Manage access manage success

I suppose I can coin the turn MAMS, Manage Access Manage Success.

By Anonymous (not verified) on Jun 17, 2009

I suppose I can coin the turn MAMS, Manage Access Manage Success.

I can add it to the over-whelmingly amount of acronyms which seem to mask our industry in some removed reality from actually what doing business is all about.

I'm sure all of our organisations have them...... but that is a different debate for a different day.

Today, I want to look into Access, what we understand by it and why we take this critical area of our industry for granted and why we shouldn't.

For many months I have been researching with those on the front-line of Market Access, primarily in Canada but also in the US.

A couple of things struck me.....

1- Never have the negotiations with third parties been so pivotal in determining the long-term performance of a drug than at this stage and yet it appears to be under-funded, under-resourced and over-whelmed.

2- Some organisations seemingly integrate market access into commercial groups, some silo it, some decentralise it all with no real general consensus on where market access can be the most effective.

3- Nobody really knows what the future holds for Market Access. It perks dangerously on the edge of existence with a weaker and weaker pipeline in the industry. Some think it will evolve into pure pricing/reimbursement teams, others believe it will mould into brand/product teams and others support the ethos of 'their for a reason'

I guess the point i'm getting at, from my advantaged position as an industry analyst and researcher, is that we can ill-afford to treat this division in this way for this long without any negative impact. Those of you who read this who are involved in market access will agree with me I'm sure.

We are moving to an era where everything we are producing needs to add value, be cost-effective, lower risk and be competitive. Of course, Sales and Marketing need to do their bit, we need to focus on adherence and more efficient forecasting but I think the key lies in Market Access, the un-sung hero of the pharma industry.

I encourage you all to take a look at the market access depts currently in pharma and see how they match your expectations on meeting current and future industry standards on Health Economics, Pricing & Reimbursement, Approval processes, drug safety, managed markets etc.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

Best regards,

Gerard :-)