

20-30K /yr

Newly diagnosed EGFRm NSCLC · 75% receive 1L EGFR-TKI

Tagrisso (AZ)

$1.81B Q2'25

OS 47.5mo (FLAURA2 combo) · 2029 target $7B

Rybrevant + Lazcluze (J&J)

$5B peak

PFS 23.7mo (MARIPOSA) · SC formulation Dec'25

The reference deployment in the live moderator demo (see Live Moderator tab) is not selected because it's a cold acquisition target. AstraZeneca and J&J both already buy ZoomRx. The disease area is selected because both brand teams are running quarterly trackers right now, with real between-wave gaps on FLAURA2 OS uptake, MARIPOSA CNS positioning, and combo-vs-mono physician sentiment. The bolt-on case writes itself.

Reference brand teams (expansion candidates, not cold leads)

SponsorBrand / RegimenStageBetween-wave gap

AstraZenecaTagrisso (osimertinib)1L EGFRm NSCLC · FLAURA2 matureFLAURA2 OS 47.5mo · combo uptake tracking between quarterly trackers

Johnson & JohnsonRybrevant + Lazcluze (MARIPOSA)1L EGFRm NSCLC · launching$5B peak target · CNS positioning · SC formulation Dec 2025

AstraZenecaImfinzi (durvalumab) franchiseIO franchiseCross-tumor strategy · same I&A team buys both

MerckKeytruda franchiseIO incumbent$25B franchise · ongoing competitive pressure · qual cadence quarterly

Sources for this page

ESOMAR · Global Market Research 2024 ($142B insights industry)
IntuitionLabs · Pharmaceutical Market Intelligence Providers (pharma PMR $3-5B)
ZoomRx · public materials on top-20 pharma coverage, panel, compliance
GlobeNewswire / Yahoo Finance · Outset $30M Series B Dec 2025, $51M total raised
PRNewswire / Bessemer · Strella $14M Series A (Oct 16 2025)
PRNewswire / Pear VC · Listen Labs $69M Series B (Jan 14 2026), $100M total raised
AstraZeneca press · Tagrisso + chemo OS 47.5mo (WCLC 2025)
J&J press · Rybrevant + Lazcluze MARIPOSA PFS 23.7mo · EU approval Dec 2024
Pharma research-planning cycle: industry standard (Sept-Nov annual budgeting)