A sit down with Bant Breen on commercializing pharmaceutical solutions.

I recently sat down with Bant Breen on The UNCAGED Show to discuss my career in pharma, and on the future of healthcare and pharmaceuticals. This is an edited excerpt from our discussion.

Bant Breen:

Welcome to Uncaged. Today we're speaking with Anthony Luttenberger. Anthony works in the pharmaceutical industry. He's been a key driver of commercializing pharmaceutical solutions and products throughout his whole career, working at some of the most incredible companies, notably places like Cardinal Health. We'll talk about really the evolution of that space and where we are right now. But before we get into a discussion about pharma and really the commercialization of pharmaceutical solutions, Anthony, tell us a little bit about you and your career.

Anthony Luttenberger:

Yeah. So, thank you again. It's really an honor to be here. So, I've been in the in the health care data and analytics and pharmaceutical space for about 34 years. I started my career carrying the bag as a pharmaceutical rep and took a very special interest at that time data. And I happened to be an aviation enthusiast as well. And there was an old saying around that says ‘great information is the radar by which we all fly’. This kind of sparks the question of why would we be using, you know, outdated data or information? So, for example, if you're flying an airplane, right, would you use a day-old weather record? So, the obvious answer is clearly no. And, I really liked using the data to make decisions. And so back then there was really only one option, and it was drug distribution data by high impact, which is essentially UPS would show up with a three-ring binder and it was about three inches thick. You literally take a phone book to slap you on the back and say, “Hey, go help your customers.” And so fast forward 30 years. Who knew that technology was going to explode? And so, it got really detailed and there was administrative claims data. We would know what transactions were taking place at the pharmacy. We learned that 20-30% of those prescriptions could wind up in your jacket pocket or in the glove box of a car. Then when it gets to the pharmacy based on what could be your plan coverage or certain exceptions, you would get filled or not filled. And then what does that patient journey look like? And technology has enhanced our life in many ways. There's EMR and H.R., the electronic health records and medical records. There's specialty data, there's imaging data and lab data and the connectivity that we're all experiencing from social media to all of the different platforms and learning capabilities that's being applied in health care. So, yeah, really, really enjoyed staying in on the data and health care and analytics side. At the end of the day, it's really about helping patients.

Bant Breen:

I mean, I think one of the things that stood out before we started is that you mentioned that not only did you start as a sales rep, you really experienced almost every aspect of the life cycle of these solutions. And so, you're able to see that kind of pre, the during and the post-information and data. Tell me where we are in piecing that holistic story together.

Anthony Luttenberger:

Yeah, that's a really great question. So, we made tremendous advances, but I still feel like we're in the early stages and early times. So, I am uniquely positioned in that pharmaceutical product lifecycle. So there's your initial NDA and Blaze, which are new drug applications, biologics, license applications, helping companies evaluate whether a molecule or candidate would be viable and helping with pre-clinical work and clinical trials and helping products make sure that they're safe and effective and that they get approved. And then once they get approved, helping physicians and nurses and all of the support that they receive from pharmaceutical companies and biotech and medical device companies on how to enhance that patient experience, really all roads lead to kind of the same area, right? It's about safety and efficacy. It's about driving down cost and cost-effectiveness. It's about increasing access for all. And there are a lot of priorities in health care right now that we are really working hard to make sure there's access for all. And so, all of this is really focused around driving up outcomes, driving down costs and patient experience. What’s interesting is that from diagnosis and treatment data, I see a future where it's going to go more and more into prevention. So, as we get into precision medicine, individualized therapy, and examples are, you know, your DNA genome, your individual digital biomarkers, you know, how can we custom tailor these therapies to help make you live a longer, healthier life. And that's really the focus.

Bant Breen:

Yeah, I love that. And, I mean, I do feel like the general public went from kind of being absolutely ignorant to being so exposed to the pharmaceutical world during the pandemic and then seeing kind of these miraculous speeds of solutions coming to market. Where are we right now? I mean, have things sped up? Have we really made a step change post-COVID in this world?

Anthony Luttenberger:

Yeah, I believe we have. And I think it really started in 2016. The FDA put out guidance called the 21st Century Cures Act, which said, “Hey, guys, add more real-world evidence into your submissions and to label expansions.” That’s, for example, approvals. And so, we've been able to really leverage the data of the technology as we’re exposed to more information. And this is anecdotal, but I think this is really important. You know, we're exposed to more information in 24 hours than most people were exposed to in a lifetime before they lived like in the 17th century. We think about that every 24 hours, whether it's The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, or get on the Internet. People are growing up in a world where there is access to vast amounts of information and we can apply that to drug development to create, you know, safer and more effective treatments at more cost-effective price points.

Bant Breen:

Wow. That’s exciting. Well, thank you for being on UNCAGED today. I really enjoyed our conversation, Anthony W. Luttenberger , and we look forward to having you back on the show.

To see the full interview on the Uncaged YouTube channel, go to:

https://youtu.be/Lv5MNzj30bQ