The Sticky Business of Demand Forecasting

There is no question in the minds behind the business of biotechnology that demand forecasting is tough stuff. Today, at the BIO International Convention some took on this difficult topic.

The panelists talked about the challenges to demand forecasting, but first made an important clarification - demand = money to buy products. This is not the same as disease burden.

There are many challenges to demand forecasting: attitudes towards disease, lack of disease awareness, and unfamiliar, unpredictable markets.

Speakers discussed how to modify the forecasting framework through strategic investments in data collection and methodological development and through improvements in the institutional arrangements and interactions between public and private sectors.