The Challenges Facing Small-to-Mid-Sized Drug Launches – and How to Address Them

Back in 2003, drugs from large pharma companies made up 36% of the late-stage R&D pipeline. By 2018, that share had fallen by about half. Meanwhile, the number of companies launching their first drug during the decade preceding 2018 more than tripled. These data are astonishing, given the perception that Big Pharma is the main driver of biopharma innovation, and the way that so much advice on launch excellence assumes that.  

We know small-to-mid-sized pharma launches face a unique set of challenges, and in our recent POV, “Ten Ways to Think Differently About Small-to-Mid-Sized Pharma Launches,” we identified four hurdles small-to-mid-sized organizations face, and ten practical, exciting ways to address them for successful launches.  

In this article, we delve deeper into why those four issues are unique challenges for smaller organizations:

1. Access to insights.  

Successful launches and deep customer insights go hand in hand. Understanding unmet market needs can help a brand create immediate demand, but it’s often hard for small-to-mid-sized brands to access deep insights:  

• Customer research is limited. Many smaller pharmas don’t have dedicated market research teams or protected budgets.  
• Big Data access is limited, too. Smaller pharmas may lack dedicated resources, relying instead on one-time studies or syndicated offerings.  

2. Competitive pressures. 

Almost all pharma brands face competition, but for small-to-mid-sized brands, competitive threats may be larger and tougher to mitigate: 

• Engagement is an uphill battle. Big competitors often have the dollars to control share of voice, field forces with long-standing prescriber relationships, and deep benches of omnichannel experts.  
• Technology parity is hard to achieve. When you have Big Pharma resources and scale, you can invest in optimal sales and marketing technologies. Few small-to-mid-sized pharmas will be able to match the tech maturity of their larger peers, dampening growth opportunities. 

3. Budget preservation. 

There is not a one-to-one correlation between company size and marketing budget, but size sure helps. Small-to-mid-sized pharmas typically have less access to capital and may need to preserve cash until the next approval, which change the promotional calculus: 

• Market-shaping and omnichannel efforts may be minimized. Though both are used to great effect by established pharmas, they can be a tough sell at budget-sensitive companies. Management may see market shaping as ‘competing’ with branded budgets, shrinking an already small pie. Meanwhile, omnichannel sounds expensive; at smaller, revenue-hungry pharmas, it might seem more practical to hire additional field resources instead. 
• There’s a tendency to cut corners with creative. Smaller pharmas may sacrifice their brand to preserve their limited launch budget. For example, a marketer may forego live photo shoots or use a single campaign for multiple stakeholders – investments which might have yielded a stickier, more effective brand. 

4. Timeline pressures. 
While all companies need to manage FDA timing, it’s especially hard for small-to-mid-sized pharmas: 

• Budgets may be gated. It’s not uncommon for emerging pharmas to hold budgets (and hires) until certain commercial milestones are met, which can hamstring the necessary years of pre-launch preparation.  
• Decision-making approaches can slow things down. The benefits of being a smaller organization – agility, flexibility – can be weighed down by added scrutiny. Executive involvement on the smaller details happens regularly in smaller companies, which can stall work. 

Launching a highly innovative product with all the resources and time in the world is relatively straightforward. It’s not easy, but at least the path is clear! For small-to-mid-sized clients hampered by the four challenges we’ve outlined, the path to launch is no easy climb.  

If you’re willing to do things a little differently, however, you may find hidden advantages to being a nimble marketer. Famed college basketball coach John Wooden put it this way: “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” In our POV, we spoke to experts throughout EVERSANA INTOUCH to compile ten practical, actionable, up-to-date, exciting ideas for smaller pharmas, including solutions we’ve employed recently for clients. Check it out here.

These ideas amplify the commercial ‘personality’ most small-to-mid-sized pharmas express – nimble, pragmatic, open to innovation – to help you level the playing field and drive your brand forward as soon as the whistle blows. 

By creatively addressing key launch challenges, small-to-mid-sized pharmas can offset the advantages enjoyed by their larger competitors.