Biotech and pharmaceutical companies routinely spend tens of millions in clinical trials; however, partnering talks often stall when prospective licensees are unable to see a credible route to reimbursement. Investing a fraction of this budget on a focused business development (BD) commercial assessment can provide the comprehensive insights that partners seek. To fully realise an asset’s value, both strong science and price expectations are needed.
Stresstesting comparators, pricing assumptions and access pathways before negotiations allows you to present a value story that resonates with both payers and partners, accelerating deal momentum while protecting longterm revenue potential. This article outlines the key building blocks of this type of assessment and explains why doing it properly is one of the smartest investments companies can make.
Why payers matter for a successful BD deal
While regulatory approval is necessary, reimbursement is what determines whether a product will be available, and at what price.1,2 As valuebased pricing becomes the norm, Health Technology Assessment (HTA) and payer bodies insist on clear economic and clinical benefits. Without this evidence, even breakthrough therapies risk deep discounts or even rejection.3,4
Potential partners value a therapy by what payers will actually reimburse, not by its perceived clinical promise. If pricing and access assumptions are unclear, the estimated value will be much lower than what it could be with the right evidence. Ultimately, payers sit between scientific promise and commercial reality. Therefore, meeting their evidence and pricing expectations early is what turns a good study result into a licensing deal that reflects the asset’s full value.
The building blocks of a BD commercial assessment
A credible assessment starts with marketopportunity sizing. Bottomup epidemiology, moving from prevalence and diagnosis rates through to treatment penetration, gives partners a realistic view of the revenue pool and keeps forecasts anchored in patient numbers.5 Adding forecast growth drivers, new diagnostics, demographic shifts, and competitor launches, lets you build low, base and stretch scenarios.
Assessing the pricing and reimbursement landscape shows how comparable therapies have fared with payers and why. Previous HTA decisions give an idea of the discounts that were required, the evidence gaps that were criticised, and the timelines to coverage; together, they set the outer limits of what partners will view as achievable. In short, understanding how yesterday’s drugs won or lost reimbursement is the surest way to present a credible, partnerready business case today.3,6,7
Comparator and competitor mapping shows why your asset deserves a premium. EU HTA guidelines stress that effect estimates should be provided for each comparator (which may or may not be licensed), either through headtohead trials or robust indirect comparisons.8 In Germany and France, HTA bodies select the appropriate comparator at an early stage, and both benefit assessment and pricing are determined based on that selection. Demonstrating clear clinical or economic advantages versus comparators, such as better outcomes, fewer administrations, and lower budget impact, helps companies and partners defend higher valuations.
Finally, price and access expectations translate evidence into numbers that negotiators can use. Valuebased pricing models test different incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs), quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gains and budgetimpact caps to define a realistic price corridor. Early payer interviews confirm which endpoints and patientreported outcomes carry weight, and what evidence gaps need closing. The output is a stretch price and a fallback price that both sides see as defensible, allowing a clear route to market.
Conclusion
A payeraligned BD commercial assessment is essential. Remap consulting, with its decade of expertise, can help you size the market, benchmark prices against realworld funding decisions, clarify where the asset is genuinely differentiated, and convert those insights into a price corridor that is defendable. Completing this work costs a fraction of a clinical study yet can protect months of timeline and help secure better deals.
To discuss how a tailored assessment could strengthen your next partnering discussion, contact the Remap Consulting team.
References
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. NICE health technology evaluations: the manual. 2022.
- Perin F. The role of Health Technology Assessment in reimbursement decisions and pricing of new medicines across diverse healthcare systems. BCU Open Access Repository. 2025;
- KPMG Switzerland. Pathway to success in outcome-based contracting – navigating payer needs. https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmgsites/ch/pdf/pathway-to-success-in-outcome-based-contracting.pdf
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. NICE publishes final draft guidance on Enhertu after commercial discussions conclude. https://www.nice.org.uk/news/articles/nice-publishes-final-draft-guidance-on-enhertu-after-commercial-discussions-conclude
- Locust Walk Institute. Biopharma Valuation Analysis. https://www.locustwalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Biopharma-Valuation-Analysis.pdf
- Justin Stindt Consultants. 2025 Market Access Guide for Biotech: What is essential and what is a waste of resources. https://jstindt.com/biotech-market-access-guide/
- McKinsey&Company. Value-driven drug development – unlocking the value of your pipeline. https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/dotcom/client_service/pharma%20and%20medical%20products/pmp%20new/pdfs/780416_value_driven_drug_development_unlocking_the_value_of_your_pipeline1.pdf
- HTA CG. Guidance on the scoping process. https://health.ec.europa.eu/document/download/7be11d76-9a78-426c-8e32-79d30a115a64_en?filename=hta_jca_scoping-process_en.pdf
