How Drug Launches Will Succeed in 2022 and Beyond: The Integrated Approach to Get 10-Figure Results

As the landscape for product launches becomes more competitive with increased regulation and global hurdles to navigate, creating structures that can give these important teams support is important now more than ever. With the added pressures that this new post-pandemic world has created, the level of stress and overwhelm is at an all-time high, especially among and within product launch teams.

For VPs or Medical Directors of Medical Affairs in mid-size life science companies who have never led a product launch before, getting the integrated support they need to remain resilient through the grueling 24-month process while they assemble the right team, create the right launch strategy, and execute to achieve winning results can be a challenge.

That’s why having a consultant that can join the product launch team and provide wraparound support, guidance, and expertise on all levels – medical, marketing, regulatory, and compliance – is often the key success factor.

A key success factor, based on ConnectA’s experience, can mean the difference between a million-dollar drug launch that misses expectations versus a multi-billion-dollar drug launch that reaches millions of patients that need it the most.

Here’s what an integrated launch partner can help product launch teams achieve:

Product Launch Problem #1: Data Overwhelm

The U.S. medical team had to generate additional data to support local clinical positioning strategy for a dermatological drug. U.S. Medical Director needed a way to prioritize demands with very limited resources available for statistical analyses.

Integrated Consultant’s Role: Prioritize Data for Analysis

The launch partner, with knowledge of what information was most important to present, took the raw tables of clinical data and narrowed down the data that may offer the most evidence for strategically useful messages. This was then quickly developed into a range of graphical data sub-analyses that was presented to the Medical Director with specific recommendations of how to move forward.

Launch Outcome: New Competitive Advantage Identified

Without using any external resources (that were hard to access), the Medical Director was able to identify potential areas of competitive advantage so the product launch team could focus their effort on exactly those areas where more rigorous data, sub-analysis, and publication would maximize results.

Product Launch Problem #2: Lack of Strategic Relationships

One year prior to launch, the launch team did not have a formal list or structure for monitoring contacts with medical experts – this was seen as a mission-critical success factor by the upstream U.S. Leadership team. This was also challenging as multiple medical stakeholders had their own relationships with medical experts, with limited centralization for tracking.

Integrated Consultant’s Role: Pinpointing Strategic Relationship Structure

The launch partner – understanding the complexities of engaging medical experts – helped the launch team agree on specific criteria for defining target Medical Experts with key medical stakeholders. Collaboratively, target lists were developed by different functional contributors, key performance indicators for capturing and tracking coverage were identified, and ongoing tracking was implemented via facilitating meetings with multiple medical stakeholders.

Launch Outcome: Targeted Relationships Built Faster

As a result of the structure initiated by the launch partner, the team was able to reach a quick consensus on which Medical Experts to target which helped them make # new, pivotal relationships within 30 days.

Product Launch Problem #3: Delayed Product Launch

In the midst of the pandemic, the product launch team was blindsided when the launch was postponed. This decreased the team morale and left the Launch Lead unsure of how to keep the team engaged to quickly resume work, when the launch was reinstated.

Integrated Consultant’s Role: Building Mental Resilience

The launch partner provided mental resilience training to help the team navigate the stress and uncertainty they were experiencing. Biweekly sessions were held with the leadership team, one-on-one coaching support was given, and the team was provided a host of mindset tools and techniques.

Launch Outcome: Reduced Down Time Due to Stress

The Leadership Team developed a strong, growth mindset that contributed to no down time since the team was continually empowered to look for solutions. This enabled them to get back to work 80% faster when the new targeted launch date was announced.

Unlike many launch consultants that may only provide strategic support or project management functions, having an integrated partner with expertise across all of the key product launch categories (marketing, medical affairs, strategy, compliance, regulation, etc.) can increase team efficiency, decrease miscommunication, and generate longer term results.

ConnectA Strategic Solutions Group | Your Integrated Launch Partner – From Start to Finish

We are a leading strategic product launch consulting team, partnering with mid-size life science companies to lock in record-breaking launch results. We do this by meeting companies where they are to develop mental resilience among their top performers, expand product launch team synergy, identify innovative and proven launch strategies, and ensure flawless, results-driven execution. Our A-team brings over 180+ years of combined subject matter expertise, helping launch teams seamlessly navigate marketing, commercial, and regulatory areas that often derail product launch success. With our unique R.A.M.P. methodology, our clients have achieved up to 80% higher product launch revenues with 80% fewer delays, enabling them to do what they do best: improve the lives of their patients.