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Growth strategy for immunology portfolio

Repositioning an immunology business to unlock global growth

The why

The client had a portfolio of immunology assets, and a dominating market position. However, the business was still operating below its potential. Low awareness, weak patient pathways, and low prescription rates were limiting uptake across markets, while the overall ambition for the portfolio remained underdefined. Leadership needed a clearer view of how much growth could be unlocked and what it would take to realise it.

The challenge

The portfolio lacked a clear, ambition-led therapeutic area aspiration to guide development, prioritisation, and investment. Leadership could see that the business had potential, but there was no shared view on how far to push it, which growth avenues were genuinely attractive, or which were realistic given the portfolio, market dynamics, and organisational constraints.

At the same time, leadership focus was limited. The business was performing well enough to avoid immediate pressure, but not well enough to realise its full potential without sharper direction. That created a familiar risk for established portfolios: too little strategic attention to make deliberate choices, and too much uncertainty to commit to a more ambitious growth path.

How we helped

Through a collaboration with functions across the organisation, we established and concretized distinct strategic growth paths, to allow leadership to make actual choices and take the portfolio to its full potential.

Outcome

Clear growth paths with concrete initiatives
The project translated strategic ambition into a set of defined growth paths, each built around concrete initiatives, time horizons, and additional add-on options. This gave leadership a clearer view of how the portfolio could be develop over time.
Sharper prioritisation of where to invest
The strategy created a clearer basis for market prioritisation by showing where investment was most likely to translate into growth. Rather than treating markets in the same way, leadership gained a more explicit view of which countries offered the strongest potential, which required selective support, and where the barriers were too significant to justify the same level of focus.
Decision-ready business cases for each path
Each growth path was supported by an overview of expected upside, investment requirements, and associated risks. That gave leadership a more practical way to compare options, understand the trade-offs between ambition and feasibility, and make informed choices on where to commit resources.

The strategy showcased a revenue upside of >100% revenue growth in 2030, at 70+% profit margin

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What moved the needle

Cross-functional collaboration that tested feasibility early The work was shaped through close collaboration with a cross-functional client working group, bringing together perspectives from commercial, CMC, clinical, manufacturing, regulatory, finance, and other key functions. That made it possible to identify barriers early, test assumptions across the full value chain, and ensure that proposed growth paths were not only attractive on paper but feasible in practice.
Concrete options that allow for choice The strategic options were developed as clear and actionable growth paths rather than high-level directions. Each one was fleshed out with concrete initiatives, organisational implications, required investments, delivery considerations, and risk profiles. That gave leadership a stronger basis for comparison and made the strategic choice easier to navigate and to commit to.
Partner

Daniel Schmidt

Daniel works with life science executives to design strategies, operating models, and transformation programs. He brings both functional depth and board-level perspectives, helping senior leaders navigate complexity and make clear choices. He formerly led the life science practice at Deloitte Denmark.

Daniel holds a B.Sc. in International Business and an M.Sc. in Economics and Business Administration from Copenhagen Business School.

Selected experience
  • TA strategy for immunology portfolio
  • Strategy for application and value realisation of AI across R&D
  • Business model design for new innovative business unit
  • Global digital transformation across commercial functions
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Daniel Schmidt