Pharma has yet to crack the code when it comes to consistently executing successful drug launches. Numerous studies describe large swaths of new products that fall short of expectations for a variety of reasons, from uneven reimbursement to supply constraints to physician skepticism.
Most underperforming rollouts often have a common root cause: their launch companies aren’t optimized from a commercial operations perspective. In other words, alignment takes a backseat, as the marketing, medical, market access, and data/analytics functions all march to the beat of a different drummer.
Indeed, according to our Commercialization That Works research — which included a survey of 120 executives across emerging, small- to mid-sized, and large pharma — the main obstacle to better commercial outcomes and cohesive customer experience is lack of coordinated action. Leaders in markets as wide-ranging as oncology and rare disease described similar gaps.
We consistently heard that the chance of success improves only when teams can absorb signals from payers, providers, and patients and adjust their execution together, in rhythm and in real time. Here’s a rundown, based on our research, of how leaders plan to address the cohesion deficit in the year ahead across strategy, tech, data, and teams:
1. Resolution: Get on the same page about the customer experience
✨Customer experience is the engine of patient value, so align the organization around a shared definition. This way, brand, market access, and engagement teams don’t just orient around “the patient” separately but move together toward a consistent patient-value strategy.
Respondents described strong functional strategies that — alas — continue to form in isolation. As a result, the brand advances without a clear view of access realities, teams improve inside their lanes, and misalignment only surfaces after payer decisions and market pressure lock in constraints. So this year, get on the same page for precision CX.
#1 success factor for commercialization: early coordination between clinical, regulatory, market access, and commercial functions
“We need to consider how we can move patient centricity forward in future go-to-market strategies, and more importantly, we should think about how these strategies create a connected experience from awareness and education through the moment of Rx to fulfillment and support.” - Marcos Mendell, Partner, Beghou
2. Resolution: Stop adding tools and start making technology work as one system
✨This year, resolve to stop layering on new platforms and finally connect the ones you already have.
Dashboards and reports describe what happened, but when context is fragmented across functions, leaders are overwhelmed. Reporting isn’t enough, industry leaders told us. Teams need one version of the truth if they are to move with speed and clarity on what to do next.
Of data/analytics respondents:
- 30% said system integrations, and
- 37% said internal data governance hinder launch decisions.
“It’s about how fast you can turn signals or data points into insights, and then from insights to action, and from action to measurable outcome.” - Jing Jin, Director, Commercial Data Science & AI, AstraZeneca
3. Resolution: In the data we trust — and receive in time to act
✨Insight only creates value when it reaches decision-makers in time and with enough credibility to guide action. So, stop treating data as something you analyze later, and start making it something you trust and act on in the moment.
Execs emphasized how often data moves faster than their business can respond, whether it’s payer decisions, competitive shifts, or patient access barriers. Although most organizations have access to data, the technology to analyze it, and the resulting insights, the signal → synthesis → decision → execution distance is too long and fragmented.
- #1 negative impact on commercialization includes late or incomplete data integration, siloed systems and legacy platforms, and slow adoption of analytics and AI tools, leading to reactive decisions.
- #1 make-or-break factor to get the most from comm ops, market access, and patient and HCP marketing over the next 12-18 months: real-time visibility and insights
4. Resolution: Be realistic: ground decisions in reality
✨Field, MSL, and patient signals are some of the earliest and most reliable indicators of operational risk. Wire them directly into daily operational decision-making.
Leaders said the field teams see access barriers, workflow breakdowns, and execution friction first, but we heard that this early intelligence doesn’t always make it to operational decisions. Patient data (activation, PROs, digital behaviors) also sits underutilized despite its ability to provide clear early signals of downstream concerns. Integrating these into decision-making can help shape access, messaging, and support from day one.
Of HCP and patient marketers:
- 67% consider field insights and pull-through measurement tools a critical investment priority
- 57% are shifting from physician-centric to patient-centric insights about the patient journey
5. Resolution: Focus on the foundation, and innovation will follow
✨Prioritize the fundamentals — data flow, interoperability, workflows, and governance — so that advanced analytics and AI actually improve decisions.
Even when the technology used is sound, execs said that inconsistent definitions, fragmented data feeds, and unclear ownership undermine credibility and break models. By building a strong data foundation, organizations can set themselves up for success in advanced analytics and make smarter innovation bets.
- 77% of analytics leaders cited interoperability issues as a key trade-off for data sources
- 67% of analytics leaders ranked data excellence as a top make-or-break differentiator
6. Resolution: Build with plug-and-play commercial elements
✨Implement composable (modular and adaptive) commercial capabilities across brands, channels, and moments, so they can be rapidly reconfigured as market, access, and care delivery conditions shift.
Payer policy changes, supply constraints, site capacity limits, competitive acceleration, diagnostic requirements, and complex care pathways often force teams to rebuild or significantly reconfigure their commercial engines just to respond. Sustaining success means building commercial engines that can adapt quickly.
" We’ve stopped treating launch as a single milestone. It’s a continuous cycle—constantly pressure-testing our playbooks, using modular content and flexible review cycles so we can adapt quickly as new evidence emerges, without losing focus or compliance.” - Audrey Carnevale, Associate Director, Medical Communications, Averitas Pharma
7. Resolution: Replace vendors with strategic partners
✨Prioritize partners who provide connective tissue, integrating data, aligning workflows, and reducing effort, rather than those who add another layer of tools to manage.
Leaders said that expanding vendor ecosystems have increased handoffs, fragmented workflows, and forced commercial teams to manually stitch solutions together. Too many point solutions don’t integrate, and too few vendors design with the organization’s real operating model in mind.
- 63% cited overly complex, inflexible vendor solutions as challenges for commercialization
- 60% of comm ops execs think vendor relationships will shift toward deeper strategic partnerships.
If you’d like to see what else your peers are prioritizing in 2026, read the full report
