Market access – An essential investment before drug launch

Abstract

Before introducing a new pharmaceutical/biopharmaceutical agent into clinical practice, local decision makers need to consider not only the costs and benefits of the product, but also the impact that it will have on local health-care priorities and on the manner in which services are delivered. Its use is likely to require updated protocols, new patient information, staff training and changes to the manner in which clinics are organised – all of which can take many months to develop and implement. Hence, timely introduction of a new product relies on the delivery of advance information via a carefully planned market access strategy. Ideally, local decision makers need to receive initial notification of the likely impact of a product at least 18 months before its launch date, with follow-up communications at intervals thereafter. Failure to devise and fund a market access strategy in good time can reduce the company's return on its product. More important, patients may have to wait for access to the new product, and there is a potential for inequality of care when the introduction of a drug is delayed in some areas and not in others.