Thursday, June 11, 2026

Established medicines need renewed focus

Pharmaceutical companies invest substantial attention and resources in the development of new therapies. At the same time, large parts of everyday care continue to depend on established medicines. Christopher Hähner, General Manager of Good Healthcare Pharma, argues that this creates a growing management challenge for the industry.

In a guest article, Hähner explains that mature products can lose internal visibility when portfolios become more complex and innovation projects dominate strategic priorities. In his view, the issue is not the absence of responsibility, but the lack of consistent operational leadership across the product lifecycle.

Patent expiry changes the operating model

The shift becomes especially visible when patents expire. Once exclusivity ends, generic competition increases and margins come under pressure. Internal priorities often move even more strongly toward newer products.

Hähner stresses that patent expiry does not necessarily reduce a medicine's clinical relevance. Many products continue to be prescribed and remain important for supply stability. The risk arises when active management of these products weakens after exclusivity ends.

Fragmented responsibilities can create gaps

According to Hähner, one structural challenge lies in the way responsibilities are divided within many organisations. Functions such as supply chain, demand planning, marketing and sales may all contribute to a product, but they are not always integrated across the full lifecycle.

This can create breaks in execution that remain unnoticed at first. Over time, such gaps may lead to operational friction, weaker market positions or risks to supply continuity. For mature products, Hähner calls for end-to-end leadership that connects commercial and operational decision-making.

Integrated management for mature portfolios

As a possible answer, Hähner points to models that bundle responsibility and take a long-term view. These structures may include partnership and contract models that align steering, economic development and risk.

The core issue is not more coordination for its own sake, but consistent execution. Established medicines need active planning, market management and operational follow-through even in later lifecycle phases.

Hähner leads Good Healthcare Pharma, a business unit of the Berlin-based Good Healthcare Group. He has more than 25 years of international leadership experience in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry and previously held senior roles at Neuraxpharm, Bayer and other healthcare companies.