Enhancing our UK Market Access knowledge

On Thursday 6th June, Cath and I attended the PM Society UK Market Access event in London.  The afternoon was split into 7 presentations all focussing on different topics within the vast umbrella of market access here in the UK.  Additionally, two panel discussions were held by the presenters to tackle varying opinions on the subjects between themselves and provide the opportunity for questions and comment from the audience.

The first session of presentations we watched guided the audience through recent changes to the HTA process at NICE, the evolution of market access in the UK from the ABPI perspective, relationships between the Life Sciences Sector and the NHS, and barriers to access for specialised medicines.  After a short break the presentations looked to the future and we learnt more about plans for implementing the NHS Long Term Plan, the influence of local guidelines and formularies on uptake, and how the Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) is working to break down local market access barriers.  There really was something for all who attended and the round table discussions threw up some interesting questions and thoughts to ponder on…namely the impact of Brexit!

As Fingerpost are currently involved with a couple of UK-focused payer research projects,  we found the presentations on specialised commissioning from Ivor Eisenstadt, MD at publishing firm MGP  (https://www.mgp.co.uk/) and the impact of formulary placement and guidelines on uptake from Karen Westaway, Chef Exec at ValueBase (http://www.thevaluebase.com/) to be particularly valuable.  Their presentations, which were based on primary research and real-world data, really clarified, contextualised and confirmed some of the questions we face on a regular basis when talking to clients about UK market access and reimbursement.

I think it’s safe to say that market access methodologies and routes to access in UK are likely to continue changing and evolving over the coming years.  As the NHS Long Term plan is executed and the detailing around Brexit solidifies, keeping continuously ‘in touch’ and involved with the UK healthcare landscape and working in collaboration with fellow specialists will be imperative to successful market access.

We plan to stay in touch with the ongoing changes through attending similar events, reading around and conducting our own research, and through the inevitable learnings that each client-sponsored project brings. Our global reach means that we are constantly learning about all markets but due to being British citizens ourselves and the ongoing challenges associated with Brexit, the changes ‘at home’ are of particular interest at the moment.
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To see a synopsis of all the event speakers and their presentations, please click this link to the PM Society website: https://pmsociety.org.uk/article/uk-market-access-2019-event-review