Commercial Organization

How to Right-Size a Rare Disease Commercial Organization

More people do not automatically produce a better rare disease launch. Organization design should follow specialist concentration, access burden and patient-support requirements.

Key Takeaways

  • Copying a traditional pharmaceutical org chart is a common rare disease mistake.
  • Size the organization to the treating universe, institutional concentration and access complexity.
  • Leadership, Medical Affairs, access and patient services often matter more than broad field coverage.
  • Build versus outsource decisions should protect strategic knowledge without unnecessary fixed cost.

Rare disease commercial organizations should be designed around the market rather than copied from another company.

Emerging biotechnology companies frequently feel pressure to “look commercial” by adding headcount. The better question is what capabilities must exist for patients to be identified, diagnosed, authorized and started on therapy.

See also commercial organization strategy and what it costs to build a commercial organization.

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.

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