Hi Sonia,
Great Question. In my recent experience, we were bought by one of the biggest life sciences corporation and I was a Business Unit leader for product development. The re-branding initiative was not addressed until 6 months post merger and this caused delays, more costs (including rework) on 3 of my global product launches. Based on this experience and my deeper knowledge of mergers, rebranding strategy and planning should be part of the integration priorities and plan. If it is prioritized, the R&D, Commercial, Regulatory, Labeling, and Mfg work streams are impacted as they all inter-dependent on each other. When there are higher priority integration activities affecting any of these functions, predictability will be lost so it is best to start early. As for your last question, the R&D pipeline due diligence will give you an idea of the level of confidence on the upcoming product launches. Outside of products, there may be other accessories or services (i.e. websites) that should be assessed, prioritized and rebranded as needed.
