Being an executive charged with overseeing the commercial activities of a pharmaceutical business has never been tougher. Competition within drug classes is relentless, and getting even a few minutes of face time with doctors is increasingly difficult, if not almost impossible. Regulators and payers continue to flex their muscles, showing favor to generic drugs or their most preferred brands. And R&D labs are failing to produce a steady stream of next-generation products to replace those reaching the end of their patent life. Add to this mix the risk of further health-care reform, and the pharmaceutical commercial market is likely to grow only more challenging.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to offer their thanks to Dirk Calcoen, Goetz Gerecke, Simon Goodall, Zhenya Lindgardt, Mark Lubkeman, Juergen Luecke, Peter Tollman, Bernd Ziegler, and other BCG colleagues for contributing their insights on the pharmaceutical commercial market.
