Collaborative perseverance to bring change to medicine access

Recently, pharmaphorum web editor Nicole Raleigh spoke with Herbert Altmann, head of commercialisation and access solutions Europe at PharmaLex, and Casper Paardekooper, partner at Vintura. In January this year, AmerisourceBergen completed the acquisition of PharmaLex (and Vintura, which was owned by PharmaLex).

During the conversation, they discussed the initial expectations for the Joint Clinical Assessment (JCA) framework – including the opportunities and challenges ahead – as well as key learnings from products that went through the pilot phase, and insights into the workings of the JCA process.

The purpose of the JCA framework being to eliminate inequality, reduce redundancies, and speed access and innovation to therapy – streamlining the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) process in Europe – it has been called a ‘gamechanger’ in the assessment of medicines at the European level.

Essentially, permitting equitable patient access to – and, indeed, availability of – medicines is the central concern and the patient voice itself is important also in the process, requiring the input of patient organisations and medical societies.

There is yet a lot to be done at a local level, and the Population, Intervention, Control, and Outcome (PICO) process is of ongoing importance in considerations. That’s not forgetting Joint Scientific Consultations (JSCs) as another important piece in the timeline while matters are pressing, and overcoming the myriad complexities to deliver on promised outcomes is critical.

Overall, it’s clear that an impactable solution is necessary, a harmonised approach – and for small to mid-sized companies, partnering up with experts along the way.

Change, as ever, requires patience and determined – and collaborative – perseverance.

You can listen to episode 90a of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it – and subscribe to the rest of the series in iTunes, Spotify, acast, Stitcher, and Podbean.