Most life science organizations today are driven by a core set of motivations — to discover emerging technologies and spur medical innovations; secure patient access to new treatments; and ensure the clinical, regulatory, and commercial success of new products — all of which translates to patient and shareholder value.
But how do you drive innovation and patient value while aligning with business priorities in today’s life science industry?
Biotechs continue to push the boundaries of R&D innovation, exploring specialized areas of research, and often entering undefined, first-in-class territory. However, payer expectations and investor demands make drug commercialization an increasingly risky endeavor to take on alone. It takes a village to achieve true success — doubly so in drug development and market introduction. A 2018 MIT study found that nearly 14% of drugs in clinical trials went on to receive FDA approval, and Deloitte’s annual survey on the return from pharmaceutical innovation reports that the 12 biggest biopharma companies made a return of 1.9% on their R&D spending in 2018, down from 10.1% in 2010. As life science organizations prioritize capital allocation and assess which clinical programs to continue to fund, two factors weigh heavily on most decision-making: what is the probability of regulatory success for a product, and will it truly bring value for patients and payers?
Today’s evolving healthcare landscape increasingly requires companies to demonstrate the value of a product at different stages of its lifecycle to a range of key decision-makers. They also face staunch competition from emerging, innovative companies, leaving little to no margin for error in today’s saturated marketplace. With such high stakes, how do you ensure these core set of motivations ring true throughout an entire life science organization?
Emerging technologies and novel modalities have changed the treatment paradigm, with big pharma and biotech companies consolidating the focus of their research and leveraging their specialized expertise to drive healthcare innovations. This has given rise to the number of products in any given therapeutic area, making it especially difficult to differentiate a product in today’s marketplace. A complex reimbursement environment and an increased focus on value demonstration also make it necessary for the right internal stakeholders to be involved early on. How do you establish true collaboration across functional lines to help inform decision-making and successfully guide product development through launch?
With little to no margin for error, it’s essential for companies to drive early alignment between clinical and commercial stakeholders, map out a differentiation plan, and tailor a product plan that will help navigate the competitive landscape and ensure the successful commercialization of a new drug.
I look forward to hearing how biotechs and big pharma companies integrate cross-functional insights early on to drive product development decision-making at the 4th New Product Planning Summit taking place on December 2-3 in Boston. Click here for more information.