New competitive arena emerges for US Pharma in changing payment landscape, finds PwC

Pharmaceutical companies that are first to meet health care's new expectations of value could have an advantage in the competition for market share and brand differentiation, according to a report published today by the Health Research Institute (HRI) at PricewaterhouseCoopers US. Physicians, health insurers and patients now want to know how well a drug will work and affect total medical costs. Yet an HRI survey of health plan executives finds the information currently provided by the biopharmaceutical industry no longer suffices.

As the basis for payment shifts to improved patient outcomes, health organizations are looking for more robust evidence of clinical and economic comparative effectiveness. Drug makers that have faced challenges with formulary acceptance or reimbursement levels should speed their efforts to create and reliably demonstrate better outcomes for patients, says PwC.

The report, titled Unleashing value: The changing payment landscape for the US pharmaceutical industry, looks at how health insurers view evidence of drug effectiveness, contracting strategies and relationships with pharmaceutical companies. A nationwide survey of 100 US health insurers and pharmaceutical benefits managers, conducted by HRI, found: