Hey there, and welcome to edition five of The Beghou Biopharma Review by Marc Iskowitz.
Regular readers of this newsletter may notice a new look, courtesy of a two-fold evolution on the corporate front. Our visual identity has been refreshed to reflect an expansion in capabilities. And our name has transitioned from Beghou Consulting to Beghou, a nod to the combination of analytical minds and innovative technology designed to help navigate change and challenge.
If there’s one major “change and challenge” the pharma industry has been contending with of late, it’s the administration’s oft-shifting trade policy. After threats of duties on pharma import tariffs reaching as high as 250%, another iteration came last month in the form of a social-media post by the president announcing a 100% duty on branded drugs, starting October 1st, unless a company is building its manufacturing plant in America. (The administration has since reportedly walked back that threat.)
Separately, last Monday marked the administration’s deadline for firms to lower US drug prices in line with what other countries pay. These policies may reshape the way brands think about pricing, access, and commercial strategy. MedCity News published Beghou CEO Adrienne Lovink’s perspectives on the topic.
We also hosted a cell and gene therapy (CGT) webinar with leaders from Novartis, BioMarin, and Orca Bio, and presented on omnichannel engagement at Fierce Pharma Week. More on all of that below.
Anticipating impacts on pharma commercialization
If you’re a life sciences commercial executive and you’re having trouble parsing the above policy pronouncements, you’re not alone. Tariffs and price caps represent competing stances that have left the industry somewhat conflicted.
Last month’s fresh threat of a 100% levy on pharma products was met with relief by analysts, not only because it represented a best-case scenario but also spelled out an escape clause: building a manufacturing plant domestically. Details are scant, but this latest missive at least implied that manufacturing, to which many in the industry have made multimillion-dollar pledges, may offer a path to avoiding duties.
Meanwhile, last Monday’s deadline to comply with the administration’s Most-Favored-Nation drug pricing order signals tighter constraints on cost increases. Price controls are more worrisome than tariffs, as they may eat into profits.
The result? Pharma CEOs may need to cut where they can, including SG&A (selling, general and administrative) expenses, and lean harder into omnichannel engagement models that can flex more easily. Another lever: the direct-to-consumer path. Many companies have already started direct sales of their drugs at cash prices lower than list. Last month brought two others: AstraZeneca and Novartis.
With political pressure mounting, more firms may follow. What would have seemed far-fetched even a few years ago, direct sales of specialty medicines to patients is now within reach.
If oncology powerhouse Roche/Genentech joins others in making the move, as some reports suggest, it would underscore just how far commercial leaders are willing to go when CoGS (cost of goods sold) rise and pricing freedom is capped. You can read Adrienne’s earlier analysis here.
Beghou Deep Cut: Making CGT commercialization work
Our “How to make cell and gene therapy commercialization work” webinar, moderated by Beghou Partner Vishal Singal on September 16, brought together leaders from Novartis, BioMarin, and Orca Bio. The discussion reinforced just how varied these launches can be and how much success depends on choices made well before approval.
Emily Chee, who led the U.S. launch of Zolgensma, pointed out how urgency and market context shape uptake. “When the disease is severe and the effect is transformational, demand builds quickly. But where alternatives exist, the ramp is slower and more nuanced.”
That makes early infrastructure planning just as critical as clinical progress. “Don’t just map the patient journey, rewire it,” said Rindy Dhillon, formerly of BioMarin. “That means looking closely at demand generation, access, and distribution from day one.”
For cell therapies, clinical profile alone is rarely enough. “If you define success as every eligible patient getting treated, then most launches fall short,” said Steve Gavel, chief commercial officer at Orca Bio. Reimbursement, site readiness, and manufacturing variability, he added, remain the biggest rate-limiters. “Traditional approaches to drug development don’t work here,” added Daniel Grant, global program head at Novartis. “For CGTs, you have to engage commercial early and then stay engaged post-launch.” Watch the full discussion here.
On the road: Lessons from the frontlines
Here's a look at what we’ve been up to at Beghou and what’s coming up next.
ICYMI: Multiple Beghou colleagues participated in last month’s Fierce Pharma Week. The event brought together top marketing executives and commercial strategists and was a fantastic opportunity to discuss trends and insights while networking with great minds.
Beghou Partner David Laros and Endo’s Christine Pillard, associate director of digital enablement, co-presented on the topic, “Building omni that works – and evolves: A specialty pharma company’s approach to HCP engagement.”
They shared practical lessons on connecting strategy to execution in ways that build trust, drive traction, and deliver measurable impact. Here are the slides if you’d like to dive deeper.
Let’s meet: At Reuters’ Pharma Customer Engagement USA 2025 (aka Reuters CX) on October 28 in Philadelphia, I’ll be moderating a panel on omnichannel optimization titled “Driving real engagement: what works, what doesn’t, and what’s next.” Set to join me are the following panelists:
- Jing Jin, director, commercial data science and AI, AstraZeneca
- Lizandra Marcondes, senior VP, US medical affairs & drug strategy, Averitas
- Prem Schoff, director owned channel strategy lead, Novo Nordisk
We plan to discuss the use of AI and analytics to sharpen omnichannel strategy, as well as aligning personalization with real-world customer behavior and drawing on top-performer lessons to help marketers evolve with customers.
Underpinning the discussion will be insights from Beghou’s “Commercialization that Works” survey. Specifically, we’ll surface what’s working in terms of respondents’ teams, tech and data. These characteristics for success will serve as a data-driven jumping-off point for what promises to be a highly pragmatic conversation. You can register for the event here.
That’s it for now. If you’re looking for more context on any of these stories, drop me a line at marc.iskowitz@beghou.com
Cheers,
Marc Iskowitz
Editorial Director, Beghou
P.S. Thank you for reading and to freelance writer Sravya Narayanaswamy for helping me put this together.