The pain is becoming all too common for many pharmaceutical executives. After a decade or more of investment in drug development and clinical trials, a company launches a promising new product only to see sales fall far short of expectations. Our research shows that nearly 50% of launches over the past eight years have underperformed analyst expectations, and more than 25% have failed to reach even 50% of external revenue forecasts.

The pandemic also had a marked impact on the financial performance of the launches we analyzed. In 50 out of the 86 disrupted Pharma Launch , companies lowered their expectations by more than 25 percent. Overall, we estimate that the changes in analyst consensus expectations between March and August 2020 represent a 9 percent decline in the net present value of the 86 drugs—the equivalent of a total loss of some $10 billion globally.

To improve the percentage of successful launches, pharma companies must bring more to the table than before. Pharma launch strategy will need to be original in creating their value proposition, with teams ready to tackle any potential problems along the way.

Commercialization of New Drugs
Believe it or not, you can have the most compelling science behind your pharma launch strategy and yet, have a complete commercial flop. The importance of a robust commercialization strategy is one of the most critical components of bringing a drug to the market.

In addition to estimating your patient population or market size, you also need to consider

Your price to value ratio

Additional indications or off-label uses

Factors related to access

Market share or competition

Payer models

Developing a cohesive plan that weaves together all of these factors will significantly improve your chances of commercial success. Still, there’s some uncertainty related to commercialization. These potential problems should be addressed in your plan as well.

New Drug Marketing
Just a few years ago, artificial intelligence (AI) and data-driven marketing were no less than ambitious concepts. Today, these digital marketing trends are among the top priorities for most business owners in 2020.

Industry experts predicted that by 2020, traditional marketing would be replaced by a new model as it shifts from the mass-market to a more target-market approach. This change is great news for small pharma, as targeting is something they are already aware of and regularly use in leaner business models.

Incremental innovation, copycat products, and top-selling pills are no longer sufficient to reap massive rewards under the modern pharma landscape. Companies today must demonstrate that their brand adds value and improves the patient experience.

Marketing is about getting the right message to the right people and then letting the market decide if the product is a good fit and if it’s willing to pay a premium price for it.

Demonstrating product value.
Pharma needs to get ahead of access barriers by generating and communicating evidence of the differentiated clinical and economic value of their new therapies. Value evidence generation needs to start early, with medical and commercial input into clinical study design, even earlier than pivotal studies. Engaging with payers and other stakeholders also needs to start early (i.e., years, not months before launch) to educate on the disease and unmet needs as well as understand what value means to each stakeholder. As one panelists suggested, “Phase I is not too early to be working on market access.” Moreover, it doesn’t stop at launch-increasingly there is need to continue demonstrating value through real-world data.

Sophistication in customer segmentation.

Healthcare entities no longer accept a one-size-fits-all approach, but, fortunately, we have also seen the advent of the data and engagement channels required to more robustly characterize customer archetypes and their unique needs, as well as tailor content and engagement accordingly. Artificial intelligence (AI)-based approaches are being applied throughout the entire value chain from drug discovery to patient-finding to commercial marketing.