Post-COVID Drug Launches in Asia Need a New Communications Strategy

APAC and SEA drug launches demand localisation, access-driven strategy, and sustained communications beyond approval.

Today, the science behind bringing new therapies to market has advanced at remarkable speed. Yet across Southeast Asia (SEA) and the broader Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, it is not the clinical model that has changed most dramatically, it is the context in which medicines are launched, adopted, and sustained.

The scale of that opportunity is undeniable. APAC now represents more than 60% of the global population, with the SEA pharmaceutical market alone projected to exceed US$18 billion by 2030. Concurrently, the region has emerged as a key engine of innovation, with tens of thousands of clinical trials conducted in recent years, reinforcing its importance in the areas of research and market expansion.

However, unlocking that opportunity is far from straightforward. The traditional launch model of pharmaceutical and biotech companies has been built around physician targeting, strong clinical data, and high-impact early promotion. However, this is no longer adequate to drive adoption in today’s complex multi-stakeholder environment, where communications plays a central, not supporting role in determining success.

The question is no longer how to communicate a launch, but rather how communications can shape access, trust, and long-term adoption from the outset.

From amplification to orchestration

In the past, launch communications in APAC and SEA were often focused on supporting product awareness through media engagement, key opinion leader (KOL) profiling, and visibility at major medical congresses. These activities were typically initiated after regulatory approval has been secured with a focus on reinforcing messaging defined by global teams.

Today, that role has evolved into something far more strategic which requires alignment and coordination across fragmented and interdependent stakeholder ecosystems such as those in Southeast Asia.

 Rei Lim, founder of Pharminex also known as the APAC Life Sciences Network 

Bridges M&C spoke to Rei Lim, founder of Pharminex, also known as the APAC Life Sciences Network, who formerly led the APAC digital and omnichannel teams in AstraZeneca and Zuellig Pharma before becoming a serial startup entrepreneur He has since successfully set up, grown and sold two companies. 

“Southeast Asia is not one single market. Every country within SEA has different regulatory timelines, reimbursement structures, pricing controls, hospital access, KOL dynamics and patient affordability. Uptake still very much depends on access, trust-building and local execution, not just approvals.”

Approaches that succeed in a highly structured system such as Singapore, where policy frameworks and health technology assessments (HTA) shape decision-making, do not readily translate to Indonesia, where scale, decentralisation, and uneven access create a fundamentally different operating environment.

Against this backdrop, communications can no longer be an afterthought. It must be embedded in the launch plan early, aligning closely with market access strategies, supporting engagement with policymakers and healthcare institutions, while adapting to the cultural and media nuances of each market. This represents a clear shift away from campaign-based execution toward integrated, market-specific planning that begins well before approval and continues long after launch.

The rise of access-led storytelling

One of the most significant changes in APAC is the growing dominance of market access considerations in determining launch success.

Across SEA, governments are under increasing pressure to balance innovation with affordability. Despite rapid advances in therapeutics, patient access remains a persistent challenge, reflecting budget constraints, competing healthcare priorities, and the need to demonstrate value within publicly funded systems.

In many markets, regulatory approval itself does not guarantee availability but rather marks the beginning of a separate and often more complex process of securing reimbursement or inclusion in national formularies.

This in turn has fundamentally changed the nature of communications. It is no longer sufficient to communicate clinical efficacy and safety in isolation. Instead, companies must articulate how a therapy delivers value within the broader healthcare system, whether by improving outcomes, reducing long-term costs, or addressing unmet medical needs.

In practical terms, this means translating clinical data into narratives that resonate beyond the medical community. Policymakers must understand the economic implications of adopting a new therapy, while payers require robust evidence to justify reimbursement decisions. Public- and patient-facing communications must therefore reinforce the relevance of innovation in ways that align with national health priorities across markets and support adoption.

Lim elaborates, “In practice, to achieve repeat adoption, companies need more than traditional marketing. They need early stakeholder mapping, KOL education, payer and reimbursement planning, patient access strategies, medical education, local evidence generation, distributor readiness, digital engagement, and post-launch feedback.”

Navigating the slow-burn launch

Unlike the rapid uptake often seen in Western markets, launches across SEA tend to follow a slower and more uneven trajectory. This is driven by a combination of structural and behavioural factors that extend well beyond the point of regulatory approval.

Often, reimbursement decisions lag behind approval, creating a gap between availability and accessibility. Physicians may also adopt new therapies cautiously, particularly in markets where clinical experience is limited or where cost considerations influence prescribing behaviour. Outside major urban centres, infrastructure constraints can further limit uptake, while high out-of-pocket costs continue to be a barrier for many patients.

Lim opines, “The model has shifted. It used to be; obtain the approval, then have a big launch push for a few months. Now, approval is just the start. Today in SEA, a proper launch takes 12 to 24 months, sometimes longer for specialty or high-cost drugs such as rare disease therapeutics.”

Access to treatment remains highly uneven for the estimated 258 million patients of rare disease in APAC. Even when innovative therapies are available, the adoption curve tends to be more gradual due to limited awareness, delays in diagnosis, and fragmented funding pathways.

For communications teams, this fundamentally changes how success is defined. Rather than focusing on a short, high-impact launch window, strategies must support a multi-year journey in which awareness, access, and adoption are built progressively. Messaging must evolve in parallel with market developments, from early education and stakeholder engagement through to patient support and long-term adherence.

From physician-centric to ecosystem engagement

The physician remains a critical stakeholder in any drug launch but is no longer the sole focus of engagement efforts.

Says Lim, “Decision-making is more spread out now. Doctors are still important, but payers, hospital groups, pharmacists, patient groups, regulators, procurement and even digital communities all influence decision-making today. In SEA, a lot of this is still local and relationship driven.”

This shift is taking place within a highly fragmented and competitive market landscape. With more than a thousand pharmaceutical companies operating across APAC and no single group dominating market share, competition is intense and differentiation is increasingly difficult. In such an environment, the ability to engage multiple stakeholders with clear, consistent, and credible messaging becomes a key determinant of success.

Digital transformation and the new engagement paradigm

The shift toward digital and omnichannel engagement has been one of the most visible changes in recent years, accelerated significantly by the COVID-19 pandemic. Physicians across APAC are now far more accustomed to engaging with scientific content through virtual platforms, whether via webinars, online portals, or hybrid medical education programmes.

Lim says, “The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed physician outreach towards digital and omnichannel, which has its pros and cons. The pros are scale and consistency. The big con is the amount of noise you have to compete with. Many teams are doing more but not really engaging their audiences. Physicians don’t need even more touchpoints; they need relevant targeted ones.”

This has created new opportunities for more targeted and personalised engagement. Digital channels enable companies to reach physicians across geographically diffuse markets, tailoring content to specific audiences and tracking engagement in real time. They also give rise to more agile and responsive communications strategies, where messaging can be refined based on data and feedback.

However, this shift also introduces new complexities. Effective digital engagement requires a deeper investment in content strategy, audience segmentation, and analytics capabilities. It also demands careful navigation of regulatory frameworks, which vary significantly across markets and often impose strict controls on digital communications.

The strategic imperative for communications

Taken together, these shifts make one thing clear: communications is no longer a downstream function in APAC drug launches, but a strategic driver of success. It must be embedded early, aligned with medical and commercial priorities, and sustained across the full launch lifecycle to support awareness, access, and adoption.

Lim notes, “Today it is really about localisation and continuity. A one-time launch campaign does not cut it anymore. Companies need an ongoing trust-building approach, that involves adapting to each country, tightening medical-commercial alignment, having a clear access story, and engaging credible local voices for support. Approval is just the starting line.”

SEA and APAC remain among the most dynamic regions for pharmaceutical innovation, but their diversity demands more locally grounded and sophisticated launch approaches. Success will depend on navigating fragmentation, demonstrating value, and building trust across markets.

For communications leaders, this is an opportunity to move beyond execution and play a more strategic role in shaping how therapies are understood, accessed, and adopted.