Why better asset evaluation needs to begin earlier than you think
There’s a scenario that comes up time and time again in development teams. A promising asset is being explored. Early evidence is positive. Everyone’s optimistic. And then someone says, “We need to step back, are we actually building for the right indication?”
Sometimes it’s a pricing concern. Sometimes it’s trial feasibility. Often, it’s just a quiet feeling that something might not quite line up. They’re not so much red flags as reality checks. And they almost always arrive after the first big investment.
We think they should come before.
Early doesn’t mean guesswork, it means planning ahead
At VISFO, we believe that the earlier you consider the true potential of your asset, the more control you have over your long-term strategy. We’re not saying you should rush into decisions. It’s about making them whilst you still have options.
Most of our clients come to us with a big question: Is this asset worth pursuing? And if so, how do we maximize its potential? Our role is to help answer that by combining decades of experience in market access, clinical strategy, and commercialisation with deep, precise evidence.
That means we don’t just run forecasts. We ask the questions that matter early:
- How does the current standard of care vary across regions?
- Are there real, evidenced unmet needs in this indication?
- What barriers have competitors faced, and what can we learn from them?
- What will the access environment look like two years from now?
It’s a mix of grounded realism and strategic imagination. We help you look forward with confidence, rather than backward with regret.
Why traditional approaches don’t always fit the moment
Asset evaluations often happen later than they should. Why? Because the traditional approach takes time. Pull together the literature. Speak to experts. Manually map the competitive landscape. Build a business case. By the time it’s all done, the asset may already be heading down a path that’s hard to reroute.
And let’s face it… if you’re operating lean, the temptation is to move forward with what you know. We get it. We’ve been there.
That’s why we’ve structured our consultancy around speed without shortcuts. We don’t deliver generic frameworks or out-of-date assessments. Every engagement is grounded in tailored insight and shaped by consultants who’ve been behind the scenes of major drug launches and tough go/no-go decisions.
How we work
Here’s what sets us apart:
- Strategic frameworks that go beyond feasibility: we don’t stop at telling you whether something could work. We help you understand how to make it work: across access, pricing, trial strategy, and positioning.
- Scenario-based analysis: we map best case and worst case outcomes to inform clear investment decisions. One client recently cut three years off their roadmap by scrapping a lower-potential indication early. Saving time, budget, and internal energy.
- Real-time alignment with your team: through our interactive consulting platform, you get continuous collaboration. No long gaps between presentations. No black-box analysis. Just visible progress and flexible input, week by week.
- Decision-ready materials: you won’t leave with a stack of slides and a vague direction. You’ll leave with evidence-backed options and a clear recommendation on next steps.
A few examples
- A top-10 pharma company asked us to evaluate an early-stage oncology asset. We helped them prioritize indications by cross-referencing disease burden, pricing corridors, and regulatory precedent. Narrowing a six-option list to two, with full internal alignment.
- A mid-sized innovator used our consultants to assess a potential acquisition. Within three weeks, we delivered a full commercial landscape review, competitive analysis, and stakeholder sentiment scan. The board made a confident decision… and walked away.
Final thoughts
You don’t need to be 18 months into development to ask the big questions. In fact, that’s usually too late. With the right partners, asset evaluation can happen earlier. With deeper insight, greater speed, and clearer outputs.
At VISFO, we’ve built a consultancy model to do just that. We work as an extension of your team. We bring the intelligence and the structure. And we help you make better decisions before the cost of being wrong gets too high.
If you’re thinking about evaluating a new asset, or want to revisit one that’s already in motion, let’s talk.