Case study · Pharmaceuticals · rare disease
Entering China without draining a small company
Policy mapping, pricing and promotion design, supplier selection and negotiation — with our people on the ground at the stages that mattered.
What they asked
HRA Pharma, a small French pharmaceutical company specialised in rare diseases, needed the Chinese market without overextending limited resources. It needed to understand China’s developing rare-disease policy and to find reliable, cost-efficient partners for registration and importation.
What we did
- Market assessment and rare-disease policy analysis
- Stakeholder mapping: patient associations and clinical teams
- Pricing and promotion strategy for the Chinese context
- Supplier identification, comparison and negotiation
- Regulatory guidance and on-the-ground support at critical stages
How it ran
Map the policy, then the people
We analysed China’s rare-disease policy as it was actually developing and mapped the stakeholders it creates — patient associations and clinical teams first, because in rare disease they are the market.
Price for the system that pays
We researched competitive pricing models suited to the Chinese healthcare system and built promotional approaches for local stakeholders, healthcare providers and regulators.
Choose suppliers by comparison, not by availability
We identified and compared potential suppliers for regulatory, importation and market-entry services, then ran the negotiation, so the client bought on terms rather than on whoever answered first.
Stand in for the team at the key moments
We coordinated meetings with clinical teams and patient associations and provided ground presence at the critical stages, so a small international team could stay on high-level decisions.
Outcome
- Market entry achieved without overextending a small organisation.
- Regulatory pathway navigated with negotiated, cost-efficient partners.
- Direct relationships with clinical teams and patient associations.
- Ongoing strategic and operational support through the entry.
What it taught us
Rare disease rewards small companies that sequence correctly. The resource constraint is not a handicap if the plan is built around it from the first week.
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