Top Pharma Companies Now Include Communicating HEOR Data as a Part of Their Medical Affairs Strategy

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC--(Marketwired - July 25, 2017) - New analysis of Top 10, Top 50 and small medical device companies revealed that health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) data is increasingly becoming a part of surveyed medical affairs teams' strategies, according to pharmaceutical business intelligence firm Cutting Edge Information.

Data newly published in the study, Designing Medical Affairs Strategy, show that looking forward, many medical affairs teams will be increasingly involved in HEOR research and build up teams of outcomes liaisons, health outcomes liaisons (HOLs) or managed care liaisons (MCLs) to deliver these health economics messages to payers as a crucial part of the launch strategy.

"Educating the healthcare community about clinical data may be the crux of medical affairs strategies," said Natalie DeMasi, research team leader at Cutting Edge Information. "But other types of data -- such as health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) -- are becoming increasingly more important in the pharmaceutical industry."

According to the study, a Top 10 pharmaceutical company reports including health outcomes research as a big part of their medical affairs strategy. The vice president of strategy at this Top 10 company explained, "The data that we generate to support the launch, the pricing, the real-world views of the drug have grown, and the demand is growing. To be successful, this real-world evidence is absolutely critical."

The HEOR revolution is an emerging trend even for smaller pharmaceutical companies, the study found. A surveyed C-level executive at a small life science firm believes that, in this new healthcare environment, "the ability of an organization to have a strong HEOR function as well as adapt to the changing conditions of healthcare is pivotal to having a successful medical affairs team."

Designing Medical Affairs Strategy, available at https://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/product/medical-affairs-strategy/, focuses on the different factors life science teams consider when designing launch plans. This report presents profiles and case studies of medical affairs product launch strategies, as well as the challenges medical affairs teams face when communicating launch strategy success to upper management. In developing this research, Cutting Edge Information's analysts collected surveys from and consulted with medical affairs leaders at top pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies.

Designing Medical Affairs Strategy is part of a 10-part series that Cutting Edge Information will be publishing throughout 2017. The Medical Affairs Product Launch Series, available at https://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/product/medical-affairs-product-launch-series/, investigates how medical affairs resources and key performance indicators (KPIs) shift between two years prior to launch, one year before launch, launch year and during the product's first year on market.