Competition heats up for life sciences agencies & biotech boutiques

Margins under siege

‍For years, mid-sized firms (100–1,000 staff) could shrug off competition from freelancers and micro-consultancies undercutting on price. The real battleground was differentiation.

But the game has changed. The strategy houses and Big Four have started slashing rates - in some cases by 30–50% over just two or three years. Suddenly, even multi-year projects are being fought (and lost) on price.

For boutiques, the message is clear: to survive, you must be able to showcase exactly what makes you different. Show off your specialist expertise, your methodologies, and most importantly, the tangible outcomes you deliver. If you can’t translate that into hard-dollar value for clients, you’re in trouble.

Big Pharma shake-ups: billions on the line

‍As if competitive pressure wasn’t enough, Big Pharma itself is in flux. Major players are ripping up plans, shifting strategies, and moving billions of dollars and jobs across global markets. The ripple effect into the mid and lower markets could be profound.

Some of the headline moves:

• ‍GSK: A $30bn R&D pledge in labs and AI across the US, with $1.5bn annual commitment in the UK.‍
• Eli Lilly: A £279m pause on Gateway Labs London - stalling a hub that already hosts 30+ firms who’ve collectively raised $2bn.‍
• Merck (MSD): Scrapped a £1bn London site mid-construction, part of $3bn annual cost cuts and 6,000 expected job losses.‍
• Novartis: Doubling down on the US with a $23bn expansion, 1,000 new jobs, and an MD bluntly declaring the UK “largely uninvestable.”‍
• AstraZeneca: £200m Cambridge investment on hold, putting 1,000 planned jobs in limbo.

The question: will this reshape the trickle-down effect boutiques have historically relied on, or is this time different?

Relationships under strain

‍In the face of pricing pressure and market upheaval, many boutiques are leaning even harder on relationships to win work. And that makes sense - trust and credibility are still currency. But relationship-driven selling is being tested like never before.

It’s no longer enough to “know the right people.” Firms need to prove their unique value at every touchpoint, translating specialist capability into outcomes that stand head and shoulders above what larger players, or cheaper alternatives, can deliver.

Stress-test the longevity of every project, client or portfolio of accounts (revenue, win-rate, satisfaction scores) and further dig under the surface of future pipeline & engagements with deep questioning (i.e. what value does your client place on your relationship? what is stopping them easily switching agency)? Things change over time - as firms grow, new people join & clients change - previous assumptions on depth & strength of relationship can't be held as gospel.

With that critical eye & data to hand, you'll uncover whether this just a surface-level sales relationship, or maybe worse... simply transactional selling? If so, what do you need to do personally or need to embed in your firm, to elevate your partnerships? This will give you much more predictable pipeline & win-rate to build your business on.