Improving MASH patient care pathways

The why

As more therapies launch into complex and still-maturing disease areas, understanding the clinical care pathway becomes critical to launch success. This is especially true in indications where diagnosis is delayed, referral patterns are inconsistent, and the path from patient identification to treatment is poorly established. For a global biopharmaceutical company preparing for a new asset launch, the challenge was to Identify unmet patient and HCP needs in the MASH clinical care pathway.

The challenge

The client was preparing to launch an asset in MASH, a therapeutic area where it had limited in-market experience and needed a stronger understanding of how the category worked in practice. To shape the market effectively across market access, public policy, and commercial planning, the team needed a clear view of how patients moved through the healthcare system, which stakeholders influenced progression across primary and secondary care, and where the pathway was breaking down.

That required more than a high-level pathway map. The client needed insight from healthcare professionals on unmet needs, a clearer view of the barriers constraining diagnosis, referral, and patient progression, and a prioritised understanding of the leverage points most relevant for launch planning and future market shaping.

How we helped

We delivered a three-phase program:

Care pathway mapping.
In-depth interviews with hepatologists, endocrinologists, nurses, GPs, and patient organizations.
Leverage point mapping and initiative design.

This approach clarified how patients move - or fail to move - through each stage, from awareness to follow-up. By surfacing gaps and quantifying barriers, through in-depth interviews with relevant stakeholders, we could co-design a catalogue of high-impact strategic initiatives, to help the client with strengthening early detection, alignment of standard of care, and elevation of HCP engagement.

Outcome

A structured view of the MASH clinical care pathway and stakeholder landscape

The work gave the client a clearer view of how patients moved through the MASH pathway across primary and secondary care, and which healthcare stakeholders influenced progression at each stage. This created a stronger foundation for understanding where the pathway was fragmented and where intervention would matter most.

HCP insights on unmet needs and how to improve patient outcomes

The project surfaced practical insights from healthcare professionals on the unmet needs shaping the category, including where diagnosis was delayed, referral quality was weak, and patient management broke down. That gave the client a more grounded understanding of the clinical and system barriers affecting patient outcomes.

An opportunity map of leverage points and recommended actions

The work translated pathway and HCP insight into a prioritised opportunity map, showing where the client could act to shape the market and support future uptake. This gave leadership a clearer basis for decisions across market access, public policy, and commercial planning ahead of launch.

What moved the needle

Grounding the work in real-world care, not only formal pathways The project was built around how care worked in the real world, not only how it was described in best-practice guidelines. By combining expert perspectives with input from generalists such as GPs, the work captured the real barriers affecting identification, referral, and follow-up across the pathway.

Keeping the focus on patient needs The analysis did not stop at HCP pain points. It also looked at where patient needs were not being met, including identifying reasons for delayed identification, stigma associated with the disease, and lack of general awareness in the public.

Developing initiatives together with the client The opportunity map was not built in isolation. Initiatives were co-developed with the client so they were concrete, prioritised, and realistic for the organisation to act on.

Partner

Jonas T. Karlsen, Ph.D.

Jonas is a life science strategist supporting executives drive progress across the value chain. He is an expert in bridging strategy and execution via global operating model design and transformation rooted in strategic objectives. He engages with structured top-down thinking and a pragmatic and collaborative approach to mobilise organizations and make things happen.

Jonas holds a Ph.D. in biophysics from the Technical University of Denmark, DTU, and further studied at California Institute of Technology. Recipient of the Ministry of Sciences Elite Research Award.

Selected experience

Ecosystem integration and external innovation pipeline
Lab of the future capability building and operating model design
Global clinical operating model design and transformation
Pre-launch strategy for cardiometabolic TA development

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