Posted by on October 16th, 2016.
Blue Matter helped a leading global biotech organization with the launch strategy and planning for a novel oncology therapy with breakthrough designation that launched in an accelerated timeline, significantly ahead of schedule.
Launch of a novel bio-pharmaceutical product is one of the most important milestones in the product lifecycle. It typically takes a new molecular entity (NME) about 7 years to go from research to being approved and launched. A successful launch plays a critical role in setting the trajectory for that product and allowing it to realize its full market potential. Launch is not a single time point or date, but the entire period leading to the product’s availability in the marketplace. Blue Matter typically defines the launch period as 18-24 months prior to expected approval of the drug and extends to the final commercial availability and promotion of the drug.
Blue Matter works with clients throughout this time period on a number of cross-functional initiatives to ensure launch success. Some of the common launch assistance projects that Blue Matter assists clients with, include product positioning, market conditioning, product promotion and promotional mix strategy, customer engagement strategy, as well as launch tactical planning and launch readiness reviews. Blue Matter consultants have assisted companies with more than 100 product launches, including drugs, diagnostics and devices.
In this specific example, Blue Matter worked with the commercial launch team for the oncology drug and helped refine their co-positioning strategy ahead of launch. In addition, we worked to develop a detailed launch plan including specific tactics and deliverables for each of the functional area sub-teams, timelines, roles/responsibilities, dependencies and a dashboard to track progress towards launch. The detailed launch plan was instrumental in helping the team complete all planned deliverables and launch the product on schedule.