Strategic Transformation for a Top 10 Life Sciences Company

Authored by: Sean Martin and Andrew Sgarlato

The challenge

A top 10 global life sciences company faced a pivotal moment: patent expirations (commonly known as the ‘patent cliff’) were driving revenue decline in its traditional primary care portfolio, while a pipeline of promising specialty products required near-term investment. To maintain profitability through this inflection point and position itself for long-term success, the client needed to increase operational efficiency, unlock new revenue opportunities, and build future-ready capabilities.

Recognizing the urgency and magnitude of the transformation, the client launched a strategic initiative to assess and prioritize commercial process improvements. We were  brought in to transform this strategy into execution by operationalizing the program and embedding a sustainable delivery model across the enterprise.

The approach

We partnered with the client to deliver a multi-year, enterprise-wide transformation program grounded in strategic program management and tailored change execution. Key elements of the approach included:

1. Establishing an Enterprise-Wide Strategic PMO

We stood up a Strategic PMO that served as the engine to deliver the enterprise strategic priorities. This involved defining PMO governance, processes, resource models, and success metrics. The PMO was designed to evolve from centralized execution to a federated model – enabling both enterprise visibility and functional ownership. We drove leadership roles across Transformation Office functions, including Transformation Lead, Portfolio & Workstream Leads, Business Case & Impact Lead, and Operations & Change Management Leads.

2. Fostering Stakeholder Engagement & Accountability

We led engagement efforts across 45+ stakeholders to validate business cases, refine metrics, and align outcomes. Through deliberate stakeholder engagement and data-driven measurement and validation, project sponsors were empowered to own delivery, creating sustainable momentum and fostering a culture of accountability.

3. Delivering a Repeatable Execution Framework

By leveraging our expertise, we created and activated a detailed transformation roadmap that linked prioritized initiatives with implementation plans, timelines, and interdependencies; supporting workstreams to deliver consistent execution, monitor impact, and report progress through standardized tools and dashboards.

4. Building Long-Term Capability & Knowledge Transfer

We designed a scalable PMO operating model and a knowledge transfer strategy that equipped internal client teams to sustain delivery post-engagement. This included codifying best practices, identifying future resource needs, and embedding continuous learning across the enterprise.

5. Leading Initiative Ideation

As part of a key phase in the transformation program, we transitioned to lead the ideation and initiative identification efforts. By facilitating cross-company coordination, we led enterprise-wide ideation campaigns and collaborative workshops that surfaced high-impact initiatives aligned to the client’s strategic priorities. Several employee-generated ideas were guided through the program’s stage gates and successfully implemented, resulting in measurable cost savings and fostering a strong sense of employee ownership and accountability.

The result

The transformation delivered immediate financial returns and positioned the client for sustained strategic growth. Outcomes included:

• $300M in financial impact realized through combined cost savings and new revenue captured by project close, with additional benefits realized over time
• Enhanced commercial capabilities in areas such as Sales Effectiveness, Marketing, Insights & Analytics, and Resource Deployment
• Accelerated patient retention and access strategies, unlocking future growth across priority therapeutic areas
• Improved execution discipline via an enterprise PMO model now embedded in the organization, allowing continued delivery of initiatives sustained beyond the delivery of the project
• Cultivated a disciplined approach to value-based investment decision making through business case development, diligent benefit realization and ongoing measurement underpinned by data and accountability.

Through its partnership, the client transitioned from strategy to execution with confidence – emerging with a roadmap-driven model for transformation that is adaptable, measurable, and built to last.