Need For Speed: The Key To Successful Multi-Market Product Launches

By Guido Martens, Site Manager, Belgium, Sharp

Launching a new drug in the European marketplace presents a variety of unique challenges. Numerous official working languages, complex independent regulatory requirements combined with an overarching framework, and the intricacy and scale of distribution are all characteristics of an EU launch.

Much like in athletics, jumping these hurdles is a given – it’s the speed at which this is achieved that makes the difference. From the moment a drug receives regulatory approval, the clock is ticking and the success of a drug launch depends heavily on the expediency of the supply chain and packing and distribution of a product. Speed to market matters for both novel therapies and biosimilar or generics, but for different reasons:

• For novel therapies, the industry wants to get potentially life-saving therapies to patients as quickly as possible.
• For generics and biosimilars, with the latter coming into sharper focus in recent years, it’s about competition and getting to market first. The business that launches first, will drive volumes and will benefit from patient familiarity – especially with injectable devices where patients show less willingness to switch products, even if an alternative is cheaper.