Conference Connect: Tackling the Issues that Matter in the Access Space

The commercial, financial, and operational teams that represent pharmaceutical manufacturers gathered at Washington, DC’s Mayflower Hotel in late October for the Access Insights Conference, which is cohosted by IntegriChain, Blue Fin Group, and Federal Compliance Solutions.

Pharmaceutical Commerce was in attendance, both as a conference sponsor and a provider of editorial content. The event’s mission was to offer the latest strategies, insights, trends, and tactics for data-driven access and commercialization. There was a plethora of educational seminars devoted to those areas. A sample of the featured sessions included:

• “Financial Headwinds and Tailwinds to Commercialization” (Keynote)
• “Strategies for Using the New Federally Mandated Price Transparency Data in Pharma”
• “Healthcare Policy Interpretation: Mapping Out the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Moves on the Chessboard”
• “Playing the Chess Endgame–Healthcare Policies Targeting Drug Commercialization”

Although all were impactful, I felt that the keynote—being that it was the very first session—was successful in setting the tone for the rest of the event for a multitude of reasons. Bill Roth, general manager and managing partner of IntegriChain’s consulting business, which includes Blue Fin Group, delivered the keynote. He is also a regular Pharma Commerce columnist. He discussed the frontline trends today impacting healthcare business; described how he believes the gross-to-net bubble will change market access and channels; noted the ways to navigate specific archetypes and portfolios; and provided a summary and recommendation of next steps.

Roth's candor when kicking things off appeared to be appreciated by attendees.

“The information I’m going present to you guys this afternoon is not rosy. We’re not in a good spot as an industry,” he said. “There are lots of businesses that are in pain right now. ... We’re not here to sell anything. We’re not here to pitch anything. This is not about money for us. This is about our industry needing help, and I think if we recognize where we have pain and we come together as a community, we’ll be able to solve the problems that are in front of us.”

The editorial team also conducted on-site video interviews with multiple subject matter experts, including the aforementioned Roth; William Sarraille, a professor at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law; and Albert Thigpen, co-founder of Talentwise Consulting.

Access Insights will once again be held at the Mayflower Hotel next year, slated for Oct. 27-29, 2025.

For more on this year's event, and our conference coverage in general, including session write-ups and exclusive video interviews, please visit pharmaceuticalcommerce.com/latest-conference.