Topic 31: Changing Relationship between Medical Affairs and Access and Reimbursement

Note: This is a revised and extended version of a post I first published two years ago. This issue continues to evolve and be an area of focus for many MA Leaders.

Introduction

I received a question about what an optimal relationship should be between MA and Access & Reimbursement in the US. Access & Reimbursement (AR) is the function in pharma that is primarily responsible for negotiating the relationship between the company and the major payers and/or providers. In some organizations this group is known as Managed Markets, Market Access, Payer Relationship, or Contracting. Their primary goal is ensuring that the company’s drugs are listed as advantageously as possible on the formulary of the payer.

AR has to make the case for reimbursement of their drug to a payer/providers Pharmacy and Technology Committee (P&T Committee) which is the body that ultimately makes the decision for the payer/provider. In the US, these P&T Committees consider the efficacy and safety of the treatment but they also consider the cost effectiveness of the treatment and its impact on total cost of care for a patient when deciding where to place the treatment on their formularies. The AR function has had to deal with a range of both government and private payers/providers, each with their own formularies.
The AR function in the US has grown in importance as the payers/providers have worked to limit their exposure to treatments they viewed as not cost effective through formulary placements that drive limitations like prior authorizations and co-payments for the patients. Even specialty areas like oncology, which used to have very few restrictions, are now seeing greater control exerted by the payers.

Defining a New Relationship

Just as the pressures on AR are forcing changes in the way they work with payers, those same pressures are changing the relationship between MA and AR. In the past, MA had a limited role to play in AR. For example, MA may have had a responsibility to train AR Account Managers on the scientific underpinnings of a new treatment, not dissimilarly to how MA may train sales staff. And AR might have occasionally asked an MA resource, typically Field Medical, to provide some scientific support for a formulary presentation. But, in general, these situations were ad hoc and limited.

However, now that AR’s success more directly drives the success of the pharma company and thus their importance has grown, the relationship between AR and MA is changing.

For a P&T Committee to control costs, they must be able to differentiate between treatments. This drives two major scientific needs:

1. The formulary committee needs a more robust scientific understanding of the drug’s properties, its known efficacy, its known risks and its place in the overall therapeutic area’s treatment options


2. The formulary committee is demanding more specialized data, specifically health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) data like cost effectiveness and total cost of care, and comparator data to allow them to understand the full impact of the drug’s use

Both of these ramped up requirements have direct impact on MA’s relationship with AR.

More Robust Scientific Understanding

MA’s role in terms of providing scientific support for P&T Committee presentations is growing from a part of the presentation to the core of the presentation. And with that growth comes the need for greater specialization by the presenters.
MA which develops and delivers the scientific elements of those presentations need to have a much more robust understanding of their P&T Committee audiences and how to effectively meet their scientific needs. This is leading to two trends in MA:

1. Much greater degree of training for Field Medical on the role of AR and P&T Committees
   OR


2. The identification and hiring of full time Field Medical-type roles specifically targeted at supporting AR

Given the importance of AR, supporting their needs can no longer be seen by MA as a side responsibility. Instead, it needs to be a core responsibility and an investment in training or personnel is needed to ensure that that Field Medical is prepared to adequately support this need. In addition to training, this will require new measures to be put in place to track Field Medical effectiveness, which I will discuss in a future blog post.

More Specialized Data

In many organizations, MA has taken the lead in developing data post-approval. And while HEOR has always been a part of generating that post-approval data, its importance has grown significantly. The increased demand for HEOR data has a number of implications:

• HEOR data should start being gathered in Phase 3B at least, and thus MA HEOR leaders need to engage with clinical development to ensure endpoints are included to begin the generation of HEOR data sets


• Post-Approval Data Generation Plans, which should be developed by MA to help drive the post-approval study efforts, must give greater consideration to the HEOR needs


• The priority given to Investigator Initiated Studies that cover HEO subjects may need to increase


• The need for specialized MA resources dedicated to developing and managing HEOR may need to increase, with new dedicated positions developed


• Processes for ensuring that the input of AR is gathered in the development of HEOR protocols should be re-examined to ensure that the results will meet the demands of the key formulary committees

In some companies have decided that HEOR is so important to AR that they have shifted the leadership of this research to the AR function itself. Whether the HEOR function reports to AR or is developed within MA, the need to ensure that the changing needs of P&T Committees are addressed has become a major priority for post-approval research.

Closing Thoughts

MA’s role as the owner of scientific education and communication for post-approval drugs is a critical element in today’s formulary-driven environment. MA needs to be an active partner to AR as it works to ensure patient access to the company’s drugs.

In your experience what has been the key to effective MA / AR partnership? Leave your comments below.

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