Problems solved

Updating a portfolio

OTC product search, selection and in-licensing
Client: International OTC company

The challenge

The client had a portfolio of older OTC and wanted to modernise it with newer and best-in-class therapies. However, they had no in-house R&D, licensing or business development expertise. So our challenge was not only to identify new products, but to license them in with a good margin, to improve profitability and support TV and global ad campaigns.

Our approach

We have strong capabilities in this area, due to our knowledge management know-how and extensive partner search and selection tools. Here, our role was to advise and support the board in their strategic decision-making. We achieved this by:

• Undertaking competitor analysis
• Evaluating opportunities for new business
• Formulating new product development strategies and recommendations
• Assessing licensing and production opportunities
• Sourcing and negotiating rights to suitable products

There are a number of opportunities in the generic sector for OTC switches.
Using the above methodology we were able to source cost effective, high-margin products with first-to-market status and prolonged exclusivity, and a global rollout and regulatory strategy in place.

Result

With Pharmawise on board, the client had the advantage of:

• Having the first branded generic to market
• Prolonged exclusivity, as only two manufacturers in world made this product
• Full focus on marketing, a core company function

The outcome: a very successful move for our clients!

Helping with difficult board decisions

Client: World’s leading generic company

The challenge

The client was reviewing its position in hospital oncology products in Europe. The question it faced was: should it invest in, or divest from this market? It was a difficult decision. Group Board executives were emotionally tied to the marketplace, and would be unlikely to shut down this part of the business. The company recognised that it needed external expertise to assess the situation objectively and recommend actions. 

This was decision-making at the highest level, and the client needed experienced advisers: people who’d run a hospital business themselves and could empathise with their dilemma, but could also think laterally and point out opportunities.

Our approach

We undertook a detailed strategic review using Pharmawise Organic, a methodology we have developed that evolves with the pharma sector and gives a clear insight into the real opportunities in the marketplace.

This methodology is part of our core offer and ethos - if we don’t have the expertise to solve a client’s problem, we don’t take on the assignment. The fact that we do take on the sector’s most difficult challenges, and apply the kind of breakthrough thinking that enables clients to make the right decisions, proves the effectiveness of this approach.

Result

Our recommendations and actions led the client to stay in the hospital market. They have established a leading market share, with their own fully back-integrated production in some key products. The strategy has proved so successful that it has been rolled out globally, and the company now has leading positions in the USA and other markets.

Building a management team from scratch

Client: leading German generic company

The challenge

When our client’s company was acquired by a private equity investor, they urgently needed a strong growth programme – and key executives to support that development.

Our approach

The firm could have hired a senior manager, or appointed the director of a subsidiary to the role, but recognised that they could not match the level of expertise that Pharmawise offered.

Pharmawise provided specialists who hit the ground running, developing strategic options, pipeline and partnerships very quickly. This interim management team, which worked with the firm for 18 months until it was sold, established processes for:

• Undertaking competitor analysis
• Evaluating opportunities for new business
• Formulating new product development strategies and recommendations
• Assessing licensing and production opportunities
• Sourcing and negotiating rights to suitable products.

Result

With our network of experts we were able to deliver the people needed to accelerate the value growth in the business to exit. Their ability to quickly establish and grow a bigger pipeline resulted in a high multiple valuation. 
Pharmawise now acts as mentors to board members from outside the pharma industry, a role that helps us to maintain hands-on knowledge.

The experts’ experts - working in partnership with consultants

Client: The World’s leading chemical company

The challenge

As experts, we are often asked to provide our know-how and hands-on insights to support many of the well-known consulting firms.  In this joint project with consultancy IMS, our client was a leading global fine chemicals conglomerate whose Japanese division had been struggling to gain market share for 10 years. Our challenge was to help them develop a strategy for market growth in the country.

Our approach

We called on the expertise of our API /fine chemical specialist, who had several years’ experience in Japan. Working with IMS and drawing on their huge database of healthcare industry information, we evaluated:

• How the Japanese pharmaceutical manufacturing market was structured
• The purchasing behaviour of chemical intermediate buyers
• New business opportunities for chemical intermediates in Japan

Following this, we reviewed the client’s portfolio to fit the Japanese market, identified routes to market and developed action plans to improve access.

A key tool in this process was our own ‘Pharma-whys’ technique (based on the theory that you achieve deeper levels of understanding by continuing to ask ‘why?’), to discover the root causes of our client’s issues. This ensured we were able to provide robust solutions not based on irrelevant information or personal opinion. 

Results

Well-run and delivering great results, it’s not surprising that the project was extremely well-received by the client. It won a group-wide award as one of the company’s best consulting projects.