Company:
News and Publications
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information contact:
Stephanie Stiles, Director of Marketing
phone: 781.273.5480
sstiles@putassoc.com
Kevin J. Gorman to Chair Panel and Speak at 2009 BIO International Convention
Global Market Access for Innovative Biologic Products
to be Examined in a Panel Discussion
May 15, 2009 -- Putnam Associates, a Boston-based strategy consulting firm serving the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries globally, is pleased to announce that Kevin J. Gorman, Managing Partner, will speak as chair and panelist at the 2009 BIO (Biotechnology Industry Organization) International Convention (www.bio.org), held in Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center on May 18-21, 2009.
The panel is entitled "The Struggle to Maintain Global Market Access for Innovative Biologic Products: Strategic, Economic and Product Security Perspectives." Other panelists include: Alice Pomponio, Senior Director of Global Public Policy, Genzyme Corporation; Dr. Celynda Tadlock, Vice President, WellPoint NextRx; and Bonni Kirkwood, Senior Manager, Deloitte Consulting LLP.
In remarks prepared for the conference responding to a question posed to his panel on offering insight on the statement, "Opportunities to spend are unlimited; resources are not, yet decisions must be made," Mr. Gorman stated:
"Concerns about high costs of therapy and value received for resources spent are leading to increased restrictions on biologics by payers in the U.S. and other Western healthcare systems. Limited patient access to a drug can significantly impact both product and company valuations, and have broad implications for patients and trial design. A robust pipeline of new products and expanding indications for existing therapies only increases pressure on payers to manage biologics. Additionally, the safety and security of these drug products is vital from both the product and IP perspective.
"Each product currently in development or anticipating additional indications will receive increasing scrutiny from an access perspective. As investors and executives make decisions on companies and products to pursue, issues concerning patients' populations that will ultimately have access to their products are growing.
"Getting a product through development and to the market is only half the battle. Without solid strategies to achieve and retain access to patients there may be little gold in the pot at the end of the rainbow.
"The battle for access will demand increasingly creative designs that take into account the needs of the payer customer. Forms of risk sharing and annual caps on therapy cost will be experimented with. True innovation will still command access and premium pricing, but increasingly the initial pricing decision will be a multi-dimensional affair balancing the probable reactions of many stakeholders."
Kevin J. Gorman is the Managing Partner and Founder of Putnam Associates. Prior to establishing Putnam in 1988, Kevin worked for strategy consulting firms in Europe and Boston. He was a member of the White House staff under President Carter and served as Assistant to the Undersecretary of Energy. Over the past two decades his practice has been devoted to working with life science companies to establish and maintain competitive advantage for their businesses. His recent thought leadership publications include: "Alliance Management — Fix it Before it Breaks: Alliance Diagnostic and Repair" and "Not Your Father's Generics: How a Rapidly Changing Global Generics Industry is Challenging Lifecycle Planning." He is an author and the editor of The First Twenty Years are the Hardest: Two Decades in Healthcare Strategy, a recently published book of collected essays from a variety of expert perspectives on changes in the competitive healthcare environment over the past two decades. Kevin received his BA from Boston College and his MBA from Harvard Business School.
Putnam Associates (www.putassoc.com) is a strategy consulting firm headquartered in Boston, founded in 1988, advising the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, diagnostics, and medical device industries on a global basis. Two decades of experience and focus in their industries enable them to create significant value for their clients. Creative and disciplined strategy development processes blend with deep market knowledge for one purpose: to help their clients succeed. The company's partnership includes: Kevin J. Gorman, Managing Partner (BA, Boston College; MBA, Harvard Business School); Richard J. Tinsley, Partner (BA, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; MA, Stanford University; MBA, Stanford University); John A. Gordon, Partner (BA, summa cum laude, Tufts University; MBA, Harvard Business School); Eric C. Auger, Partner (BA, Providence College; MA, Boston University); and Domenick Bertelli, Partner (B.A. Harvard University; MBA, MIT Sloan School of Management).