Optimizing Medical Affairs Execution: A Strategic Approach to Launching a Differentiated Drug in a Competitive Market
Our hands-on partnership enabled a 50+ member team to execute a clear, unified launch strategy – improving cross-functional collaboration, streamlining resource use, and ensuring regulatory compliance in a highly competitive market,
The Business Opportunity
The U.S. Medical Affairs leadership of a global pharmaceutical company was preparing to launch a new drug in a highly competitive market – one saturated with both branded and generic alternatives, including products already within their own portfolio. Early Phase 3 topline results showed promising clinical advantages, and market research highlighted the potential for improved patient convenience. While the leadership team had developed a strong strategy to communicate the drug’s differentiated scientific value to healthcare providers, they lacked visibility into how various Medical Affairs teams were executing that strategy on the ground.
Inspired Consulting
Recognizing that the existing teams were juggling both launching a new product and maintaining medical excellence for current commercial products, Stone’s team proposed a tailored engagement model. We partnered directly with each team to enhance their project management tools and fill any gaps. This hands-on approach quickly earned the client’s trust and improved communication and visibility of day-to-day execution for senior leadership.
Meaningful Results
Our work empowered a 50+ member, geographically dispersed team to clearly share their achievements, risks, and challenges with senior leadership. Additionally, we identified and acted on strategic opportunities to strengthen collaboration between global medical affairs and commercial teams – aligning activities and tactics to optimize resources and maintain strong regulatory compliance.
Why We Loved This Project
Drug development and launch are complex, involving coordination across many teams, functions, and organizations. In this engagement, we worked with teams that already had a strong culture and established ways of working. Building on that culture of excellence and teamwork, while adding value through program and project management discipline, was truly rewarding.
