Case

Expanding Into a New Therapy Area with Strategic Medical Leadership

How InnoStrat Helped a Global Pharma Company Align Clinical and Commercial Strategy for Long-Term Success

The challenge

A top-20 global pharmaceutical company was exploring the expansion of a promising new molecule into additional therapeutic areas.

As part of this plan, they needed to:

Establish a stronger clinical and medical presence in Northern Europe
Hire a Medical Lead with the right background and leadership skills
Align cross-functional teams on how the new role would integrate with existing structures
Identify potential organizational bottlenecks that could hinder success

Although the company was well-resourced, their existing structure in this region lacked the clarity and connectivity needed to support strategic growth.

Our approach

InnoStrat deployed two experienced consultants with deep knowledge of pharmaceutical organizational design, leadership profiling, and clinical development. Over a concentrated three-month engagement, we focused on:

In-Depth Stakeholder Interviews

We interviewed R&D, Clinical, and Medical staff to understand the local and regional organizational setup, working methods, and internal expectations for the new role.

Organizational Audit and Optimization

Based on our analysis, we identified reporting line misalignments and cultural gaps that could impact collaboration. We proposed structural improvements to support the success of the incoming Medical Lead.

Role Profiling and Talent Strategy

We defined the ideal personality type, background, and leadership competencies needed to thrive in the new position – based on both the company’s goals and the internal environment.

Scalable Recommendations

Our findings and recommendations were designed not only for the Nordics, but with scalability in mind – enabling the company to replicate the approach across other EU regions.

The result

What this means for you

This case illustrates the power of strategic role definition and internal alignment when entering new therapy areas.

InnoStrat helps pharma companies identify the right leaders – and ensures their environment is set up for them to succeed.

Feedback from our client

Regional Medical Director “Building on their thorough audit of our Northern European operations, InnoStrat was able to recommend the best talent profile with the right therapy-area expertise and professional capacity to lead the Clinical and Medical teams and interact with global development functions.”

Regional Medical Director “Based on InnoStrat’s advice, we decided to restructure our entire European organization. This meant empowering our general managers to take responsibility not just for commercial results but also for successful local execution of clinical trials in the new therapy areas – which in turn drives commercial results 3-5 years later.”

Regional Medical Director “We were in an unfamiliar and uncomfortable situation of going into totally new therapy areas that we knew very little about. InnoStrat helped us to navigate the many unknowns from an execution, skills-profiling and organisational point of view.”

Regional Medical Director “The InnoStrat extended team coached the keynote speakers to deliver engaging virtual presentations, leading to an average attendee time of over two hours which shows very high engagement. The overall feedback from attendees was excellent and one of our top KOLs said it was the best virtual meeting he had ever attended!”