Relentless Health Value

Today on the podcast, I speak with David Guy, Senior Vice President Oncology and Specialty Markets, and Paul Pochtar, RPh, Senior Vice President and Pharmaceutical Commercialization and Access Strategies. Both have extensive experience in leadership positions within the specialty therapeutics space focusing on oncology/hematology. We talk about the major trends in oncology today, especially trends that impact how patients get access to some of the new innovative therapies and how much patients pay for said therapies.

Prior to Aventria, David held several commercial leadership roles, including Head of Oncology Marketing at Genentech and VP Strategic Marketing at Schering AG, specializing in commercializing oncology and specialty products. He was also instrumental in the commercialization of Taxotere, Fludara, Herceptin, and Rituxan.

Paul has extensive experience leading successful market access commercialization strategies of specialty pharmaceuticals throughout their life cycles, including several landmark oncology products and other specialty therapeutics. Paul is a former Vice President of Payer Marketing with Bayer and former Vice President and Head of Oncology Managed Markets and Market Access at Novartis Pharmaceuticals. He is an RPh and a graduate of Rutgers University’s Ernest Mario College of Pharmacy.

00:00 The trends affecting market access to oncology.
02:00 Innovations in oncology.
02:20 Immuno-oncology.
03:50 How treatment has improved with these oncology innovations.
05:45 The implications of patients getting access to these new treatment options.
07:20 Answering 3 questions around these oncology innovations.
10:05 Outcomes-based contracts and biomarker testing.
11:30 Risk-based contracts.
12:15 Indication-based pricing
14:45 “How do we make access to novel specialty drugs more affordable for the actual patient.” – Paul Pochtar
17:50 How various biomarkers fit in together.
18:15 Determining what biomarkers are relevant.
19:00 Pathways and guidelines being derived from Real World Evidence.
20:45 “There’s no standardized approach.” – David Guy
23:40 How a pathway gets used.
29:35 Alternative payment models.
30:15 “As we look for a solution, it’s not one entity that has the answer.” – Paul
30:45 Innovation, cost challenge, decision-making process.
32:38 “The elephant in the room is the co-pay burdens.” – David
32:57 Why is a co-pay applicable for a cancer patient?
33:33 Andrew Schorr of Patient Power – EP145.