HEOR

Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR) is an essential part of the Abacus Medicine Pharma Services commercialisation solution. It serves as a critical framework for evaluating the real-world value of medical interventions, encompassing aspects such as cost-effectiveness, patient outcomes, and broader societal impact, ensuring that our health economic models capture the experiences of patients, payers, and clinicians. In the context of rare diseases, where patient populations are small and clinical data can often be limited, a robust HEOR strategy is an essential component to a successful drug launch.

How we work

HEOR is a key part of our work with new drugs and products in the rare disease space through the product lifecycle. We employ it at multiple stages of the journey, from shaping market access solutions to evaluating in-market performance and adjusting local pricing strategies. As a key tool for decision-making, we employ it across our many departments and functions, and in our cross-functional teams.

One of the key roles HEOR studies play in the development and roll out of our commercialisation solutions is in generating evidence to support the value proposition of a novel therapy in rare diseases. We use it in our market access work, to determine economic projections, guide healthcare coverage and access decisions and identify markets that will have the most favourable outcomes.

Crucially, we use it to understand how clinicians prescribe drugs, and how they perform for real patients. Using HEOR, we can add real-world insights and model cases that capture the experience of patients, clinicians, and payers, to develop the best strategy.

Harnessing real-world experience

Real-world evidence (RWE) studies, patient registries, and observational research can provide valuable insights into the long-term safety, efficacy, and economic impact of the drug. By leveraging HEOR methodologies, we demonstrate the value of their intervention to stakeholders, including patients, physicians, payers, and regulatory authorities. 

 It all enables us to enrich models and ensure that product value claims are quantified and proven in the accompanying Health Economic models. Our deep focus on data – something Abacus Medicine has taken very seriously since its launch over 20 years ago – allows us to support decision making and reduce the element of doubt, leading to the strongest possible outcomes.

Underpinning the optimum pricing strategy

Given the high development costs associated with rare disease therapeutics and the small patient populations, pricing decisions must balance affordability with the need for sustainability and innovation. The data helps to quantify the economic burden of the disease, assess the cost-effectiveness of the new intervention compared to existing treatments (if any), and justify the proposed pricing strategy. By demonstrating favorable cost-effectiveness and improved patient outcomes, we can strengthen your negotiation position with payers and secure favorable reimbursement agreements.

Delivering success for all parties

A strong HEOR strategy is essential for any business aiming to successfully launch a drug in the rare diseases segment of the pharmaceutical industry. By leveraging HEOR methodologies as part of our end-to-end commercialisation solution, we generate the evidence required to support the value proposition of their intervention, optimise pricing and reimbursement strategies, and navigate the complex landscape of orphan drug development. Through demonstrating the clinical and economic value of their therapies, together we can improve patient access to life-changing treatments and achieve commercial success in the rare disease market.