Asembia AXS26: How the Next 3-5 Years Will Define Specialty Pharma

In his interview with Pharmaceutical Commerce, live from Asembia AXS26 in Las Vegas, Will Shrank, MD, co-founder and CEO of Aradigm, delivers a candid assessment of where the specialty pharmacy ecosystem stands today, and what must happen over the next three to five years to avoid missing a major opportunity in medicine.

Shrank acknowledges the remarkable moment the industry finds itself in. The therapies available today are truly transformative, he says, but they come with extraordinary price tags. Costs are paid upfront while value is realized over a lifetime, he notes. That tension, Shrank says, is exposing the deep structural fragility of how the US pays for and delivers care. Payers are struggling to manage the volatility of high-cost therapies, providers face uncertainty around reimbursement and volume, and manufacturers have watched groundbreaking products stumble at launch, not due to any failure of science, but because the marketplace wasn't ready to receive them.

For Shrank, the next three to five years will be defining. The industry must come together across all stakeholders, with everyone willing to give a little, to unlock the full potential of the science now within reach.