ExtendMed vs. Within3

Choosing the right stakeholder engagement platform for your team

We respect the team at Within3. They've built a strong platform for the largest pharma companies. But if you're a small to mid-size life sciences company, ExtendMed is purpose-built for how you work. ​​

At a glance

We're not the only platform in this space, and we want to be direct about how we compare and who we're built for. Within3 does good work for the largest pharma companies running global asynchronous engagement. If that's your organization, they may be the right choice.

If you're a small to mid-size pharma, biotech or medical device company (or a med comms agency serving one), we built ExtendMed for you. Platform economics with senior moderation and audit-grade transcription, without the enterprise minimums.

ExtendMed was built exclusively for small to mid-size companies that need both sophisticated engagement technology and strategic partnership. While Within3 focuses on scaling standardized SaaS for global enterprises, we provide flexible, customizable solutions wrapped in white-glove service.

When Mediar Therapeutics needed an advisory board platform, they chose us over Within3 for one simple reason. We gave them what they actually needed: hybrid sync/async engagement, no year-long commitment, dedicated strategic support and rapid feature customization. The result? Advisors averaged 5 hours of engagement each, with some providing 25+ insights that directly shaped their clinical development strategy.

Why teams choose ExtendMed over Within3

One platform, not five (or more)

Most teams running advisory boards on Within3 are still stitching together Zoom for live sessions, a transcription tool, SharePoint for document collaboration and email for follow-up. Context gets lost at every handoff and advisors get four different logins. Your team spends hours reconciling notes across systems. ExtendMed runs synchronous meetings, async discussions, audit-grade transcription and document collaboration in a single platform. No handoffs or lost context. It's one system of record from the opening session through the final consensus document. 

We’re built for small to mid-size companies

We work best with small to mid-size pharma, biotech and medical device companies—not industry giants. We understand the challenge of leveraging limited resources to engage KOLs, convene advisory boards and build speaker programs. That's why our platform and service model are designed to give lean teams maximum impact at a fraction of traditional costs.

Synchronous + async engagement suite

Within3 is built around asynchronous engagement. That works for certain use cases, but most advisory boards need both live and async components. ExtendMed handles live virtual meetings, time-shifted discussion boards, private surveys with conditional logic and resource centers in one platform.

Your team runs the opening session, continues the conversation through threaded discussions and collects follow-up survey data without switching systems. Advisors see one portal. The difference matters most in hybrid boards. A live session builds rapport and surfaces initial reactions. Async follow-up gives advisors time to think and respond with more depth. When both happen in the same system, the insights connect. When they happen in Zoom + Within3 + email, they don't.

Transcription built for therapeutic-area terminology

Generic transcription tools (like Zoom's built-in transcription) are trained on business English. They misspell drug names, mechanism-of-action terms and clinical endpoints. Your team then spends hours cleaning up transcripts before they're usable for internal reporting.

ExtendMed's platform generates audit-grade medical transcription that handles therapeutic-area-specific terminology accurately. Transcripts are tied to the meeting record, the discussion thread and the advisor profile, all in one system.

Post-board document collaboration

Advisory boards produce raw insights. Turning those into a consensus document, summary report or manuscript usually means exporting everything into Word or SharePoint and managing a separate review process. Advisors get emailed PDFs, version control breaks down and the connection between the original discussion and the final document disappears.

ExtendMed supports real-time document collaboration inside the platform. Advisors can co-author, leave inline comments and review each other's contributions with full version history and audit trails. The work stays connected to the discussion that generated it.

White-glove partnership, not just platform access

You get more than software. Each client receives a dedicated senior program manager who provides development, implementation, training and ongoing support. We customize the platform to your specific needs, often responding faster than traditional SaaS models. We're an extension of your team, not a vendor.

Flexible contracting without long-term commitments

We let you start with a 6-month pilot. Run a short-term steering committee engagement. Test the platform on one project before scaling. Our flexible approach lets you evaluate effectiveness without the year-long minimum agreements typical of larger platforms. Grow with us at your pace.

Head-to-head comparison

Features ExtendMed Within3
Best Fit Small to mid-size life sciences companies Largest pharma companies
Engagement Options Full synchronous and asynchronous suite Primarily asynchronous
Customization Highly customizable to your workflows Standard, rigid SaaS model
Contract Terms Flexible, short-term options available Typically year-plus-long minimum
Service Model White-glove, dedicated program managers More hands-off approach
Pricing True latform economics: projects start at $20,000–$25,000 with no enterprise minimums Not publicly disclosed, but understood to be much higher
Platform Focus Comprehensive stakeholder engagement (sync and async) Global asynchronous engagement
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What makes ExtendMed different

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Resource centers, surveys and discussions in one platform

Beyond discussion boards, we offer resource centers where experts access materials on demand, survey tools with conditional logic for quantitative research and the ability to segment audiences for person-by-person feedback versus group dialogue. This integrated approach helps teams collect insights they simply couldn't before.

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Data consolidation across all engagement types

Stop juggling insights across multiple platforms. ExtendMed centralizes results from advisory boards, surveys and discussion forums, so you can analyze activities across them. See patterns across different engagement types, connect dots between stakeholder groups and generate comprehensive reports from one system.

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Smaller partner, senior-level attention

Our size is a strategic advantage. You get senior healthcare technology experts on your account, not junior support staff. We can pivot quickly, add features within days rather than quarters, and provide the nimble partnership that large-scale SaaS companies can't match.

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For agencies: technology without the margin

If you're a med comms agency running advisory boards for your clients, you've probably built your own patchwork of tools — Zoom for meetings, Survey Monkey for questionnaires, email for follow-up, SharePoint for document review. Your clients are paying agency rates for all of that coordination.

ExtendMed is the platform your agency runs the board on without your client paying agency margin on the technology. We white-label the portal, your team stays front-and-center with the client and we handle the technology and compliance infrastructure behind the scenes.

We're not competing with you for the content work. You bring the disease-area expertise, the messaging strategy and the moderator. We bring the platform that makes all of it more efficient.

Success Story Mediar Therapeutics’ switch to ExtendMed for ad boards

A biotech startup specializing in fibrosis treatment needed strategic insights from interdisciplinary experts but faced budget constraints that made Within3 unfeasible.

We delivered a hybrid virtual advisory board with both live meetings and asynchronous discussions.

The Results:

Advisors contributed average of 5 hours each

Some experts provided 25+ individual insights

Actionable recommendations that advanced clinical development strategy

Stronger relationships with thought leaders across multiple specialties

Superior insights compared to in-person boards at fraction of the cost

Who Benefits Most from ExtendMed?

You're a great fit if you:

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Need flexible contracting without year-long commitments
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Want both synchronous meetings and asynchronous engagement tools
flow
Seek a customizable solution adapted to your workflows
strategy
Prefer a strategic partner over hands-off software access
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Need to consolidate data from advisory boards, surveys and discussions
time-gear
Value senior-level guidance and nimble response times
scale
Work with limited resources and need maximum impact

See how we help teams like yours

Mediar Therapeutics needed rapid, cross-functional insights in fibrosis. We convened a virtual advisory board of top experts, facilitated real-time collaboration and fast-tracked the feedback loop.

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Read the full case study

A global oncology biopharma used Health Expert Connect™ to orchestrate 1:1s, a dinner forum and follow-ups across ASCO and EHA—centralizing schedules, compliance tracking and KOL analytics to deepen relationships at scale.

Read the full case study

An inflammatory-disease company expanding into nephrology ran asynchronous boards, surveys and chart audits to learn the market fast, refine messaging and engage specialists every six weeks—accelerating entry with lower spend.

Read the full case study

A small pharma prepping first launch scaled stakeholder engagement with a lean team, mixing virtual meetings and ongoing discussion to surface payer hurdles and patient insights early, de-risk and beat rivals to key KOLs.

Read the full case study
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Jaime Arvizo Vice President, Head of Medical Affairs

In 25 years of working with vendors, ExtendMed stands at the top of the list. They’re strategic partners, arming my staff with vital statistics and sharing their experience and ideas for the future. They’re nimble and they understand our business. They’ve anticipated issues, recommended new directions and implemented our decisions efficiently.”

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Vice President, Group Account DirectorGlobal Medical Comms Firm

We feel your team does the best job out of any vendor we have used for virtual advisory boards.”

Dr. Michael Chang Vice President, Medical Affairs

The virtual format enables more frequent touchpoints while reducing time commitments for busy specialists. We can build relationships and confidence across multiple specialty areas in ways that traditional in-person meetings never could. The platform makes it possible to engage specialists who would never attend a weekend conference but will participate in targeted discussions relevant to their practice."

Better speaker programs in just three steps

Nobody wants to gamble on a complicated new system. That’s why we’ve made getting started with ExtendMed simple and supportive—from first conversation to long-term success.

Express your interest

We'll discuss your goals, current challenges and whether ExtendMed is the right fit for your needs.

Get a tailored demo

See exactly how our platform supports your specific programs. If we're a fit, we'll work closely with your team to customize the solution.

Start small, grow with us

Launch a pilot project with no long-term commitment. Prove the value, then expand at your pace.

A few FAQs

Still have questions? Here are answers to the most common ones we hear from clients exploring Health Expert Connect™.

What's the main difference in how ExtendMed and Within3 approach client support?

Within3 operates primarily as a SaaS platform provider, offering their technology with a more self-service approach suited to large pharmaceutical companies with established internal teams. ExtendMed combines platform technology with white-glove service, providing dedicated program managers, strategic consulting and hands-on support throughout the engagement lifecycle. Our hybrid model means you're not just getting software—you're getting a strategic partner who helps with program design, execution and analysis. For teams that need both technology and expertise, especially those without large internal resources, this full-service option can be invaluable.

How do the contract terms differ between the two platforms?

We’ve heard that Within3 typically requires year-long minimum commitments, which makes sense for their enterprise client base running continuous global programs. ExtendMed offers more flexible terms, including short-term pilot projects starting at $20,000-$25,000, allowing you to test the platform's effectiveness for a single advisory board or speaker program before making a larger commitment. This flexibility is particularly helpful for small to mid-size companies, specific therapeutic area pilots or teams that need to prove ROI internally before scaling. It’s one of the biggest factors that pulls teams from Within3 to us.

Can both platforms handle synchronous and asynchronous engagement?

Within3 is primarily built for asynchronous engagement, which works well for global programs where time zones make live meetings challenging. ExtendMed's Health Expert Connect™ platform supports both synchronous (live meetings) and asynchronous (discussion forums, surveys) engagement, often combining them in hybrid programs. This means you can bookend an advisory board with live sessions to build trust and rapport while using asynchronous discussions for deeper analysis between meetings. The flexibility to mix engagement formats based on your program goals (rather than being limited to one approach) can lead to richer insights and stronger expert relationships.

Who is each platform primarily designed to serve?

Within3 focuses on serving the largest pharma companies with complex, global asynchronous engagement needs. Their platform and pricing model reflect that enterprise focus. ExtendMed was specifically built for small to mid-size pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies, as well as the medical communications agencies that serve them. This means ExtendMed's workflows, pricing and support model are designed around the realities of smaller teams with limited resources. The platform can be licensed for independent use or run as a fully-managed service, depending on your internal capabilities and preferences.

How customizable are the two platforms?

Both platforms can be configured for different use cases, but they take different approaches. Within3 operates on a more standardized SaaS model, which provides consistency across its large client base. At ExtendMed, we emphasize high customizability, with the ability to adapt the platform to your specific SOPs, branding requirements and workflow preferences. For example, when Mediar Therapeutics needed specific features, we developed them in under a week. This agility can be particularly valuable when you have unique compliance requirements, specialized therapeutic area needs or want to integrate with existing systems like Veeva or Salesforce in specific ways.

What happens if we’re working with a medical communications agency—which platform fits better?

If your agency manages the program and needs technology, ExtendMed is built for that relationship. We're the platform your agency runs the board on, without you paying agency margin on the technology.

Your agency stays front-and-center with the client. We white-label the portal, handle the compliance infrastructure and provide backend support. Many agencies choose ExtendMed specifically because they can offer their clients a complete solution (their content and moderation expertise plus our engagement technology) without building or maintaining their own platform.

How many tools does a typical hybrid advisory board require with Within3?

Most teams running hybrid boards through Within3 end up coordinating the platform for async engagement alongside Zoom or Teams for live sessions, Otter.ai or similar for transcription, SharePoint or Google Docs for document collaboration and email for advisor communications.

That's four or five tools, each with its own login, data silo and compliance footprint. ExtendMed runs sync meetings, async discussions, transcription and document collaboration in one platform. One login for advisors. One system of record for your team.

Ready to make the switch?

Request a demo today.

Since 2000, we've helped pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies—plus the agencies that serve them—deliver efficient stakeholder engagement that drives better decisions. Whether you're evaluating alternatives to Within3 or exploring engagement platforms for the first time, we're here to show you what purpose-built partnership looks like.