Dr Richard Willke on Using Real-World Data to Inform Value-Based Contracts

There is a trend of making value-based deals to pay for treatments in order to ensure the drug works as advertised while also protecting payers from financial risk, explained Richard J. Willke, PhD, chief science officer of ISPOR.

Transcript

What is the importance of real-world data as more payers look to make value-based deals with pharma companies (such as the contracts Harvard Pilgrim signed with Eli Lilly for Forteo and Amgen for Enbrel)?

All I know about these agreements is what I’ve seen in the media, but they are part of a trend towards using real-world data to supply more information for these performance-based risk-sharing agreements. They generally base these agreements and the payments for these agreements on outcomes of treatment—and I think that’s the basis for the Enbrel deal—but they can be on another measure, like adherence, which as I understand is the basis for the Forteo deal.

Usually the underlying rationale is that the producer gets full payment if the treatment performs as advertised or as labeled. And if it doesn’t, then the payer is protected from some of the financial risk of the deal. The only way you know how it’s performing is to collect data on the outcomes, so most of these deals are accompanied by a careful data collection plan.