Chasing a feather in the wind
Today marks the launch of eyeforpharma's newest newsletter, which will focus exclusively on market access. It's a topic that we've touched on for some time, but that we feel is becoming so important to pharma's future success that it deserves a newsletter all to itself.
By on Sep 24, 2009Today marks the launch of eyeforpharma's newest newsletter, which will focus exclusively on market access. It's a topic that we've touched on for some time, but that we feel is becoming so important to pharma's future success that it deserves a newsletter all to itself.
As you'll see in our inaugural edition's lead feature, "Market Access: many places, many meanings", exactly what "market access" amounts to often depends heavily on your organization's perspective and where you hail from on the planet. What also is clear from our conversations with those interested in market access around the industry is that defining "value" is a bit like chasing a feather on a windy day.
But defining and determining value is absolutely critical, for not only pharma, but all healthcare stakeholders, in addressing how new drugs are approved, brought to market, priced and reimbursed. The questions at hand - of allocation of resources and healthcare benefits - are clear-cut. The determination of a drug's value, however, is not.
Can patient outcomes be soley defined and measured in monetary terms? Can a price or value be put on quality of life? Is a day or a week or a month in one patient's life equivalent to another's? How do our drugs impact society and what is that worth?
These are tough questions and not necessarily ones for which there is a scientific or economic formula for solving. They are questions pharma - or governments or payers or physicians, for that matter - cannot answer alone.
It's a journey we're just beginning. Welcome on board.