Go-to-Market Strategy for Life Sciences
A brilliant product with a poor go-to-market strategy is a product that fails slowly. And in life sciences, slowly is expensive — years of development, millions in R&D, regulatory submissions that took longer than anyone budgeted for. Then launch day arrives and the commercial plan is a PowerPoint with "Phase 1: Build Awareness" on slide three.
I've seen it happen too many times. A diagnostics company gets regulatory clearance, celebrates for a week, then realises they haven't engaged a single payer. A MedTech startup gets CE marking and discovers that NICE evaluation will take another 18 months. A biotech approaching Series B has a stunning clinical dataset and no commercial strategy to present to investors. The science was always on track. The commercialisation plan wasn't.
What GTM Strategy Is Not
Let me be direct about what a go-to-market strategy is not, because this is where most companies waste time and money:
- It's not a marketing plan. A marketing plan is a tactical execution document — campaigns, channels, content calendars. A GTM strategy is the strategic architecture that tells you who you're selling to, why they'll buy, and how you'll reach them. The marketing plan comes after
- It's not a sales forecast. Revenue projections are an output of the strategy, not the strategy itself. If your "GTM plan" is a spreadsheet with quarterly targets and no explanation of how you'll hit them, you don't have a strategy
- It's not something you do after regulatory approval. If you wait until clearance to start commercial planning, you've already lost 6-12 months. Your evidence generation strategy, payer engagement timeline, and channel partnerships should all be developing in parallel with regulatory preparation. The regulatory submission and the commercial narrative should be two sides of the same coin
A proper go-to-market strategy is the end-to-end plan for how your product goes from approved to adopted. It covers who buys it, why they buy it, how they find it, what evidence they need, how much it costs, and who else is trying to solve the same problem. It's the commercial equivalent of your clinical development plan — and it deserves the same rigour.
What I Cover
- Market opportunity assessment: Not a top-down TAM/SAM/SOM slide that impresses nobody. A bottom-up analysis of who your actual customers are, what they currently use, what would make them switch, and how many of them exist in your priority markets. I segment by decision-maker, not just by geography — because the buying process for a diagnostic assay involves the clinician who evaluates, the lab manager who implements, and the procurement team that approves the budget
- Regulatory-commercial alignment: Your regulatory strategy has commercial implications that most companies discover too late. The indications you pursue, the endpoints you choose, the comparators you select — these shape your positioning for years. I ensure the regulatory strategy supports the commercial narrative, not just the scientific one. I've coordinated launches across MHRA, NICE, PMDA, and National Health Insurance pathways simultaneously
- Market access and reimbursement strategy: How will payers evaluate your product? What clinical and health economic evidence do they need? In the UK, this means understanding NICE assessment, NHS procurement frameworks, and Integrated Care Board commissioning. In Japan, it means navigating National Health Insurance reimbursement. In the US, it means understanding coverage and coding. Each market has its own logic, and your evidence generation strategy needs to serve all of them
- Channel strategy: Direct sales force, distribution partners, digital channels, KOL networks — which combination reaches your buyers most effectively? The answer depends on your product complexity, your price point, your sales cycle length, and your competitive landscape. I've designed channel strategies for everything from high-volume consumables sold through distribution to complex diagnostic platforms that require clinical champions
- Launch sequencing: Which market first? Which indication first? How do you phase the rollout to maximise the impact of each regulatory approval while managing resources? Multi-market launches require careful orchestration — the wrong sequence can mean you're fighting on three fronts with the resources for one
- KOL and evidence strategy: Which opinion leaders matter in your therapeutic area, and how do you engage them before launch — not after? I identify and map the KOL landscape, build engagement plans, and design advisory board strategies that generate both clinical endorsement and commercial momentum. I've managed advisory boards and presented at conferences across the US, EU, and Japan
- Competitive response planning: Your competitors will react to your launch. The question is whether you've anticipated their response. I model competitive scenarios — price drops, feature releases, negative positioning — and build contingency plans for each
Multi-Market Launches
I've led GTM strategies across the UK, EU, US, Japan, and APAC — each with distinct regulatory, reimbursement, and market access requirements. Multi-market launches are a speciality, not an afterthought.
The challenge with multi-market launches isn't just regulatory complexity — it's maintaining positioning consistency while adapting to local requirements. The MHRA evaluates differently from the PMDA. NHS procurement works nothing like National Health Insurance reimbursement. The clinical champions who matter in the UK are not the same people who matter in Japan. But the product is the same, and the core value story needs to hold together across all markets.
I've coordinated dual-market launches that navigated parallel regulatory pathways, secured national reimbursement in multiple countries, and delivered commercial results ahead of timeline. The framework I use — unified positioning with local market access and channel adaptation — creates efficiency without sacrificing relevance.
How It Works
Phase 1 — Commercial Assessment (Weeks 1-3): Market mapping, competitive analysis, customer research, and regulatory-commercial alignment review. I assess your current commercial readiness — where you are strong, where the gaps are, and what needs to happen before launch. This phase often reveals things companies haven't considered: market access timelines that extend the launch window, competitor moves that change the competitive framing, or customer segments that represent bigger opportunities than the obvious ones.
Phase 2 — Strategy Development (Weeks 4-8): I build the complete GTM strategy — market access plan, channel strategy, launch sequencing, KOL engagement plan, competitive response playbook, and sales enablement framework. Every element is interconnected. The positioning feeds the messaging. The messaging feeds the sales tools. The sales tools feed the training plan. The KOL strategy reinforces the clinical narrative. Nothing exists in isolation.
Phase 3 — Execution Planning (Weeks 9-12): Strategy becomes operational plan. Launch timeline with milestones. Resource allocation. Budget framework. Performance metrics and tracking. I stay involved through early execution to ensure the plan survives contact with reality — because every launch plan needs adjustment once it hits the market.
What You'll Have at the End
- Complete go-to-market strategy document with market assessment, competitive landscape, and strategic rationale
- Market access and reimbursement plan with payer engagement timeline
- Channel strategy and launch sequencing plan
- KOL mapping and engagement strategy
- Competitive response playbook
- Operational launch plan with timeline, milestones, and resource requirements
- Performance metrics framework for measuring launch success
Related: How a gene panel launched across UK and Japan | Blog: How to Launch a Medical Device in the UK | Blog: GTM Strategy Before Series B