Why the Next Wave of Drug Launches Will Be Won on Market Access

Roughly 120 new product launches are expected over the next three to four years, and market access will be critical to getting those therapies to patients, according to Thani Jambulingam, Ph.D., professor of food, pharma and health care business at Saint Joseph's University's Haub School of Business.

Jambulingam told Pharmaceutical Commerce that most favored nation (MFN) pricing and Section 232 tariffs will shape how manufacturers launch products in different countries, how they sequence those launches and how they optimize product success. Each company will need to work out how the policies affect its particular drug, he says.

The policies are already linked. The Section 232 proclamation issued in April sets a default 100% tariff on imported patented pharmaceuticals and their ingredients, but imposes no tariffs until Jan. 20, 2029, on companies that have executed or are negotiating MFN pricing and onshoring agreements with the administration.¹

Asked whether tariffs, MFN or PBM reform will have the biggest long-term effect on commercialization, Jambulingam didn't pick one. "It's the cumulative effect of these policies coming together," he says. Because the policies will complement one another, manufacturers will have to figure out what their business models look like going forward.

He also expects the way success is measured to change. Today, companies often track how well they get a product out to market. Future metrics will center more on whether they meet patient needs and improve outcomes, with patient access as the main goal and revenue still in view.

He also points to the patent cliff. GlobalData has estimated the US market will lose more than $230 billion to loss of exclusivity between 2025 and 2030.²

What excites him most, Jambulingam says, is figuring out how to commercialize the coming launches and make them accessible to the patients who need them.

References

1. Adjusting Imports of Pharmaceuticals and Pharmaceutical Ingredients into the United States. The White House. April 2, 2026. Accessed November 12, 2026. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/04/adjusting-imports-of-pharmaceuticals-and-pharmaceutical-ingredients-into-the-united-states/

2. Big pharma prepares for next patent cliff as blockbuster drugs revenue losses loom, says GlobalData. GlobalData. July 2025. Accessed November 12, 2026. https://www.globaldata.com/media/pharma/big-pharma-prepare-next-patent-cliff-blockbuster-drugs-revenue-losses-loom-says-globaldata/