Mechanism Of Disease (MOD) Animation

MOD animation—sometimes called disease state animation—explains the cellular, molecular, and physiological mechanisms that drive a disease or adverse health condition. This is important because disease biology informs diagnosis, treatment strategies, clinical trial design, and therapeutic decision-making. Understanding disease mechanisms forms the basis for how and why therapies are developed and differentiated. For investors, partners, and HCPs, a clear understanding of disease pathology supports better scientific and strategic decisions.

An MOD animation focuses on the biological and pathological processes that cause a disease or health condition, whereas an MOA animation explains how a therapeutic agent interacts with biological systems to treat the disease or its symptoms. In many cases, MOD and MOA animations are presented together in one video, simultaneously introducing the problem and solution.

MOD animations help educate healthcare providers about disease biology, which can support clinical decision-making in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.

Patients and caregivers may watch an MOD animation to gain a clearer understanding of disease progression, underlying biological causes, and how the condition may affect them over time. Visual explanations such as an MOD animation can improve health literacy and empower patients to make informed healthcare decisions.

Medical affairs and scientific communications professionals commission MOD animations to support disease education initiatives targeting HCPs or patients. These animations set the stage for treatment options.

MSLs use mechanism of disease animations in detail aids and presentation decks in the field to help frame an unmet medical need and set the foundation for future MOA communications.

Key opinion leaders use MOD videos to establish thought leadership in specific disease areas, and use MOD animations in symposia presentations as visual aids to explain complex disease mechanisms to attendees.

Other animation studios rely on generalist animators who lack formal scientific training, and often cut costs by outsourcing their production to other countries. AXS Studio stands apart from the rest; our team is composed entirely of medically trained animators, each with a Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree in biomedical communications from one of the five graduate programs accredited by CAAHEP. We also have five Board Certified Medical Illustrators (CMIs) on staff and over two decades of experience bringing complex science to life visually. The depth of our training allows us to animate your disease-state story with exceptional clarity and accuracy. This expertise consistently translates to better outcomes for our clients: see their testimonials to learn more.

Getting started is easy! Reach out to us with an overview of your project, including goals and timelines. We’ll set up an initial consultation call with you to go through the details and then provide you with a customized proposal for consideration.

Pricing depends on several key variables:

• Runtime: Shorter animations generally require fewer resources and thus cost less. A helpful guideline is approximately 100 words of narration per minute of animation. We work closely with you on the script to balance clarity and budget.
• Visual complexity: The number of scenes in your MOD animation can affect its complexity and therefore pricing. During the storyboarding stage, we carefully map out the animation to maximize impact within your budget.
• Resolution: High definition (HD) video requires less computing power than UHD or 4K and is suitable for most MOD use case scenarios, making it the most cost-effective solution. We can accommodate custom video resolutions when requested.

All MOD animation development is done at our Toronto, Ontario studio, with no outsourcing or hidden markups. If you’d like an estimate for your animation, just send us a message.

AXS Studio is a fully integrated, end-to-end production studio that covers every stage of production, including:

• Scientific research and script writing with referencing
• Storyboarding
• 3D modeling, animation, rigging, lighting, shading, rendering and compositing
• Audio production including voiceover, music, sound effects and mixing
• Project management

We don’t shy away from doing deep dives into the literature. Our medically trained animators conduct in-depth literature reviews to fully understand your topic, and then develop a detailed visual research deck before production begins. This rigorous approach ensures your mechanism of disease animation is presented flawlessly.

Many clients tell us they feel an immediate sense of relief when we begin working together. They often describe problems they noticed with their previous agencies, including:

• Failure to understand their project goals
• Insufficient scientific expertise that results in mistakes and delays
• Additional overages to fix agency errors
• Last minute scrambling ahead of congress deadlines

In contrast, clients have described working with AXS Studio as “an absolute pleasure”. They highlight our scientific expertise, transparency, and commitment to “understanding our needs and goals.” Clients also note that our team is reliable and proactive, with AXS making deadlines consistently and avoiding unexpected overages.

Our sterling reputation is built on our strong scientific literacy, meticulous attention to detail, and anticipating potential hurdles before they arise. We are widely recognized for providing exceptionally stunning and accurate work. But don’t take our word for it; here’s what our clients have to say.

A two-minute MOD or disease state animation can take 12–16 weeks to complete, including script writing and storyboarding. One of the biggest variables is your company’s review and approval workflow. We recommend getting in touch four months ahead of your deadline whenever possible, so that we can create a schedule that aligns with your goals while maintaining the quality you’ll come to expect from us.

Based on more than 20 years of experience, we’ve found that 90-120 seconds is ideal for HCP and patient audiences. This duration allows enough time to communicate key concepts without overwhelming busy viewers. Since animation length directly impacts cost, budgets naturally guide maximum runtime. When drafting a script, plan for roughly 100 words of narration per minute of animation.

• Identify the target audience and define the learning objectives for your MOD animation. This will help guide both visual and narrative complexity.
• Share any relevant materials such as review articles, MSL decks, posters, or other internal resources.
• We develop a content outline for review, followed by a voiceover script, which usually goes through two rounds of review.
• We create a detailed storyboard containing hand drawn panels of each shot of your MOD animation. The storyboard will include the script, onscreen text, and action descriptions. This also usually goes through two rounds of review by your team, followed by a formal MLR review.
• The next step depends on the timeline of your animation. For longer timelines, once the storyboard has been approved, a greyscale rough cut animation is created to show animation timing and motion. This will be delivered along with still images called “sample renders” showing the proposed look-and-feel of the final animation .
• For shorter timelines, the rough cut stage is skipped and we dive straight into the prefinal animation. The prefinal shows the near-finished version of the animation complete with full visuals, professional voiceover, background music, and sound effects. This version is submitted for MLR/PRC approval.
• Upon final approval, we deliver the final animation as a compressed release-ready file, followed by an uncompressed master video for future outputs.

At AXS Studio, we make sure that all review materials have been thoroughly referenced and prepared according to your MLR (or PRC) requirements. Our team is also available to join your review sessions remotely to answer questions and provide clarity around visual and storytelling decisions.

You sure can! Sill frames from your MOD animation may be reused at no additional cost, for presentations, small print materials, and your website. If you need higher resolution imagery for applications such as a conference booth, we can provide that for a modest fee. We can also supply individual assets such as specific cells or molecules separately, for use in your other materials.