As published on Devex on 11 March, 2026
Our new op-ed published in Devex explores how pharmaceutical companies are rethinking their strategies for low- and middle-income countries. These markets represent majority of the world’s population and disease burden, yet traditional industry strategies, often designed for high-income markets, have struggled to translate innovation into sustained access. As disease burden shifts and demand for care rises, success in these markets increasingly depends on long-term engagement, health system readiness, and locally grounded execution.
The article examines how pharmaceutical playbooks, that were traditionally built around short investment horizons and product-centric launch strategies, often fall short in environments where health system readiness, affordability, and delivery capacity are the binding constraints. Companies that are gaining traction in LMICs are taking a different approach. Rather than focusing solely on pricing or post-launch access programs, they are investing earlier in health system readiness, strengthening diagnostics and referral pathways, supporting provider capacity, and working with governments and partners to address bottlenecks across the patient journey. They are also empowering local teams to adapt global strategies to diverse market realities, recognizing that LMICs differ widely in disease burden, health system maturity, regulatory environments, and political priorities.
These shifts are redefining how success is measured. While sales and margin remain important, companies are also tracking broader indicators such as patient reach, integration of new treatments into national health programs, progress toward reimbursement, and uptake of standard-of-care therapies. In this context, access and delivery innovation are no longer peripheral activities or corporate social responsibility efforts, they are becoming core enablers of long-term commercial performance. By bringing the same rigor to access and delivery innovation as they do to research and development or finance, pharmaceutical companies have an opportunity to help redefine how innovation is delivered across markets and demonstrate that global health equity and commercial viability can advance together.
Read the full article on Devex.
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