Part 2: Meeting Stakeholder Expectations in a Value-Driven Market

Beyond new engagement channels, today’s launch environment is defined by stakeholders – especially payers and patients – who demand more value and evidence than ever before. It’s not enough to have a great product; you must prove its worth in real-world terms.

Payers control access and reimbursement, and they are looking for clear, actionable evidence of cost-effectiveness and patient benefit before they’ll grant broad coverage. Patients, for their part, are increasingly empowered and expect personalized support, education, and outcomes. These rising expectations across the board are a major force behind the need to reinvent the commercial launch model.

In the past, pharma launch plans often focused on the product and the prescribing physician. Today, they must broaden to a multi-stakeholder view. Value demonstration and market access strategy need to be baked in from day one. This means engaging payers early – even during clinical development – to understand what data will satisfy them, aligning trials with endpoints that matter for coverage, and crafting value propositions that resonate.

As one industry expert noted, companies should individualize their value propositions for each payer rather than rely on a one-size-fits-all approach. Pricing models, too, are evolving: we see more flexible pricing and innovative reimbursement schemes that tie payment to outcomes or budget impact, aligning with value-based care initiatives. Internally, organizations must tear down walls between market access, medical, HEOR (health economics and outcomes research), and commercial teams. Operating in silos is a recipe for launch struggles – instead, cross-functional collaboration is needed to ensure the product’s clinical profile, economic evidence, and messaging are all aligned to what payers and patients need.

How East Harriet Advisors can help: Our approach centers on putting stakeholder needs at the heart of launch planning. We’ve helped clients reorient their strategy to be truly customer-centric and value-driven. For instance, a global oncology franchise we partnered with was seeing flat growth and realized they were “talking past” what their customers actually valued. We undertook in-depth research on industry best practices in value delivery – combing academic studies and our own project experience across top pharma companies – to recommend how the client could evolve their model for delivering value to stakeholders.

We didn’t stop at theory; we gathered feedback through surveys and customer insights to refine these recommendations, then worked with the franchise leadership to finalize a new value delivery framework. The outcome was a refreshed methodology with six key improvements, which gained approval and was embedded into the franchise’s annual strategic planning process. In practical terms, this meant the company started tailoring its offerings: e.g. developing patient support programs for those who needed it most, equipping payers with better pharmacoeconomic data, and providing physicians with more relevant evidence for decision-making.

By delivering what each stakeholder cares about, the franchise reinvigorated its growth and trust in the marketplace.

Another example: our team helped a client focused in sickle cell disease segment their market by local geographies and stakeholder needs. Rather than assume all regions or patient populations were the same, we analyzed engagement drivers across 10 key metropolitan areas – interviewing patients, providers, community groups, and others. This research led us to develop a simple archetype model (a four-quadrant framework) categorizing each region by patient needs and access levels.

The client used these archetypes to allocate resources and tailor engagement strategies for each locality. This level of granularity – understanding where patients face access hurdles or unique needs – allowed the launch plan to address gaps (for example, by partnering with local community organizations in high-need areas) rather than deploying a uniform national strategy. It’s a great illustration of how listening to stakeholders and adapting to their reality can make a launch far more effective.

In summary, reinventing the launch model means adopting a value mindset. Every aspect of the launch – from clinical data packages to post-launch patient support – should answer the question: “How does this provide better value or experience for the end customer?”

East Harriet Advisors helps clients internalize this mindset and operationalize it, ensuring that payers see compelling value propositions, patients feel heard and supported, and providers get data that matters. In a world where market access can make or break a new therapy, this stakeholder-centric approach is not optional; it’s essential to launch success.

(In Part 3, we’ll explore the third and final force driving change: the escalating competition and complexity in the market.)