Why Your Orphan Drug Needs A Global Market Access Strategy

Why Your Orphan Drug Needs A Global Market Access Strategy

Key Takeaways

  • An effective global market access strategy for rare diseases requires a higher degree of regional customization compared to other launch prep activities
  • While regulatory approval in first-tier US and EU markets can often translate on a global scale, as many local regulatory bodies look to FDA or EMA approval as the gold standard, local market access requirements vary significantly
  • This variation includes, among other factors:
    • Price referencing
    • Health technology assessments
    • Public vs. private payer dynamics
    • Rebates and discounts
    • Reimbursement restrictions (e.g., step-through requirements)
    • Real-world-evidence-based payment models
  • Companies must be ready to develop individual market strategies to address these country-specific challenges

Why You Need A Global Market Access Strategy

Each country poses unique challenges in developing a rare disease market access strategy. While some areas face a scattered patient population, others may face challenges such as immature physician and patient advocacy networks. Additionally, the high cost of certain drugs, like gene therapies, are handled differently by different countries. These nuances in market behaviors and structure underlie the importance of looking across the global landscape when developing a market access strategy. For US-based pharma companies, developing a comprehensive market access plan, rather than simply pivoting off a US-focused market access strategy, will ensure the long-term launch plan meets global needs and is positioned for success.

World Map Showing Why Companies Need Global Strategy

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How To Develop A Global Market Strategy

Rare disease companies need to answer complex key questions:

  1. Which markets will be targeted for launch?
  2. How much compromise in pricing is possible to gain access in global markets, particularly given reference pricing?
  3. What evidence is available or will be developed to support global market access?­

The first step in entering a market is to identify which markets offer a path to reimbursement with sufficient pricing potential. The next step is assessing your pricing flexibility, as offering a lower price than in the US or even the EU5 can increase the likelihood of reimbursement in key OUS markets. When making these assessments, identifying patient access schemes, such as named patient supply (NPS), can validate and drive demand. Once an orphan drug gains regulatory approval, companies must be prepared to work with stakeholders, such as patient advocacy groups and KOLs, to demonstrate need for the orphan drug, clinical and cost effectiveness, and drive favorable reimbursement decisions. These stakeholders are pivotal in some markets, ensuring that patients can get treatments at affordable costs throughout the duration of their treatment. As an example, in Brazil, patient advocacy groups work closely with patients to navigate court systems that enable patients to make a legislative case for drug access and coverage before national approval, including for orphan drugs (see more below). 

Rare Disease Brazil Case Study

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External Reference Pricing

External reference pricing adds significant complexity to global market access strategy as the application of referencing varies greatly among countries, including:

  • Product Applicability: categories of products for which referencing is applied, including referencing only for drugs in a specific care setting (e.g., inpatient hospital), innovative medicines for which there is no alternative available on the market, or high-cost medicines
  • Basket Composition: both the total number and specific countries selected to include in the reference basket (typically selected based on comparable GDP per capita)
  • Calculation Method: use of either an average price or selection of the lowest price of basket countries
  • Decision Process: whether used as the main systematic criterion (most common) or as supportive information only when setting a drug price
  • Re-evaluation: pricing must be re-evaluated frequently after initial price is set

In Europe, the vast majority of countries use some form of reference pricing. With reference pricing, there is increased pricing interdependence between countries. Given the high prices of orphan drugs, it is critical for rare disease companies to develop a launch sequencing strategy that factors in price referencing. This could include strategically launching first in high-priced countries without reference pricing, then focusing on lower-priced countries.

Real-World Evidence

RWE is gaining momentum globally as real-world data (RWD) sources become available—specifically electronic health records and claims data that provide a basis for evaluating outcomes. New treatment costs remain high for rare diseases, putting pressure on pharma and biotech companies to demonstrate results for premium pricing with payers. Gene therapies are especially costly due to their complexity, making RWE an ideal tool. A prime example is the AveXis-Novartis approach to payer contracting with Zolgensma, a one-time gene therapy treatment that replaces lifetime chronic therapy for patients with spinal muscular atrophy Type 1, and which launched in the US in June 2019. Gene therapies are breaking pricing norms since manufacturers are only able to generate revenue from “one-shot” treatment for each patient, and Zolgensma made waves with a US price point of $2.1M per patient—the most expensive treatment on the market as of this writing. Novartis worked with payers to establish efficacy-based reimbursement and a 5-year installment payment option to spread payment for treatment over time. With these arrangements, risk is lower for payers, who can pay $425K annually for five years and better justify a patient switch from Biogen’s Spinraza, a chronic treatment estimated to cost $4M+ over a 10-year period. Zolgensma won coverage for 90% of US commercial patients within its first full quarter on the market, with all payers taking advantage of value-based contracting; however, initial uptake of the installment-based payment system was limited.  

Similarly, in May of this year, Zolgensma received conditional approval in Europe with the “Day One” access program, which ensures the cost of patients treated before national pricing and reimbursement agreements are in place aligns with the value-based prices negotiated following clinical and economic assessments. Working within the existing pricing and local reimbursement frameworks, the “Day One” access program for EU governments and reimbursement agencies allows the company to tackle entry into markets faster and with more flexibility. This system sets up a win for each stakeholder: the patient, the health and reimbursement bodies, and AveXis-Novartis. With the Temporary Authorization for Use (ATU) program, it became immediately accessible in France and should be available in Germany shortly. 

Coverage for therapies like Zolgensma remains dependent on demonstrating values, so companies must leverage proof of value when looking to capture new patient markets. RWE and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) provide stakeholders with concrete data to inform formulary addition and clinical trial outcome endpoints.

Case Study USA

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Moving Forward

An effective global market access strategy for orphan drugs must be adaptable to different regions and their unique challenges to be effective. As companies work through the key questions outlined above to create a successful global market access strategy, tools like RWE and external reference pricing can support tackling a large range of location-specific issues.

How Kx Can Help

Our experts evaluate business opportunities, deliver top-notch expertise, and make data-driven recommendations to our healthcare clients. Kx Advisors can guide your organization through the process of developing and implementing a global market access strategy for your rare disease drug.

Contact Our Team Today

Sources

https://www.pacificbridgemedical.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Orphan-Drugs-in-Asia-2017.pdf

http://info.evaluategroup.com/rs/evaluatepharmaltd/images/2014OD.pdf

https://www.europeanpharmaceuticalreview.com/article/62846/orphan-drugs-regulation-eu/

https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/health/files/files/committee/stamp/2015-05_stamp2/5.pdf

https://www.eurordis.org/training-health-technology-assessment

https://www.rtihs.org/sites/default/files/Rare%20Disease%20Webinar%20Slides_Final%20Feb%2027.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4802694/

https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/avexis-announces-innovative-zolgensma-gene-therapy-access-programs-for-us-payers-and-families/

https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/novartis-zolgensma-beats-data-woe-payer-resistance-strong-and-high-interest-ceo

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/05/19/2035354/0/en/AveXis-receives-EC-approval-and-activates-Day-One-access-program-for-Zolgensma-the-only-gene-therapy-for-spinal-muscular-atrophy-SMA.html

https://mapbiopharma.com/home/2020/04/landmark-pay-for-performance-contract-agreed-in-germany/

Rare Diseases – Patient Advocacy

Patient Advocacy Groups (PAGs)

1 in 2 rare diseases do not have a dedicated foundation or research support group. In the US, that number translates to close to 15 million patients navigating a complex journey without a dedicated team supporting them and ultimately seeking out a life-changing treatment. As the rare disease market continues to grow and evolve, so will the focus on patient engagement and advocacy, led in part by patient advocate leaders and community patient advocacy groups (PAGs).

PAGs engage with three primary rare disease stakeholders

Caption: Patient Advocacy Groups work with stakeholders across the rare disease patient journey and can be a valuable partner to biotech companies.

Patient advocacy groups (PAGs) are at the crux of a highly complex healthcare landscape. They play a central role in connecting several stakeholders and work as liaisons between patients, physicians, biotech companies, and community leaders. Companies frequently team up with PAGs to engage patient populations and offer support – such as treatment access and care – to both patients and caregivers. Patient Advocacy Groups also work with community leaders and far-reaching KOL networks to raise disease awareness and influence legislation and / or local policy. Other valuable activities, such as patient identification, clinical trial recruitment, and R&D collaboration, also support the indispensable role of PAGs in the rare disease market.

PAGs come in different shapes and sizes

Caption: Rare disease patient advocacy groups come in all shapes and sizes, supporting patients of many rare diseases at various levels – national or global.

The patient-focused nature of the rare disease space makes working with patient advocacy groups a necessity, not an option. While many companies may know the value that comes from PAG collaboration, they may not know how to go about having these conversations and develop a successful strategy. Companies should first thoroughly understand the various roles PAGs play in crafting an effective strategy and engage with these communities. Companies can take the knowledge they gain from these conversations to raise awareness, improve quality of life, and positively transform the treatment landscape for rare diseases. PAGs can support rare disease companies…

  • …as Patient Advocates

It’s in the name: Patient Advocacy Groups, or PAGs, are there first and foremost to be advocates for patients. PAGs are very close to the patient journey and have a unique perspective on it, including unmet needs and ongoing challenges. These organizations support patients and caregivers in seeking out treatment centers, navigating complicated access pathways, and obtaining financial assistance. PAGs are direct advocates, often lobbying in the public domain and influencing regulators to improve patient access. Biotech companies should invest in long term collaborations with PAGs to create an open dialogue about how to successfully engage with patients, such as marketing tactics or educational tools. These conversations may unearth existing challenges or unmet needs for patients that companies can capitalize on and use to differentiate themselves. Insight into patient unmet needs also provides perspective on what types of services and support patients require, and new product or support offerings can be directly informed by these conversations and custom-designed to meet patient needs. Feedback on existing support services and disease challenges can help companies also refine their customer-facing strategies. 

  • …as Educational Partners

With many rare diseases lacking educational resources, PAGs are crucial to minimize gaps in disease awareness. Besides providing patient and care education, they also work closely with COEs and KOLs to disseminate information about ongoing trials and new treatments, while encouraging patients to explore their options. The ongoing campaigns and awareness efforts often culminate in policy appeals and can even shift the treatment paradigm in the long term. Companies should consider this an opportunity to educate not only patients, but physicians as well, who are navigating a complicated diagnosis landscape with many unknowns. Diagnosis remains a large gap and could bring a big payoff to companies if they are able to develop new tools or tests to increase the diagnosis rate. Companies should strategically align themselves with PAGs to demonstrate a commitment to educating and supporting the patient population – a commitment that will reap impressive benefits later down the road.

  • …as Research Partners

PAG proximity to the patient journey makes them a valuable resource in not only selecting treatments, but in developing them. Like KOLs, PAGs support clinical trials by identifying patient populations and referring patients for recruitment. Furthermore, as the voice of the patient, PAGs are pivotal in pushing novel or first-in-class therapies through the pipeline. Their firsthand experiences with patients can inform clinical trial design, from determining best-fit patient profiles to establishing trial endpoints. As mentioned earlier in this series, an early-stage collaboration can set companies up for success as they think through treatment protocols and, eventually, product commercialization. Questions around clinical trial endpoints, treatment administration, and existing treatment protocols can be very valuable when preparing for drug development and design. Working directly with patients and physicians gives companies a first-hand understanding of their customer profile and can better inform the product and its strategy.

What questions should rare disease players be asking PAGs?

Caption: How should companies guide conversations with PAGS? Companies can look for gaps in the current landscape and identify opportunities to add value to stakeholders across the care continuum.

Patient advocacy groups will always be front and center in the rare disease space, focusing on their patients and advocating for new and effective treatments. Engaging in conversations around the treatment landscape, disease challenges, and unmet needs can present companies with an opportunity to establish a trusted presence in the market. Companies should be excited to partner with these groups and do so early; loyalty within the rare disease landscape benefits all stakeholders – not just the patients.

Rare Diseases – Stakeholder Education

The Role of Stakeholder Education in Rare Diseases

Despite the growing pipeline of orphan drugs, ~95% of rare diseases do not yet have an FDA-approved treatment. This increasing momentum in rare disease R&D has further highlighted the ever-present need for stakeholder education and engagement, which is critical to begin well before drug commercialization. Patients, key opinion leader (KOL) physicians, and other physician specialists supporting treatment are primary players in the rare disease space that influence treatment selection and access to novel therapies. Rare disease stakeholder education plays a critical role at every stage in drug development and commercialization and should be top of mind for rare disease companies regardless of whether they are designing clinical trials or preparing for product launch.

Caption: KOLs play an important role in the patient journey. From diagnosis to treatment access, KOLs support rare disease patients in making important decisions about managing their condition and obtaining the best possible care.

How to Implement Rare Disease Stakeholder Education

Rare disease companies need to engage with different stakeholders to address various pain points along the patient journey and maximize the opportunity for their orphan drug. KOL communities will be especially valuable throughout the drug development process. As a part of tight-knit medical communities, KOLs collectively influence treatment standards and typically have a deep understanding of how access to care and treatment varies across global markets. KOLs will be play important roles in:

  • Diagnosis: Timely diagnosis remains a major challenge for rare diseases; on average, patients wait close to 5 years and visit over 7 physicians before an accurate diagnosis is made. Delayed diagnosis can further complicate the patient pathway, often increasing the number of interventions required after the disease has progressed. Dedicated education efforts targeting physicians and patients, as well as improved testing access, can ensure accurate and earlier diagnoses.  Companies should look at this as an opportunity to educate stakeholders and develop genetic tests to increase diagnosis rates and maximize patient adoption. While there are currently no genetic tests available for many rare conditions, competition to develop effective diagnostic tests will increase after a disease modifying treatment is introduced to the market. KOLs can also support development of innovative screening techniques, including using artificial intelligence or predictive analytics with electronic health record data to identify patients at high risk of an undiagnosed rare disease. 
  • Drug development: KOLs play an integral role in drug development, ranging from supporting animal model design, clinical trial design, and designing clinical endpoints (e.g., novel disease severity / quality of life scales). As disease experts, KOLs understand needs, market access challenges, and adoption drivers and should be considered an asset to pre-commercialization efforts for rare disease companies. KOL in-depth expertise and knowledge should be leveraged for refining target product profiles (in particular via advisory boards), understanding treatment barriers across markets, estimating the size of local patient populations, selecting sites and recruiting patients for clinical trials, and supporting market access and reimbursement decisions for regulatory bodies and payers. Companies will greatly benefit from early and global KOL engagement throughout the drug development process – whether as consultants or scientific investigators.
  • Launch planning: KOLs are very familiar with the gaps in the existing patient pathway, and, post drug launch, can provide insights on ideal future-state diagnosis and referral patient pathways. Rare disease companies should continue to collaborate with KOLs to streamline the access pathway and demonstrate their long-term commitment to a given patient population. Post-launch trials also offer an opportunity for KOLs to disseminate information and develop stakeholder education deliverables about achieved health outcomes and / or pivotal trial results with physicians and patient advocacy groups (PAGs). Over time, KOLs become strong advocates for drugs, especially those that they have supported through development, and can be important allies as companies move towards commercialization. 

Caption: Companies looking to launch a new drug should focus on how they can work with KOLs and other stakeholders to best understand local market opportunities, including disease prevalence/incidence, frequency of diagnosis, and likelihood of treatment adoption.

Centers of Excellence (COEs) are another critical component of rare disease stakeholder education. COEs, in conjunction with KOLs and their reference networks, offer rare disease patients specialized care and expertise. COEs combine clinical research, knowledge, and treatment services to become a regional or global “hub” for undiagnosed or recently diagnosed patients. The multidisciplinary approach they take is not only valuable to patients, but also biopharma companies as they enter commercialization stages. COEs are a reliable source of support for companies, referring patients from their centers and supporting commercial activities later down the road. A strong relationship with COEs and their KOLs can mean success for rare disease companies looking to work closely with patient populations and demonstrate long term commitment.

Caption: Centers of Excellence are a critical component of the rare disease patient pathway. Patients seek diagnosis support, treatment advice, and care coordination from experts at COEs across the globe.

KOLs and COEs are key stakeholders in the rare disease space and should be top of mind for companies looking to enter the space. As competition within the market increases, how companies work with KOLs to leverage their expertise and best understand the treatment landscape will become a key differentiator. KOLs, though critical to the market, are not the only stakeholders that companies should keep an eye on. In the next part of these series, we will share why patient advocacy groups are an important ally for both patients and rare disease companies, and how they can successfully work together to introduce new treatments to the market.

 

Rare Diseases – Market Access

AN ORPHAN DRUGS JOURNEY: COMMERCIALIZING RARE DISEASE DRUGS

In this series, Kaiser will explore how rare disease drug companies can develop commercial growth strategies to succeed against the challenges of a high cost and highly specialized market.

2018 saw 91 orphan drug approvals by the FDA – nearly 3 times greater than in 2013 and the highest number of approvals yet – along with over 400 designations for the candidates in development. 2019 is expected to bring even more orphan drug approvals as more companies begin to realize R&D investments in rare diseases. Driven by high pricing potential, significant unmet needs, and favorable regulatory policy, orphan drug sales are expected to balloon to reach $262B in the next 5 years. The market continues to grow more competitive and new technologies are emerging, such as Spark Therapeutics’ Luxturna, which marks the first FDA approval in a new class of one-time gene therapy treatments targeting inherited diseases. In this environment, companies will need to shift their focus to how they can play strategically and optimize the value of their orphan therapies.

 

Caption: Orphan drug approvals are expected to reach a similar level as 2018, with new tissue agnostic cancer therapies poised for approval and increasing market opportunities for emerging gene therapies, especially those enabled by advances in CRIPSR gene-editing. Source: FDA Orphan Drugs Data

 

Caption: Orphan drug sales are expected to grow at an ~11 % CAGR over the next five (5) years and continue to gain share of the overall drug market as sales growth outpaces non-orphan drugs, despite expected introduction of newer generics and biosimilars for non-rare conditions. Source: EvaluatePharma

 

Launching an orphan drug is very different from launching a standard, non-rare disease drug. For companies to successfully commercialize rare disease drugs, they need to understand the critical differences between traditional and non-traditional (orphan) commercial models and rely on a new playbook to capture and maintain market share.

Caption: Rare disease companies face different challenges in effectively deploying their commercial budget, namely in developing the market by identifying patients, targeting leading treatment centers of excellence, and establishing KOL partnerships. 

What makes commercializing rare disease drugs different? Rare disease drug companies need to consider launch from a patient-focused mindset rather than a traditionally physician-focused one. While traditional drugs depend on physician adoption and assume widely educated and diagnosed patient populations, the opposite is true for orphan drugs. Rare disease companies will have to manage their commercial budgets very differently, focusing on patient needs and setting the stage for:

  • Targeted sales force development: In the rare disease drug space, quantity does not mean quality. Sales teams need to address patient populations specifically, ensuring they are reaching the right customers with the right messaging. Small, agile, and cross-functional commercial teams will contrast with the larger, specialized sales teams used for traditional big-name therapies.
  • Stakeholder education: Identifying the right physicians, patients, and care settings is a challenge unique to the orphan drug market. Companies should expect to develop a market where limited educational resources, physician training, and diagnostics tools regularly inhibit accurate diagnoses of patients with rare conditions. Rare disease companies must be ready to develop their markets through targeted educational efforts and be armed with a thorough understanding of the addressable space. Many rare disease companies have established one-on-one nurse case management services to provide “personalized product support” to patients with treatment information, coverage options and authorizations, financial assistance, and care navigation. Examples of these services include Alexion’s OneSource Treatment Support and Shire’s OnePath program.
  • Patient advocacy: Physicians and patient advocacy groups (PAGs) are often an essential part of care management for many patients. By sharing educational resources, helping to address financial issues, and creating awareness for patients to enroll in clinical trials, PAGs present themselves as a necessary resource not only to patients but to orphan drug companies as well.  Drug companies should strategically align themselves with these types of groups to locate and engage patients throughout the drug approval process.
  • Effective KOL partnerships: In orphan diseases, it is common for a small group of specialized physician researchers and Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) to manage and determine treatment for a significant portion of an orphan disease population through reference centers of excellence. Companies should consider involving KOLs with late stage clinical studies to engage patients early and potentially jumpstart early access initiatives, such as compassionate use. KOLs are also valuable assets during drug development; a collaborative approach, for example via advisory boards, fosters trust and confidence in the product all the way through launch.
  • Pricing and market access: For US companies, outcomes-based pricing and value-based contracting will become a primary focus for rare disease companies moving forward. Last year, Alnylam announced a value-based selling strategy for Patisiran, an increasingly popular approach to make the high cost of these drugs more palatable. In contrast, companies launching in Europe will face challenges as the market prepares for continued high cost drug launches and a higher bar is set for outcomes in rare diseases with one or more marketed therapies.                                                 

 

Rare disease drug companies must be ready to actively engage in market development and support targeted efforts within this fragmented arena. In the next part of this series, we will understand why stakeholder education plays a critical role in market development for rare disease drug companies and how they can successfully capitalize on the opportunity despite the unique challenges it presents.