This paper aims to study the drug launch strategies and their effects on new drug performance in an intensely competitive emerging pharmaceutical market such as the one in China.
Data on market share, sales, related firm size and annual profit were obtained for the period, 2004-2008. Profile deviation and cluster analysis approaches were applied in this study.
There is a significant effect of an optimal launch strategy on new drug performance given the respective resource availability and the market environment situations.
The study suggests that multi-national corporations may prove resilient in the emerging economies through both innovative and cost-driven offerings in different therapeutic categories.
This research is unique in studying the drug launch strategies across both foreign firms and local firms in a competitive emerging pharmaceutical market.
