In pharma, launch isn’t the finish line—it’s closer to the starting line. A product’s success depends on how well medical affairs and commercial teams align to optimize insights, build advocacy, and refine strategy in real time.
Bringing a pharmaceutical product to market is a complex, high-stakes process. Since first-year performance often predicts long-term success, it is critical to ensure a data-driven, insights-led approach is woven into a launch plan. Medical affairs teams play a vital role in shaping the scientific narrative, engaging KOLs, and ensuring clinical differentiation, while commercial teams focus on market positioning, prescriber adoption, and competitive strategy. When these functions align, companies can reduce risk, maximize impact, and drive a more successful launch.
Achieving launch excellence requires more than just a traditional go-to-market plan. Companies must integrate real-time market intelligence, cross-functional collaboration, and proactive stakeholder engagement to navigate challenges and seize opportunities. Yet, despite meticulous planning, pharma teams encounter major roadblocks that can hinder launch success. Here’s how to overcome three of the biggest challenges.
Challenge #1: Accurately estimating market potential
One of the most common reasons a drug underperforms at launch is an inadequate understanding of market dynamics, stakeholder needs, and competitive positioning. Companies often underestimate the difficulty of shifting prescriber habits and overcoming patient adoption barriers. Without comprehensive insights into HCP, payer, and patient perspectives, these challenges become even greater.
When launch decisions are based on outdated, incomplete, or siloed data, pharma teams risk misaligning their product strategy with real-world market expectations. This misalignment can impact everything from pricing and access to prescriber uptake and patient adherence—ultimately leading to an underwhelming launch.
Solution: Cross-functional insights and strategic planning
A successful launch begins long before commercialization. Medical affairs and commercial teams must work together to continuously refine their understanding of the market, stakeholders, and competitive landscape. This means leveraging real-time insights to answer critical questions, such as:
- What unmet needs exist in the patient and physician communities?
- How do KOLs and prescribers perceive the clinical and non-clinical benefits of the product?
- What market access and regulatory hurdles need to be addressed?
- How will the product differentiate itself in an increasingly competitive landscape?
An insights-driven approach enables pharma teams to close knowledge gaps, identify key stakeholders, and develop a data-backed strategy that aligns with both scientific evidence and commercial objectives. By integrating ongoing KOL engagement, real-world evidence, and competitive intelligence into launch planning, companies can proactively adjust their strategy—reducing risk and maximizing their product’s potential.
Challenge #2: Increased competition
Competition in the pharmaceutical industry is more intense than ever. The window for market exclusivity has shrunk from an average of eight years to just four, while peak sales forecasts have declined by more than 50% over the last decade. With new therapies entering the market faster and competing for the same prescriber and patient attention, companies must ensure strong differentiation from day one.
In this crowded landscape, pharma teams can no longer rely solely on clinical data from phase III trials to gain a competitive edge. HCPs and payers now expect clear, real-world evidence of a product’s value—along with personalized engagement and strong advocacy from respected experts. Without a well-defined differentiation strategy, companies risk losing traction to competitors before their launch gains momentum.
Solution: Build advocacy and communicate the full value proposition
To stand out in a competitive market, both medical affairs and commercial teams must collaborate to define and communicate not just the clinical advantages, but also the broader impact of a new therapy. This means going beyond efficacy and safety data to emphasize:
- Differentiation: Provide compelling scientific evidence, real-world data, and KOL validation that highlights how the product improves patient outcomes compared to existing options.
- Prescriber Targeting: Identify and engage the right HCPs and integrated delivery networks to ensure the product reaches prescribers most likely to adopt and advocate for it.
- Personalized Content: A one-size-fits-all approach is no longer effective. Engaging stakeholders with tailored, insights-driven messaging helps ensure that physicians, payers, and patients understand the product’s unique value.
- Clinician Support: Prescriber adoption is influenced not just by clinical data but also by the support and resources provided by the pharmaceutical company. Addressing physician concerns, facilitating peer-to-peer exchanges, and providing medical education opportunities can build long-term loyalty and advocacy.
By leveraging real-time insights, digital engagement, and KOL advocacy, pharma teams can refine their strategy as market conditions evolve—ensuring that their product launches successfully and continues to gain traction in a competitive space.
Challenge #3: Limited market access
According to a Deloitte study, nearly half of the products that fell short of their first-year forecast faced market access issues, such as:
- Unfavorable placement
- Exclusion from formulary
- Use of formulary restrictions
- Lack of health-economic evidence in support of pricing
- Higher-than-expected expenses on rebates or discounts
When market access is limited, both patients and clinicians lose trust that they’ll be able to obtain the drug. This reduced confidence can create a ripple effect, jeopardizing a new product’s ability to succeed.
Solution: Make market access a cornerstone of strategic planning
Addressing market access challenges requires early integration of access strategy into the overall launch plan. Medical affairs and commercial teams must collaborate to build a compelling value narrative backed by clinical, economic, and real-world evidence. A strong market access strategy should include:
- Early and Ongoing Payer Engagement: Understanding payer priorities and reimbursement trends helps teams anticipate potential barriers and proactively address them.
- Robust Health-Economic and Outcomes Research (HEOR): Providing clear, data-driven justification for a product’s price and value proposition is crucial for securing favorable coverage decisions.
- Cross-Functional Alignment with Commercial and Medical Affairs: Medical affairs plays a key role in generating real-world evidence and facilitating discussions with payers and policy influencers.
- Flexibility to Adapt to Evolving Market Conditions: Continuous insights from prescribers, patients, and payers allow teams to refine their approach and stay ahead of competitive and regulatory shifts.
By embedding market access into early-stage planning and continuously refining strategy based on real-world insights, pharma companies can improve coverage, enhance prescriber confidence, and maximize the long-term success of their launch.
Achieving launch excellence: The path to a successful product launch
Successfully launching a new pharmaceutical product requires more than just a great clinical profile—it demands strategic execution, cross-functional collaboration, and continuous market adaptation. Medical affairs and commercial teams must work together to generate actionable insights, build strong stakeholder advocacy, and proactively address market access challenges to maximize launch success.
By taking an insights-driven approach, pharma companies can navigate the complexities of launch execution, ensuring their product reaches the right patients, gains prescriber trust, and stands out in an increasingly competitive landscape.
Don’t let launch challenges derail your success. See how top pharma teams use real-time insights to drive smarter, more successful launches. Book a demo today.