How to maximize patient access at pharma launch through relevant patient perspective research and data collection

Are you looking to reach as many patients as possible at the launch of your next product? Understanding the perspectives of patients can play a major part in making this happen.

Integrating relevant and scientifically robust patient perspective data into launch strategies can provide fast and valuable insights into the how best to launch in each country, how to communicate with patients and healthcare professionals and what changes need to be made to healthcare processes to help increase access.

Here’s how this approach can help:

1. Early Identification of Patient Needs Collecting patient feedback and experiences before launch allows companies to better understand challenges, preferences, and unmet needs. This helps shape product messaging and support services that align with patient concerns, increasing the likelihood of adoption.
2. Timely and Accurate Data Collection Using digital experience, tools and technologies to gather patient information in real time ensures that decisions are informed by the most current data. This provides a strategic advantage, allowing companies to adjust their approach based on real-world patient behaviours and treatment patterns.
3. Scientific Validity for Credibility For data to have an impact, it must be backed by appropriate methods and lead to scientifically robust data. This builds trust with healthcare professionals, regulators, and payers, increasing the chances of favourable market access decisions, healthcare use and expanded patient reach.
4. Effective Communication and Education Patient perspective data informs the development of clear, targeted educational materials that address specific concerns across different groups of patients. Engaging with patients early on also helps raise awareness and drive engagement, further building trust and supporting patient access.
5. A Wider Understanding of Patients Including a larger, more diverse group of patients can help ensure launch strategies address the needs of all populations, promoting diversity, equality, and inclusivity. This helps identify disparities in access and outcomes across demographics like age, gender, and ethnicity. By reflecting a wider range of patient experiences, companies can develop equitable treatment pathway plans, improve access, and build trust with different communities.

By incorporating robust patient data into their launch plans, pharma companies can create more relevant and successful strategies, making new treatments more accessible to a larger patient base from the start.

About me: Having started my career in academic research and teaching at Guys Hospital, London over 30 years ago, I then moved into the commercial world of Clinical Research Organisations and Healthcare Consultancies. I have a strong interest in looking at ways to more effectively and efficiently use real-world data to better support and involve patients, both during the development of new treatments and once launched. I am part of the leadership team at DontBePatient Intelligence , which focuses on the design of patient and healthcare research and in accessing patients both quickly and in appropriate numbers to enable decisions to be made using scientifically robust methods on representative data. Follow me or the DBPi page for more insights every week.