US Pharma and Biotech Summit 2024: Redefining the Patient Relationship

US Pharma and Biotech Summit 2024
New York City

It’s no secret that many Americans have an unfavorable view of the healthcare system, including the pharma industry. High prices, complicated insurance situations, and a lack of access to important medications have left many patients feeling burned by the entire industry, even if they don’t know what’s causing those problems.

At the US Pharma and Biotech Summit 2024 in New York City, the following experts convened to discuss some of the ways that the pharma industry is redefining its relationship with patients: Eden Wells from Novartis, Debra Jennings from Takeda Oncology Amy West from Novo, and Zachariah Reitano from Ro.

One topic that all of the speakers agreed upon is that digital platforms and direct-to-patient offerings are the key factors that are changing the relationship dynamic.

“It is not lost on me that patients don't trust any of us, meaning that they don't they don't trust Big Pharma,” Wells began. “They even they have a really hard time trusting anyone in the ecosystem because it is so fragmented. When we thought about this, we questioned how do we actually meet patients with where they're at with tools and resources that actually work for them. We had to wholesale reevaluate our approach and adopt this very consumer tech centered approach. At Novartis, how we've done that is that we've actually built our own technology data stack, that in some ways is embedded in these consumer marketplaces. So, it actually works on the backend the way that consumers and patients want to be met to actually deliver the services to patients in a way that they actually want.”

Weight loss drugs have recently spiked in popularity. West discussed how these drugs provide a great example for how the pharma industry should be communicating honestly with patients.

“Lots of people want to take these drugs,” she said. “How do we tell consumers how to take them in the right way? We've always been very specific about maintaining accuracy and alignment with what we're advocating for and what we've been approved for. That's first and foremost, that we get that information to the patient as well as professionals and making sure that it's being prescribed to the right patient for the right reasons. And that's always reinforced. Then on the patient side, we have lots of resources available to again to reinforce the information that they're getting from their doctor, and then those coming from the organization. You can't control the media that's out there, but you can just continue to reinforce what you've been approved to say and when you know what the guidelines are.”

Later on, Jennings discussed how the industry is reacting to outside businesses and entrepreneurs building direct-to-patient services to provide patients with less expensive drugs. Mark Cuban’s platform, which offers patients comparison prices for medications, was used as a specific example.

“It's really important to break down silos and meet with people like Mark, and lean in and be vulnerable,” she said. “Because that's the birthplace of innovations. We we've actually had conversations with them. We had a little bit of a roundtable. And you know, there's radical candor there. We're challenging one another, but at the same time, it's the same outcome. We want to have good patient outcomes, and good patient experience. And so, most of us welcome it. It's radical. But I think it's welcome to see what can be done there at the end of the day. I think everyone's on the same team to help patients. That sounds cheesy, but I really do think if you look at each stakeholder in the healthcare system, they are operating within their own incentives. It's not surprising when you follow each dollar. It's not surprising what a pharma company does, what the PBMs do, what an insurance company does.”

Lastly, Reitano discussed the ways that the popularity of weight loss drugs will test the system, including the new digital platforms that are popping up.

“I still think people are under estimating the impact that will have on our healthcare system from a consumer perspective,” he said. “There has never before been a drug that the majority of the US population wants in this way. The majority of the US population is eligible for these drugs. We will see more and more supply issues. Patients want them and providers want patients to have them. It'll shed light on all of the parts of the healthcare system that are patient centric, because we've never had so many individuals simultaneously want the same thing.”