Key Takeaways
- Start with required capabilities—not job titles—before deciding what to build or outsource.
- Keep strategically differentiating work and institutional knowledge inside the company.
- Outsourcing can preserve capital when expertise is specialized or temporary; accountability cannot be outsourced.
- Compare total cost and risk—not only agency fees versus salaries—when choosing an operating model.
Emerging biotechnology companies preparing for their first launch face an important organizational question:
What should we build internally, and what should we outsource?
There is no universal answer.
The right operating model depends on the market, company strategy, capital, product complexity and the capabilities that will create long-term enterprise value. Leadership should first identify what the business must be capable of doing—commercial strategy, Medical Affairs, market access, marketing, commercial operations, analytics, field execution, patient services, training and distribution management—before deciding which capabilities need permanent internal teams.
Executive opinion paper
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About Joseph McCoy
Joseph McCoy is Founder and Principal Consultant of PharmaKonsult and an executive commercial strategy advisor with more than three decades of pharmaceutical and biotechnology commercial leadership experience across neuroscience, rare disease, endocrinology, institutional healthcare and specialty pharmaceuticals.
