Professor Brian D. Smith
Supporting strategists in the life sciences
“
Who I am
I research, teach and write about strategising in pharma and medtech and I help you to strategise and execute better than your competitors.
As a thought leader, I’ve published hundreds of articles and books. In two decades in the industry as a scientist and marketer, then two decades as an academic, author and advisor, I’ve helped hundreds of life science companies to achieve their goals.
If you share my fascination with strategy in the life sciences, let’s chat.
“
Who I am
I research, teach and write about strategising in pharma and medtech and I help you to strategise and execute better than your competitors.
As a thought leader, I’ve published hundreds of articles and books. In two decades in the industry as a scientist and marketer, then two decades as an academic, author and advisor, I’ve helped hundreds of life science companies to achieve their goals.
If you share my fascination with strategy in the life sciences, let’s chat.
How I can help you
Creating strong strategy
Your job is to create and execute strong strategy.
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Validating your strategy
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Anticipating the market
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Mentoring strategists
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Aligning strategy and culture
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Creating market insight
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Training cross-functional teams
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Enhancing your meetings
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Creating value beyond the product
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Transforming your business model
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My published work
Browse my hundreds of articles, about strategy in the life sciences and ask for any you want.
Or click on any of curated collections below.
Cross-functional implementation
Strategy without execution is just a fantasy. These articles cover the human side of strategy execution through cross-functional teams.
Leadership in
the life sciences
The life sciences industry is not like any other. These articles explain how its leaders adapt to their unique context.
Becoming a
strategy expert
True strategy expertise is rare. These articles cover the three things you must master to achieve it.
Making strong strategies
Strategy is simple but not easy. These articles define what strong strategies look like and how they are made.
Industry evolution
The life sciences industry is a complex, adaptive ecosystem. These articles explain its evolution and how to manage your own.
Strategy’s human side
Strategy is a social process. These articles explain the cultural and behavioural issues that can strangle or supercharge your strategy.
Cross-functional implementation
Strategy without execution is just a fantasy. These articles cover the human side of strategy execution through cross-functional teams.
Becoming a
strategy expert
True strategy expertise is rare. These articles cover the three things you must master to achieve it.
Industry evolution
The life sciences industry is a complex, adaptive ecosystem. These articles explain its evolution and how to manage your own.
Leadership in
the life sciences
The life sciences industry is not like any other. These articles explain how its leaders adapt to their unique context.
Making strong strategies
Strategy is simple but not easy. These articles define what strong strategies look like and how they are made.
Strategy’s human side
Strategy is a social process. These articles explain the cultural and behavioural issues that can strangle or supercharge your strategy.
My book seminars
My online book seminars let your team learn quickly and easily from my industry-specific research. Each seminar:
Summarises one book’s key points | Includes discussion | Take only 2 hours | Includes signed books
If you want your team to understand your industry better, let’s chat.
New Drugs, Fair Prices
Weaving together knowledge shared by experts across the pharmaceutical innovation ecosystem, this seminar explains why the ecosystem works but often fails. More importantly, it outlines how it can be managed for a sustainable and affordable supply of innovative medicines.
Leadership in the Life Sciences
Based on interviews with CEOs and C-level executives from global pharma and medtech companies, this seminar will give your team unique insight into how leadership is practised in the context of our most unusual industry.
Brand Therapy
Developed from workshops with hundreds of pharma and medtech companies, this seminar will introduce your team to new techniques for understanding your market and crafting strong, actionable brand strategies.
Darwin’s Medicine
Based on years of research into how the life sciences industry changing, this seminar will reveal to your team how its business models are speciating and how they can accelerate their own business model transformation.
The Future of Pharma
Applying the ideas of Darwinian evolution to the changes we see in the pharma industry, this seminar will give your team an original and insightful perspective on what the industry is becoming.
Marketing and Finance
Alloying lessons from strategy, marketing and finance, this seminar will show your team how the design of strategy can create value for all stakeholders.
Creating Market Insight
Using the lessons from dozens of companies, this seminar will guide your team on the journey from data, through information and knowledge, into the special, rare and valuable advantage that is genuine market insight.
Making Marketing Happen
Developed from research into how life science company’s planning processes, this seminar will give your team a deep understanding of how to make your strategic marketing planning process work.
New Drugs, Fair Prices
Weaving together knowledge shared by experts across the pharmaceutical innovation ecosystem, this seminar explains why the ecosystem works but often fails. More importantly, it outlines how it can be managed for a sustainable and affordable supply of innovative medicines.
Leadership in the Life Sciences
Based on interviews with CEOs and C-level executives from global pharma and medtech companies, this seminar will give your team unique insight into how leadership is practised in the context of our most unusual industry.
Brand Therapy
Developed from workshops with hundreds of pharma and medtech companies, this seminar will introduce your team to new techniques for understanding your market and crafting strong, actionable brand strategies.
Darwin’s Medicine
Based on years of research into how the life sciences industry changing, this seminar will reveal to your team how its business models are speciating and how they can accelerate their own business model transformation.
The Future of Pharma
Applying the ideas of Darwinian evolution to the changes we see in the pharma industry, this seminar will give your team an original and insightful perspective on what the industry is becoming.
Marketing and Finance
Alloying lessons from strategy, marketing and finance, this seminar will show your team how the design of strategy can create value for all stakeholders.
Creating Market Insight
Using the lessons from dozens of companies, this seminar will guide your team on the journey from data, through information and knowledge, into the special, rare and valuable advantage that is genuine market insight.
Making Marketing Happen
Developed from research into how life science company’s planning processes, this seminar will give your team a deep understanding of how to make your strategic marketing planning process work.
My latest work
Adaptive Innovation
What your thymus can teach you about being innovative.
In many life sciences firms, adaptation to a changing environment is hindered by processes and templates that stymie rather than support innovative ideas. This isn’t a lack of creativity or originality, it’s the realisation process that needs to be improved. In this article, I share how firms can learn from our adaptive immune system.
Request the PDF. Watch the YouTube video. Listen to the podcast.
Capabilities Count
Today and tomorrow, it’s what you can and can’t do that counts.
Business model transformation means transforming what you’re capable of doing. In this, the first in a series of four articles, I give you a new way to think about your firm’s capabilities and how to understand the “capabileome” your future business model will need.
Request the PDF. Watch the YouTube video. Listen to the podcast.
The Glocalisation Choice
How to prioritise countries and markets
The core of an effective global strategy is to allocate the right amount of the right kind of effort to each country. This, the second in a series of four articles, describes the differences between life sciences firms who do this well, by factoring in where they want to and can win, and those that prioritise countries simplistically on “autopilot.”
Request the PDF. Watch the YouTube video. Listen to the podcast.
Too Much Success
Some companies should be careful what they wish for
When firms launch a new product or initiate a new strategy, they aspire to great success. In this article, I describe how some strategies might actually harm a company and its ecosystem and why life science strategists need to think beyond the launch plan.
Request the PDF. Watch the YouTube video. Listen to the podcast.
Contact me
If you share my fascination with the life sciences industry and how pharma and medtech strategies and business models are evolving, then I'd love to chat.
You don't need to fill in a form, speak to an assistant or give me your life story.
Your mail will come directly to me and I'll reply with times when I'm free.
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