Patients are the Priority

Pharmaceutical Commerce’s December issue is a special one for myriad reasons, beginning with the fact that it marks our final issue of the year. This edition also highlights the return appearance of our patient support/hub services dedicated coverage. For example, in their guest feature, Rohit Gupta and David Laros of Beghou Consulting opine that with opportunities to successfully use patient hub data, pharma companies have the capability to make these hubs more experiential and personalized. The potential end result: businesses becoming more patient centric across their commercial operations.

Speaking of patient support, Matt Wolf, Cencora’s president of biopharma services, sat down with Editor Nicholas Saraceno to discuss how data innovation can drive patient outcomes. Wolf sums it up best in stating that “we believe an effective adherence strategy must also account for two critical variables that can affect a patient’s ability to start and stay on therapy: access and affordability. We work with our pharma and biotech partners to understand their specific needs and then deliver services tailored to the patient population to reduce access barriers, improve speed-to-therapy, and keep patients engaged and supported throughout the treatment journey.”

As it pertains to affordability, this issue's “Healthcare Reform” column touches on the many moving parts presently at play and their future implications. PAN Foundation’s Kevin L. Hagan and Amy Niles note that about 800,000 beneficiaries in 2024 and more than 200,000 beneficiaries in 2025 are predicted to spend more than 10% of their income on prescription medications each year.

Meanwhile, in his “Commercialization Corner" column, Bill Roth of IntegriChain explains that 2024 is going to be the year of “Who Moved My Prescription?,” driven by a shift in product mix; the decline of reimbursement; the rise of the digital patient treatment journey; and a desire by the old guard to maintain their own status quo.

Highlighting some of our other coverage this month is a guest feature by Maria Cipicchio of OptimizeRx on the world of biosimilars. Cipicchio points out that although these products have slowly, yet steadily, gained market traction and focus, the argument could be made that they haven’t necessarily made the splash thus far that many had anticipated.

And last but not least, as Saraceno alludes to in his editor's letter on the facing page, we hope you enjoy our updated design—and look forward to receiving your feedback.

— Mike Hennessy Jr., President and CEO, MJH Life Sciences