Pharma Trends Create Hurdles for Market Access Teams

There are 6 key issues that market access teams are facing amid evolving marketplace trends in the pharmaceutical industry, said Douglas Long, BS, MBA, vice president, industry relations, IQVIA. Long spoke at the headline session of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy’s Managed Care and Specialty Pharmacy Annual Meeting held April 23-26, in Boston, Massachusetts, talking about 2017-2018 Pharmaceutical Marketplace Trends.

IQVIA, formed from the merger of IMS Health and Quintiles, recently released a report called Medicine Use and Spending in the US: A Review of 2017 and Outlook to 2022, and Long spoke about that first to a packed audience.

He said spending on all US medicines rose 0.6% to $324 billion on a net basis because of greater generic volume. There are also larger manufacturer discounts and increasing coupon use.

Indicating that there is generic price inflation, Long said that generic dollar sales have declined for 21 consecutive months, and 16 of top 20 generic companies had negative dollar decreased sales and growth over the last 12 months. There is also consolidated buying power in the generic marketplace.

Last year, spending grew 0.6% net of off-invoice discounts and rebates as growth slowed to 1.4%. Overall, spending reached a total of $453 billion on a gross invoice basis but $324 billion on a net basis. Growth on specialty drugs outpaced traditional drugs and now has 43.3% of the total now discounted spending. Last year, specialty spending grew at 9.4% while traditional spending fell 4%.

Click to continue reading on The American Journal of Managed Care.