Asembia 2024: Elevating the Specialty Pharmacy Experience

Presenter: Ray Tancredi, RPh, MBA, CSP, Divisional Vice President, Pharma Relations & Specialty Pharmacy Development, Walgreens

Summary: What was discussed

A perennial favorite session, Tancredi kicked off the first day of presentations by reviewing trends he’s seeing in the expansive specialty therapy pipeline. Throughout his presentation, he delved into specific drugs in development broken out by oncology, rare and orphan, traditional specialty, cell and gene therapies, and a new highlight for him this year, neurology.

Key takeaways

• Tancredi provided insights of drugs in the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) review and approval pipeline that could have a significant impact on patients and on the healthcare landscape. In 2023, the FDA approved 55 novel drugs, the second highest on record, just shy of the 2018 record of 59 approvals.^{[0]U.S. Food & Drug Administration, FDA Approves Many New Drugs in 2023 that Will Benefit Patients and Consumers. Accessed March 28, 2024.}
• Oncology remained the leading therapeutic area in 2023, with 16 drugs approved by the FDA.^{[0]Ray Tancredi, April 29, 2024, Asembia Specialty Pharmacy Summit, The Specialty Pharmacy Pipeline 2024: A Glimpse At What’s Ahead} Tancredi says the oncology pipeline remains strong, with around 2,000 drugs. This is encouraging given that the American Cancer Society estimates new cancer diagnoses to surpass two million in 2024 – almost 5,500 cancer diagnoses a day.^{[0]American Cancer Society, 2024 – First Year the US Expects More than 2M New Cases of Cancer, Jan. 17, 2024.}
• After years of underinvestment, there is a growing prevalence of neurological drugs in the pipeline, targeting diseases and conditions ranging from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s to epilepsy and depression.^{[0]Evaluate, “Evaluating Neurology” e-book, March 2024.} It was the third-largest therapy area in 2023, with eight approved drugs.^{[0]Senior, M. Fresh from the biotech pipeline: record-breaking FDA approvals. Nat Biotechnol 42, 355–361 2024.}
• The FDA’s continued prioritization of treatments for rare diseases is clear. Last year, 28 out of the 55 drugs approved received an orphan-drug designation.^{[0]U.S. Food & Drug Administration, FDA Approves Many New Drugs in 2023 that Will Benefit Patients and Consumers. Accessed March 28, 2024.} This is the fifth consecutive year that more than half of the approved novel drugs were intended for rare disease.^{[0]U.S. Food & Drug Administration, FDA Approves Many New Drugs in 2023 that Will Benefit Patients and Consumers. Accessed March 28, 2024.} The session highlighted the significant progress made in the development and approval of cell and gene therapies for rare and orphan diseases.
• In traditional specialty, he highlighted 11 drugs in the pipeline for MASH (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis), noting that MASH will be the leading cause of liver transplants by 2025.^{[0]Patient Care, American Liver Foundation Announces First Federally-Funded Research on MASLD, April 26, 2024}

The industry call to action

The development of new therapies brings new challenges for pharma – from provider utilization to the complex challenges of medication access, affordability and navigating a growing competitive marketplace.

Presenters:

• Paul Battaglia, Vice President, Patient Support Services, Two Labs
• Dee Chaudhary, Principal, Market Access and Pricing Practice, Clarivate Commercial Strategy Consulting

Summary: What was discussed

How can patient services reduce friction to drug access? That’s the question Battaglia and Chaudhary explored in their presentation on the state of patient services programs.

Throughout their session, Battaglia and Chaudhary shared the results of market research from Two Labs and Clarivate that compared neurology therapies.^{[0]Paul Battaglia, Dee Chaudhary, April 29, 2024, Asembia Specialty Pharmacy Summit, The State of Patient Services Programs Serving Biopharma; 2024 Independent Benchmarking Read-Out}

The therapies were assessed on four key dimensions: Consumer Needs, Accessibility, Satisfaction and Outreach. Clarivate also explored the growing use of technology and social media (a new criteria this year) as effective tools to meet the evolving needs of patients and healthcare practitioners. Based on the data from the study, Battaglia and Chaudhary discussed what makes a good hub service, which programs are leading the way, and what needs to be improved.

Key takeaways

• The findings of the Two Labs/Clarivate market research make it clear that a free flow of information is essential to delivering elevated services. Hubs that prioritize providing easy-to-navigate sites as well as valuable data and insights stand out from the crowd, especially when they also make it easier for providers to access services and provide easy-to-understand content.
• Battaglia shared that product copay savings and financial support programs are essential items for successful hub services. But the study made it clear that features such as these, which were once considered nice to have, are now essential. That’s true for both pharma with established hubs and those building patient services programs from the ground up.
• Their research showed that if a physician is choosing between two similar therapies, they're likely to pick the therapy that’s supported by a good hub.^{[0]Paul Battaglia, Dee Chaudhary, April 29, 2024, Asembia Specialty Pharmacy Summit, The State of Patient Services Programs Serving Biopharma; 2024 Independent Benchmarking Read-Out}

The industry call to action

Battaglia and Chaudhary stressed that it’s important for hub service providers to understand the voice of the patient and prescriber. Those learnings must be infused in how pharma designs their services and shares information.

Presenters:

• Tim Szymusiak, Head, Market Access & Field Reimbursement, Stratis Group
• Casey Cormier, Principal & Co-Founder, Stratis Group

Summary: What was discussed?

Throughout the patient journey, it’s crucial that both the healthcare provider and the patient have a positive experience. This is where coordination between the hub and field reimbursement teams is key, so patients remain engaged with their patient support program during their entire journey.

While this session covered trends in the design, delivery and measurement of patient support programs that could enhance the healthcare provider and patient experience, the presenters also highlighted the significance of focusing on people and investing in their development to drive success in patient services programs.

Key takeaways

• In this data-driven era, there can be a gap between perceived data potential and what analytics teams can actually achieve. This gap can lead to misunderstandings or misalignment between brand expectations and analytics deliverables. To bridge this gap, a comprehensive data strategy was shared for pharma to help address this disconnect.
• There is a common disconnection between the forecasted brand goals and patient support program measurement. Competitive benchmarking helps both teams understand what is achievable versus what is aspirational. By proactively addressing this disconnect, teams can avoid divisiveness and work towards better alignment between brand goals and patient support program measurement.
• Invest in outsourced program teams through initiatives such as developing program managers, implementing end-to-end quality assurance processes, and managing the narrative around programs with key internal stakeholders like brand and sales teams.
• Enhance customer interactions by prioritizing comprehensive training that doesn’t just include disease, product, systems and process knowledge – layer on empathy training, motivational interviewing, special populations understanding and coaching and leadership skills.
• Technology should enable not replace powerful human touchpoints within the patient journey.

The industry call to action

Improving the customer experience involves a collaborative effort. To ensure the overall success of patient support programs, it is crucial for pharma to view outsourced personnel as part of their team, invest in benchmarks and prioritize the development of all individuals dedicated to patient support programs.