Market shaping

What is market shaping?

Market shaping is the deliberate use of strategic initiatives to influence how a disease, treatment category or care pathway is understood and managed. It may involve generating evidence, redefining treatment goals, engaging policy or guideline bodies, addressing access barriers or introducing new models of care.

The aim is to change the conditions in which treatment decisions are made, rather than simply increase awareness of a particular medicine. It usually addresses persistent clinical, structural or perception-based barriers and requires long-term, cross-functional collaboration.

Why does market shaping matter in pharmaceutical strategy?

Market shaping can create space for clinically valuable innovation by aligning stakeholder expectations, evidence requirements and health-system incentives. It can help teams address underdiagnosis, inconsistent care, low policy priority, restrictive pathways or outdated definitions of treatment success.

For medical affairs, market access and commercial teams, this affects whether new evidence is understood, whether care pathways can accommodate innovation and whether eligible patients can reach appropriate treatment. In crowded categories, it can also shift discussion towards unmet needs or outcomes that are not adequately addressed by current practice.

How is a market-shaping programme run in practice?

Teams start by defining the current market conditions and the specific change required. Stakeholder mapping helps identify who influences diagnosis, treatment, funding, policy, guidelines and patient behaviour, while evidence reviews show where clinical or economic assumptions need to be tested.

A programme will usually include:

• A clear account of the barrier, affected population and desired system-level change.
• Evidence generation, including clinical, economic and real-world data where appropriate.
• Engagement with healthcare professionals, patients, payers, policymakers and guideline organisations through suitable, compliant channels.
• Activities such as consensus development, pathway redesign, professional education or new service models.
• Measures, governance and review points agreed across functions and markets.

How is the effect of market shaping measured?

Measures should reflect the barrier being addressed and distinguish activities from changes in the market. Activity measures might cover evidence delivery, stakeholder participation or pathway projects. Outcome measures might examine recognition of the disease burden, diagnostic practice, guideline language, treatment goals, referral patterns, funding criteria or adoption of a care model.

Teams should establish a baseline, identify plausible indicators of progress and review other factors that could explain change. Market shaping is rarely attributable to one organisation or activity, so assessment should focus on contribution and direction of change rather than claiming simple causation.

Who owns market shaping, and where do teams go wrong?

Ownership is normally cross-functional. Medical affairs may lead scientific strategy and evidence communication; market access may address policy, value and funding barriers; commercial teams may contribute market understanding; and regulatory, legal and compliance colleagues set appropriate boundaries. KOL mapping can support expert engagement, but it should not be treated as a substitute for understanding the wider stakeholder system.

Common failures include defining the objective around product uptake, starting activities without a shared view of the barrier, relying on a small group of familiar experts, measuring only outputs, or expecting rapid change. Programmes also lose credibility when the evidence does not support the proposed change or when stakeholder engagement appears promotional rather than focused on patient and system needs.

How does market shaping differ from disease awareness, product promotion and market access?

Disease awareness improves recognition and understanding of a condition, while product promotion communicates about a specific medicine within applicable rules. Market access focuses more directly on evaluation, funding, reimbursement and patient access. Market shaping may include elements related to all three, but it operates at the broader category or system level.

It sits alongside evidence generation, stakeholder engagement and care-pathway improvement. Its defining feature is a coordinated attempt to change the environment in which diseases are recognised, treatments are assessed and care is delivered, rather than a single campaign or launch activity.