Global Business Strategy & Forecasting Expert Sanobar Syed On How Do Pharmaceutical Companies Build Infallible Business Strategy And Forecasting To Conquer Markets?

Sanobar Syed has been driving pharmaceutical launches to ensure winning and expanding in key strategic markets globally. She has worked in pharmaceutical giants like (Beigene, AbbVie, Novartis, McKesson). She is considered a SME at various reputed and leading industry conferences across North America and Europe in the field of pharmaceutical business strategy, analytics, and forecasting.  

Pharmaceutical healthcare environment is becoming complex and investment heavy, hence the need to have accurate strategy and forecasting to represent the international market is crucial to the success of the firm. We are in a world where AI & data science in pharma is exploding exponentially, and large amounts of data are being collected every single day.  

To drive a successful business strategy & forecasting, pharmaceutical organizations need an in-depth understanding of the environment in which they are planning to operate, and this can be tricky as many lack reliable data intelligence. Some of the practices which have helped the pharmaceutical firms to emerge successful have been noted as below: 

Think Global, Go local. 

It needs to be kept in mind that the needs and regulations of emerging markets differ not only between countries but also between regions, including between urban and rural areas. A strategy that works in rural Brazil will not necessarily work in urban cities in the same country and can likely also not be directly translated to most rural areas in India or Mexico. That said, customer clusters based on common demographic features and health needs can be identified both within and between regions and will help when designing market access or marketing strategies. 

Prioritizing local market trends 

Gaining insights into the current and anticipated future market trends is key to navigating any pharma market. This includes gathering insights on things such as local healthcare access, reimbursement (including for both original and generic products), demands, the competitive landscape. This can be done on a large scale by analyzing quantitative data from similar markets and/or by collecting qualitative insights directly from local healthcare stakeholders such as physicians, payers, and patients. For the latter approach, digital technologies such as online advisory boards and virtual collaboration tools can be leveraged to streamline the progress. 

Standardise the approach yet keep it flexible 

Currently, country- and region-specific regulatory and submission requirements vary, and there are limited enforcement resources. Hence, as one of the first steps to developing a successful strategy for navigating emerging markets, a “standardized” approach for navigating foreign rules and regulations is needed. However, at the same time, this approach must be able to account for the variability in these markets. By understanding which points will vary and which are commonalities, companies can plan their timelines and processes accordingly. Establishing a harmonized approach will no doubt be difficult but is by no means impossible. 

Resource allocation and budgeting 

When entering a new emerging market, many pharmaceutical companies choose to partner with a local third-party or business partner familiar with the current regulatory and reimbursement landscape. Although this will require substantial upfront costs, the time-savings of such a partnership often proves well worth the investments. Related to this, and just like it is important for companies to create a single, coherent strategy rather than trying to coordinate multiple strategies, there is likewise a need to centralize the company’s resource allocation to avoid duplication of efforts and partnerships. 

Conclusion 

Business Strategy and forecasting are key pillars of any pharmaceutical industry. They become even more important when considered in an international scale. There are not one size fits all approach which is true in this case. A pharmaceutical business and forecast needs to model both a disease and a healthcare system, and the key to doing this well is using the available data to reflect this complexity in a way that supports effective decision-making. Making the right decisions with the right information and insights will always be key for any business, and the challenge is to bring all these different elements together. The integration of these concepts – diverse decision-makers, sophisticated methods, broad relevance, and strategic application – creates tremendous value and competitive advantage for an organization. 

Lastly, Business strategy & forecasting is not only a science; it is also an art. It does not consist of compounding pills and plasters; it deals with the very processes of life, which must be understood before they may be guided.” – Paracelsus. 

References: 

1. Arthur G. Cook (2006), Forecasting for the Pharmaceutical Industry-Models for New Product and In-Market Forecasting and How to Use Them 

2. S Goodwin, 1996 May-Jun;18(3):45-9. Pubmed article 

Authored by – Sanobar Syed, Associate director Beigene, Canada