The aim of this project is to examine how companies go about launching innovations worldwide. Launch is the commercialization of a product i.e. the moment at which a new product enters a market/country for the first time. We focus on innovation in the pharmaceutical industry context as these innovations are new medicine. Examining commercialization is particularly relevant in the context of pharmaceuticals as, more than in any other industry, different launch timings/sequences mean different levels of access to medicine for society, which can be accompanied by a decrease in life quality or even death, dependent on the severity of the disease. With regard to launch, we are interested in drivers of the launch timing or more specifically, the launch sequence. The launch sequence represents the order in which new drugs are launched into the global marketplace (for example the European Union). In addition to the launch sequence, we are also interested in knowing the drivers of the launch price. The launch price is essential because it determines both patients’ access to medicine and it determines a nation’s health expenditures. An important characteristic of the pharmaceutical industry is the regulatory environment. Even within the European Union, a lot of differences exist with regard to regulatory regimes (Stremersch and Lemmens 2009). One particularly relevant regulation within the European Union (but also in other countries in the world) is the cross-country reference pricing system (external referencing). This entails that the launch price in one country is dependent on the launch prices in other countries. Public policy makers in every single country decide whether they oblige companies to look at launch prices in other countries. In addition to geographic, economic, and cultural ties, we will explore the role of cross national regulatory ties (external reference pricing) in international launch sequence and prices.