Building an evidence-driven framework for greater access

What strategies can biopharma companies develop to gain and improve market access?

US spending on prescription drugs has climbed from $783 per capita in 2007 to $1,025 per capita in 2017. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) project that such spending will continue climbing to $1,635 per capita by 2027, an increase of 60 percent.¹ With rising drug prices there is more scrutiny on value. The growing costs of developing new drugs, increasing competition, and shortening times to peak sales make it imperative for biopharma companies to get their commercialization strategy right.

Prior Deloitte research shows that 36 percent of drugs launched between 2012 and 2017 missed their launch forecasts, over 50 percent of which were due to failures in achieving market access.³ At the same time, the increasing payer and provider system-wide focus on improving health outcomes per dollar spent is helping drive the need for a more holistic view of health care spending. 

In early 2020, the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions surveyed 80 health care decision makers including pharmacy and medical directors, chief medical officers, population health directors, and others involved in formulary design and access decision making. They were from health plans, health systems, PBMs, and integrated delivery networks. Our research highlights how trends in access decision making are likely to change in the next few years and its implications for pharma companies.

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¹ Why Are Prescription Drug Prices Rising And How Do They Affect The U.S. Fiscal Outlook?, Peter G. Peterson Foundation, November 2019, https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2019/11/why-are-prescription-drug-prices-rising-and-how-do-they-affect-the-us-fiscal-outlook, accessed April 15,2020
³ Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, Key factors to improve drug launches: Why drug launches miss market expectations and what to do about it, March 2020, https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/life-sciences/successful-drug-launch-strategy.html, accessed April 15, 2020