Only 38% of European biopharmaceutical companies feel that they have the ability to influence market access stakeholders, according to new research.
77% of biopharma companies across Europe say they are feeling the strain of the economic situation and see it as one of the key challenges affecting market access strategies, reports software and healthcare data provider Cegedim Dendrite in its latest annual market access industry survey.
88% out of nearly 200 European executives from marketing, market access, market research and sales departments within biopharmaceutical organizations told the survey last month that it is important that companies adapt their strategies in light of the economic situation and other contributing factors, and three quarters said they have the resources available to do so. However, 42% expressed a lack of faith in the ability to share information across the organization.
83% of the executives believe the main issue affecting the progression of their companies’ market access strategies is the challenge created by the shift from prescriber to payer, but just 38% of the companies feel they have the ability to influence market access stakeholders.
Nevertheless, 83% of firms report that they have responded to market access challenges by introducing Key Account Management (KAM), believing that specialised teams focused on the key stakeholders will positively influence market access strategies.
Commenting on these findings, Cegedim Dendrite’s chief executive Laurent Labrune points to the “buzz across the industry about which is the appropriate market access strategy in light of the current economic situation affecting Europe. It is clear from this research that the ability to regionalise the strategy and still maintain consistency in decision-making across the board is of paramount importance.”
“These results are very telling and are a clear indication that the biopharmaceutical industry is still working to build closer relationships with market access stakeholders. It is positive that KAM teams are being put in place, but there are various improvement opportunities to better share information across the organisation,” he added.
Critically, the study finds that companies are not capturing the right information about market access stakeholders, with only 35% of those surveyed sourcing information on stakeholder drivers, such as cost containment and addressing health inequalities.
However, in the current payer-led health economy 70% of companies say they are adapting their messaging to demonstrate their products’ tangible Return on Investment (ROI) to stakeholders, with 64% introducing initiatives to address the delivery of care and 25% adopting pay-for-performance strategies to gain approval of new medicines.
Delivery of successful market access will be optimal as companies fully adapt their strategies and organisational structures to reflect a payer-led health economy, but this cannot be done in silos, says Mr Lebrune.
“All parts of the market access team – from R&D to key account managers – must have the facilities available to share, track and measure the success of interactions across the health service network in order to achieve coherent or consistent market access. This can only be achieved through company-wide 360-degree visibility of the components that contribute to the whole market access strategy,” he adds.
