There is a lot of pressure to launch fast.
Headquarters wants the first month on the chart. The team is excited. Everyone wants every doctor to hear about the new product in week one.
In my experience, speed is rarely what decides a launch. Order is.
This is the sequence I try to hold:
Ready before anyone sells. Registration, the approved price and stock at the distributor, all confirmed. No rep should detail a product the pharmacy cannot get.
Medical is ready first. Medical affairs can answer the scientific questions from day one. The science stays with medical, and sales and medical stay separate.
The right specialists first. The doctors who see the patients the product was approved for. Their early experience is what other doctors will ask about.
Widen in waves. Hospitals and wider specialties come in once the first wave shows repeat use, not because the calendar says so.
The one move I would never make is loading the distributor at launch to show a big first month of sell-in. It looks like a launch. It is only stock sitting in a warehouse, and it hides what doctors and pharmacies are really doing.
“A fast launch in the wrong order is a slow launch.”
Lesson 1 of 4 in Step 2: Launches and the portfolio, with the full guide and a checklist for this week.