Pharma's Fourth Hurdle - Market Access

Main Category: Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry
Also Included In: Conferences
Article Date: 13 Nov 2009 - 1:00 PST

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Getting regulatory agency approval for a new drug was once the end goal of pharmaceutical drug development, but in today's healthcare environment where governments increasingly determine price and the availability of drugs to patients through formulary designation, market access has become the "fourth hurdle" in successfully bringing a drug to market.

"Before a drug is even approved, we need to be sure market access strategies are in place so that we can ensure profitability and future funding of development programs and research," says Rajesh Gupta, former VP Dermatology at Merck Serono and CEO of New Lab Life Sciences. "There's an opportunity, I believe, to engage earlier with organizations like NICE in the UK to see what kind of endpoints would be useful to develop during phase III to allow them to appraise new drugs a bit more easily."

It's not just about getting regulatory approval anymore, says Wolfgang Walter, senior director sales force at Nycomed. Walter says pharma must focus on meeting the needs of a growing number of stakeholders, including physicians, patients, governments and payers.

Eric Rambeaux, VP of business development and head of screening and analytics at Solvay Pharmaceuticals, says his company has even reshaped its organization with market access in mind, addressing silos of R&D, marketing and regulatory to try to focus on the same goals.

"As an industry, we've been too focused on regulatory approval," he says. "It's just one step - although an important one. But putting a drug on the market is increasingly about getting the right people together from very early in development to make sure that the drugs we're pursuing don't simply address the easiest indication, for the biggest market, at the highest price, but that it's the best compromise of these three areas."

Gupta, Walter and Rambeaux will join a host of other industry leaders speaking at eyeforpharma's 8th annual SFE 2010 conference in Barcelona, April 27-29th. To learn more about the conference and to register to attend, visit the Pharma Sales Force website here.

Source:
Kate Eversole
VP Europe
eyeforpharma