CASE STUDIES
Decisions that changed the trajectory
A look at commercial decisions made early, and what they made possible.
Drawn from Heather Aspras's 20+ years leading biopharma commercial strategy. Company and asset details are withheld to protect confidentiality. These illustrate the kinds of decisions Kavros partners on, not named Kavros engagements.
Case Study 01
Advanced Therapy · Oncology
Setting the Launch Footprint for a First-in-Class Advanced Therapy
A critical, hard-to-reverse commercial decision, made years before launch.
COMPANY
A large pharmaceutical company preparing to commercialize a first-in-class advanced therapy.
THERAPEUTIC AREA
Oncology. Advanced therapy.
THE DECISION
How broad the initial launch footprint should be, meaning how wide a network of treatment sites the therapy is available through at the start, for a therapy with no direct commercial precedent.
NOTABLE RESULT
A recommended launch footprint (the breadth of the initial treatment site network) that became the foundation for the company's final launch footprint decision.
What this demonstrates
Commercial judgment for a first-in-class advanced therapy, where the standard playbooks stopped short.
An analog-based approach that made a decision defensible when no direct precedent existed.
Early thinking that became the foundation for the final decision.
Case Study 02
Specialty Biologics · Pipeline
Building the standard that directs investment across a pipeline
Turning case-by-case investment calls into one disciplined, defensible standard.
COMPANY
A biopharma making investment decisions across a broad pipeline.
THERAPEUTIC AREA
A specialty biologics portfolio, spanning multiple categories.
THE DECISION
How to prioritize assets and make go/no-go calls across the pipeline, on a consistent and defensible basis.
NOTABLE RESULT
A commercial evaluation framework, adopted across the pipeline, that gave leadership a common standard for prioritization and go/no-go decisions.
What this demonstrates
Portfolio prioritization and go/no-go, the decisions at the center of early commercial strategy.
A reusable commercial standard, not a one-time recommendation.
Turning judgment into decision architecture others can use.
Case Study 03
Business Development · Diligence
A Buy-Side Commercial Read on a Nine-Figure Opportunity
The commercial diligence that decides whether a deal is worth doing.
COMPANY
A biopharma evaluating a business development opportunity.
THERAPEUTIC AREA
A specialty therapeutic area.
THE DECISION
Go or no-go, from a commercial standpoint, on a nine-figure business development opportunity.
NOTABLE RESULT
A go/no-go recommendation grounded in commercial analysis and forecasting that leadership could act on and defend.
What this demonstrates
Commercial due diligence on a nine-figure business development decision.
Incidence-based forecasting and assumption stress-testing under uncertainty.
The buy-side perspective biotechs need when preparing to raise, partner, or exit.