Building for Pharma
You may be in the Building for Pharma phase if:
- Your product, service, or data asset is being shaped with pharma in mind, but who inside pharma would actually buy it is still uncertain
- Early conversations exist, but they point in different directions and don’t form a coherent buying pattern
- Interest is coming from conferences, introductions, or exploratory calls — without clear signals of decision authority
- Decisions about positioning, pricing, or target use cases are being made before pharma decision pathways are fully understood
- Leadership senses momentum, but lacks confidence in what that momentum actually represents
At this stage, progress depends on establishing clear direction—so early engagement informs the right buyers, use cases, and priorities as momentum builds.
Where FireTower fits:
FireTower works with teams preparing their first serious approach to biopharma to pressure-test how fit, value, and relevance are being defined before scale. The focus is on clarifying who the real buyers are, how they evaluate risk and usefulness, and when engagement is likely to be productive.
Work at this stage typically concentrates on:
- Defining realistic addressable market scope and entry logic grounded in how biopharma teams actually evaluate relevance and timing, using a Market Entry & Approach Brief.
- Translating solution capabilities into buyer-specific value tied to decision context rather than features, through a Value Narrative Blueprint.
- Clarifying which functions and use cases warrant early focus — and which do not — informed by a Solution Positioning Map.
- Aligning early messaging with biopharma credibility thresholds at first contact, supported by Messaging Guidance.
The work at this stage creates a clear, decision-aligned foundation that allows engagement to compound in the right direction as investment and activity increase.
Scaling Pharma Engagement
You may be in the Scaling Pharma Engagement phase if:
- You have active pharma accounts, but each one seems to operate by different rules
- Similar outreach produces very different results depending on the account, team, or individual contact
- Progress depends heavily on a few people who “know the account,” rather than shared logic
- Leadership asks which accounts or use cases are worth doubling down on — and the answer isn’t obvious
- Conferences, introductions, and inbound interest are generating activity, but prioritization feels reactive
At this stage, increased engagement exposes the need for shared logic—so traction can extend predictably across accounts, teams, and use cases.
Where FireTower fits:
FireTower supports teams with active pharma engagement where outcomes vary by account, function, or relationship. As activity increases, the focus shifts from generating effort to establishing shared logic for prioritization, qualification, and expansion.
At this stage, advisory support often involves:
- Determining where existing traction can responsibly extend across accounts or functions, informed by an Opportunity Identification Report.
- Introducing shared criteria for prioritization and timing as engagement volume increases, through a Targeting Rubric.
- Mapping how credibility must be re-established as engagement moves across teams or roles, using a Stakeholder Map.
- Clarifying progression logic that distinguishes interest from intent, supported by a BD Strategy Framework.
- Improving visibility, continuity, and leadership-level understanding of engagement activity, through an Engagement System Review & Recommendations.
- Bringing discipline to conference strategy and follow-up as volume grows, guided by Conference ROI & Engagement Strategy.
The result is repeatable traction, clearer judgment, and leadership-level confidence as engagement expands.
Retrofitting for Pharma
You may be in the Retrofitting for Pharma phase if:
- You have a mature product, platform, or service designed primarily for non-pharma buyers
- Pharma conversations occur, but conversion into repeatable work is limited
- Buyers raise concerns about pricing, governance, validation, or workflow fit
- Delivery assumptions that work elsewhere introduce friction in regulated environments
- Leadership is weighing opportunity against organizational risk and distraction
At this stage, the central question is how the current model aligns with pharma realities—and what adaptations would unlock durable opportunity.
Where FireTower fits:
FireTower works with established solution providers evaluating whether their current model can realistically align with biopharma expectations, or whether deeper adaptation would introduce unacceptable risk, cost, or organizational strain.
Support at this stage is deliberately diagnostic and typically focuses on:
- Assessing whether pricing assumptions align with pharma budget structures, approval pathways, and risk tolerance, through a Pricing Feasibility Assessment.
- Distinguishing between solvable misalignment and structural incompatibility based on buyer feedback and operating constraints, using a Project-Based Strategy Review.
- Evaluating whether surface-level interest justifies deeper organizational adaptation, informed by targeted reassessment of market signals.
- Clarifying what would need to change for pharma to become a durable market, before committing to structural or commercial change.
This work enables leadership to make confident, defensible decisions about where adaptation creates leverage—and where focus should remain unchanged.