Reinventing biopharma: Strategies for an evolving marketplace

The biopharmaceutical industry today is facing a multifaceted “value challenge”. It is no longer enough for biopharma companies to create products that are simply safe and effective: they must also develop medications which provide results that are superior to those already on the market, according to a report from Quintiles prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

At the same time, companies have to demonstrate this added value to a range of stakeholders if they wish to command prices that are higher than those of existing treatments. These tasks are further complicated by a shift in the balance of power among industry stakeholders, each of which may require different evidence to be convinced of a product’s value. Previously, doctors might have been satisfied with even marginal improvements in efficiency at any price; today, increasingly influential health care payers are no longer so easily convinced.

To understand the nature of the value challenge and how the industry is addressing it, this IEU study, sponsored by Quintiles, draws on a global survey of 399 senior executives in the life sciences industry and in-depth interviews with experts in the field, corporate leaders from biopharmaceutical companies and senior officials from prominent health care organizations. The report’s key findings are summarised below.