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How Technology is Transforming Drug Rebate Management

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How Technology is Transforming Drug Rebate Management

The complexity of drug rebate management has grown significantly in recent years. With multiple rebate structures, evolving regulations, and limited visibility across the process, pharmaceutical companies and payers face increasing challenges in tracking, optimizing, and ensuring compliance in rebate agreements.

Traditional rebate management often relies on manual processes, spreadsheets, and siloed data sources—leading to inefficiencies, errors, and revenue leakage. But technology is changing that. Automation, real-time analytics, and centralized platforms are transforming how pharma and payers approach rebate strategies.

The Role of Technology in Rebate Optimization

Automation and AI

  • Eliminate manual data entry and reduce administrative workload
  • Enable real-time rebate tracking and forecasting for greater accuracy

Advanced Analytics and Predictive Modeling

  • Identify trends in rebate performance to shape better contracts
  • Enhance revenue predictability and inform smarter financial planning

Improved Compliance & Transparency

  • Align rebate operations with global regulatory requirements
  • Provide audit-ready reporting to reduce compliance risks

A Smarter Way Forward with Lyfegen

The future of rebate management isn’t manual—it’s intelligent, automated, and built for scale. That’s exactly where Lyfegen comes in.

Our Rebate Analytics Platform is designed to help both payers and pharmaceutical companies take control of growing complexity. With automation, analytics, and real-time insights at its core, Lyfegen enables your team to:

  • Track rebates effortlessly through a centralized, digital-first platform
  • Uncover missed revenue opportunities with clear, data-driven insights
  • Stay compliant with evolving regulatory requirements and audit-ready reporting
  • Move faster and smarter, eliminating the risks of spreadsheets and disconnected systems

Let’s make rebates work for you—not against you.

Payers and pharma leaders around the world are already using Lyfegen to recover lost revenue and gain full visibility into their rebate performance.

Now it’s your turn. 👉 Book a demo and see how Lyfegen transforms rebate management—starting today.

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Gene Therapies: Negotiating the Priceless-Insights from the Lyfegen 2024 Drug Contracting Trends Report

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Gene Therapies: Negotiating the Priceless-Insights from the Lyfegen 2024 Drug Contracting Trends Report

With price tags in the millions, gene therapies are redefining medicine—and reshaping how we negotiate access to it. For both payers and pharmaceutical companies, these breakthrough treatments present a shared challenge: how do you fund what feels priceless?

From Zolgensma to Hemgenix, gene therapies promise one-time cures for rare and life-threatening diseases. But the financial model behind them can’t follow the traditional playbook. These treatments call for a smarter, more collaborative approach to pricing—and that’s exactly what’s taking root.

Why Payers and Pharma Need a New Playbook

Unlike conventional drugs, gene therapies frontload their cost while delivering benefits over time. That disconnect forces a fundamental rethink of how pricing, reimbursement, and risk-sharing are handled.

According to the Lyfegen 2024 Drug Contracting Trends Report, health systems worldwide are moving toward innovative agreements: outcome guarantees, installment plans, and subscription-based models. These aren’t just experiments—they’re becoming essential tools to balance patient access with financial responsibility.

For payers, it’s about managing risk while maintaining equity. For pharma, it’s about demonstrating value in a way that aligns with clinical reality. Either way, the direction is clear: shared risk, shared benefit.

Global Shifts That Are Shaping the Market

The trends are global and accelerating. In the United States, payers like Blue Cross Blue Shield and Medicaid are embracing outcome-based models for sickle cell gene therapies like Casgevy and Lyfgenia. Brazil’s Ministry of Health uses installment payments for Zolgensma, spreading risk over five years while tying reimbursement to real-world outcomes.

In Europe, countries like Spain and Italy combine restricted coverage with annual reassessments, ensuring that high-cost therapies are only reimbursed if they continue to deliver results.

The message? Pricing innovation is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s the only way forward.

How Lyfegen Bridges the Gap

At Lyfegen, we help payers and pharma move beyond the negotiation table—and into action.

• Our Agreements Library, the world’s largest digital repository of value-based contracts, helps you understand what others are doing and where the benchmarks lie.

• Our pricing simulation engine lets both sides explore scenarios before committing—making deals smarter from day one.

• And our automated platform handles everything from contract setup to rebate tracking, saving time, reducing risk, and driving transparency.

A Smarter Way to Fund the Future of Medicine

Gene therapies will continue to challenge the limits of what we think healthcare can afford. But with the right models and tools, both payers and pharma can find common ground—ensuring that innovation reaches the patients who need it most.

Curious about what’s next in drug contracting?

Download the 2024 Drug Contracting Trends Report for exclusive insights, real-world examples, and global benchmarks.

👉 Get the full report now

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A Bright New Chapter in UK Healthcare: How AI-Driven Reform Will Transform Drug Pricing and Access

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A Bright New Chapter in UK Healthcare: How AI-Driven Reform Will Transform Drug Pricing and Access

The UK government is taking a bold step toward modernizing public services by cutting red tape, integrating AI into operations, and bringing NHS England back under direct ministerial control. This reform signals a shift toward efficiency, innovation, and better patient care—one where AI-driven solutions like Lyfegen can play a pivotal role.

A New Dawn for NHS England

NHS England was originally established in 2012 as an arm’s-length organization to insulate the health service from political interference. Over time, however, bureaucracy accumulated, slowing decision-making and increasing costs. With Starmer’s decision to fold NHS England’s functions back into the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), the system is poised for a fresh start. This restructuring aims to eliminate redundant roles, reduce administrative waste, and reallocate resources to frontline care—ushering in a new era of efficient and accountable healthcare management.

What’s Changing in the UK’s Healthcare System?

A key takeaway from Starmer’s announcement is his strong push for automation. The government is aiming to cut administrative costs by 25%, ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: patient care.

Some of the expected changes include:

  • Investing in AI & Digital Tools – Automating processes to enhance efficiency and decision-making.
  • Hiring More Digital Experts – Training 2,000 new tech apprentices by 2030, with 10% of civil servants working in tech roles.
  • Reducing Administrative Waste – Freeing up time and funds by using AI to handle repetitive tasks, allowing healthcare professionals to focus on patient outcomes.

The Impact on Drug Prices and Healthcare Access

By integrating NHS England’s functions into the DHSC, the government is positioned to strengthen and streamline negotiations with pharmaceutical companies. This shift could lead to:

  • Lower Drug Prices – Reduced bureaucracy means more direct resources for securing better pricing.
  • Stronger Negotiating Power – Direct ministerial oversight can drive sustained cost reductions rather than short-term fixes.
  • Faster Access to Medicines – Savings from automation and efficiency gains can be reinvested into reducing wait times and improving treatment availability.
  • Enhanced Value-Based Care – AI tools will optimize drug pricing strategies, ensuring maximum rebates and cost efficiency.
  • Short-Term Disruptions, Long-Term Gains – The transition may temporarily affect drug supply and pricing, but AI-driven analytics will help stabilize and reduce costs in the long run.

The AI Revolution: Powering Efficiency and Innovation

One of the most promising aspects of this reform is the government’s commitment to leveraging AI to transform operations. For an AI-powered platform like Lyfegen, this presents a significant opportunity to deliver real-world benefits in healthcare management. Here’s how Lyfegen can help:

  • Optimized Negotiations – With NHS England now under ministerial control, data-driven pricing will be crucial. Lyfegen’s Agreements Library can benchmark UK drug prices against global agreements, ensuring smarter, fairer negotiations.
  • Automated Contracting – Our AI-powered platform streamlines drug contract creation and management, reducing paperwork and making negotiations faster and more efficient.
  • Real-Time Pricing Simulations – Before finalizing agreements, Lyfegen runs real-time simulations to test different pricing scenarios, identifying the most financially and operationally beneficial outcomes.
  • Capturing Hidden Savings – By automating drug rebate management, Lyfegen detects missed savings, ensuring that every possible dollar is recovered and reinvested into patient care.

Challenges to Watch

While AI promises to revolutionize healthcare efficiency, successful implementation will require overcoming hurdles such as:

  • Data Integration – Ensuring AI systems can seamlessly access and analyze NHS data.
  • Change Management – Encouraging widespread adoption of digital tools among healthcare professionals.
  • Regulatory Compliance – Navigating evolving policies around AI-driven decision-making in healthcare.

A Bright Future for Lyfegen and the Healthcare Sector

Transforming the NHS is no small task. Beyond balancing innovation and cost, the government must manage vast amounts of healthcare data and navigate the complexities of implementing change at scale. However, Starmer’s announcement represents more than just another cycle of NHS reforms—it’s a meaningful step toward a future where efficiency and technology-driven innovation deliver real, lasting benefits to patients.

At Lyfegen, we’re ready to support this transformation by delivering AI-powered solutions that drive real savings and faster patient access. Let’s build a smarter, more efficient NHS together.

Want to see how our AI-powered solutions can support smarter drug pricing and better healthcare access? Let’s schedule a demo today.

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Drug Contracting: Bridging the Gap Between Value and Cost

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Drug Contracting: Bridging the Gap Between Value and Cost

In an era of innovative therapies and escalating healthcare costs, drug contracting has become a cornerstone of sustainable healthcare delivery. Balancing the promise of cutting-edge treatments with financial realities poses a significant challenge for payers and pharmaceutical companies alike. In this blog, we’ll delve into how drug contracting is evolving to bridge the gap between value and cost and how Lyfegen’s solutions empower stakeholders to achieve this balance efficiently.

Addressing the Value-Cost Equation in Drug Contracting

The healthcare industry faces a dual mandate: ensure patient access to life-saving treatments and maintain financial sustainability. This balance is particularly critical in the face of rising costs for innovative therapies such as gene and cell treatments, which can range from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars per patient. For example, the average cost of some gene therapies exceeds $1 million per treatment, creating substantial financial pressure on healthcare systems and insurers.

At the heart of this challenge is the need for value-based frameworks that link reimbursement to patient outcomes. Traditional models—which rely on fixed pricing or volume-based discounts—are no longer adequate to address the uncertainties associated with high-cost therapies. These uncertainties include the long-term effectiveness of treatments, variability in patient response, and potential complications that may arise over time.

Moreover, there is increasing pressure from governments and regulatory bodies to ensure affordability without compromising access. For instance, in Europe, innovative reimbursement models are gaining traction, with over 50% of countries exploring outcome-based agreements as a way to manage budgetary constraints. Similarly, in Asia, the growing adoption of health technology assessments (HTAs) underscores the focus on aligning drug pricing with real-world effectiveness.

For payers, these dynamics mean embracing tools that provide clarity on financial risks while ensuring that patients receive timely access to treatments. Pharmaceutical companies, on the other hand, face the challenge of justifying the high costs of their therapies through transparent data and measurable outcomes. Success in this evolving landscape requires collaboration between stakeholders, data-driven decision-making, and the adoption of technology platforms that streamline the contracting process.

Overcoming Complexity with Innovative Solutions

Traditional pricing models often struggle to account for the long-term impacts of high-cost therapies. To address these challenges, stakeholders are increasingly adopting value-based contracting models that tie payment to outcomes. However, implementing these models requires sophisticated data analysis, scenario planning, and a commitment to shared goals.

Lyfegen’s suite of tools is designed to simplify and optimize the drug contracting process, enabling payers and pharmaceutical companies to achieve their objectives efficiently. Here’s how:

1. Lyfegen Agreements Library: This comprehensive digital repository offers access to over 6,000 public agreements and 20 unique pricing models.

  • Accelerate Research and Decision-Making: Users can analyze agreements from 33 countries, covering more than 550 drugs, to identify strategies that align with their specific needs.
  • Drive Evidence-Based Choices: With insights from over 150 manufacturers, stakeholders can adopt proven contracting frameworks that support patient access while managing costs.

2. Lyfegen Drug Contracting Simulator: This tool empowers users to simulate pricing scenarios and evaluate their financial implications in real-time.

  • Enhance Negotiation Precision: Run multiple pricing models to compare scenarios, build compelling business cases, and select optimal strategies.
  • Facilitate Collaboration: Share simulations across local and global teams to align on evidence-based decisions quickly.

3. Lyfegen Rebate Analytics Platform (ARA): Optimize rebate management with seamless automation and centralized processes.

  • Ensure Contract Compliance: Identify, calculate, and claim all rebates based on agreement parameters, reducing missed opportunities.
  • Improve Financial Performance: Automate data input, mapping, and dispute resolution to save administrative costs and recover lost revenue.
  • Centralize Agreement Management: Consolidate agreements, claims, and invoices in a secure digital repository, simplifying tracking and management.
  • Enable Secure Data Sharing: Share data confidently with pharmaceutical partners using built-in privacy features.

The Time to Act Is Now

Adopting innovative drug contracting strategies can make the difference between missed opportunities and successful outcomes. Lyfegen’s solutions, are here to help you design contracts that balance value and cost effectively. Book your demo today to see how these tools can support your goals.

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Why Q1 Is Critical for Pharma Rebate Management

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Why Q1 Is Critical for Pharma Rebate Management

The first quarter of the year is a pivotal time for the pharmaceutical industry. As budgets are finalized and contracts renegotiated, Q1 sets the stage for how effectively organizations manage rebates, optimize costs, and deliver value.

For those navigating the complexities of pharma rebate management, Q1 offers unique opportunities to streamline workflows, review existing agreements, and ensure every rebate maximizes its potential. This period isn’t just about planning, it’s about implementing smarter processes to stay ahead in an increasingly dynamic healthcare landscape.

Why Rebate Management Deserves Q1 Attention

  1. Reviewing Performance

Q1 is the ideal time to evaluate rebate performance from the previous year. Were the agreements aligned with expectations? Did they deliver the promised value?

By assessing past performance, teams can identify underperforming agreements and opportunities for improvement. This ensures resources are allocated to agreements that drive measurable results.

  1. Optimizing Current Workflows

Rebate workflows are often complex, requiring significant manual effort for tracking, reconciliation, and reporting. In Q1, organizations have the opportunity to implement systems that:

  • Reduce administrative burdens.
  • Automate repetitive tasks.
  • Provide real-time visibility into rebate performance.

Streamlining workflows early in the year creates efficiencies that save time and resources throughout the year.

  1. Negotiating Future Agreements

The first quarter is also critical for renegotiating rebate terms with manufacturers and payers. Updated contracts may include:

  • A move to outcome-based agreements, which tie rebates to specific performance metrics.
  • Adjustments to existing terms based on market changes.

Teams equipped with data from previous agreements are better positioned to negotiate terms that align with strategic goals.

The Role of Technology in Pharma Rebate Management

Technology is transforming how organizations approach pharma rebate management. Tools like those offered by Lyfegen enable teams to:

  • Automate workflows: Reduce manual effort in tracking and reconciliation.
  • Gain transparency: Access clear, real-time insights into rebate agreements.
  • Optimize decisions: Use data-driven analytics to evaluate and renegotiate agreements.

For example, Lyfegen’s platform simplifies rebate tracking and provides actionable insights, ensuring organizations maximize their rebate potential while minimizing inefficiencies.

Start your year smarter!

Q1 is the time to rethink and refine your approach to pharma rebate management. With smarter workflows, clearer insights, and a focus on data-driven strategies, your team can unlock measurable savings and operational excellence.

Book a demo today to discover how Lyfegen’s solutions can simplify your rebate workflows and set you up for success in 2025.

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Lyfegen and EVERSANA Collaborate to Revolutionize Drug Pricing and Access with AI-Driven Insights

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Lyfegen and EVERSANA Collaborate to Revolutionize Drug Pricing and Access with AI-Driven Insights

Basel, Switzerland –28, January 2025 -  Lyfegen, a global innovator in drug market access, pricing, and rebate management, has announced a transformative collaboration with EVERSANA®, a leading provider of global commercial services to the life sciences industry, to revolutionize drug pricing and access through artificial intelligence-driven insights.  

By combining data and information from the global pricing and market access platform, NAVLIN by EVERSANA®, with Lyfegen’s Public Drug Agreement Library, the two organizations will harness cutting-edge AI to empower market access and pricing professionals and payers with actionable insights. The joint agreement marks a key step in tackling rising drug costs and improving patient access globally.

Simplifying Complexity with AI

Drug pricing and access are increasingly difficult to navigate, with healthcare payers and pharmaceutical companies facing inefficiencies, missed opportunities, and delays in delivering therapies to patients.

The collaboration combines two leading platforms to address these challenges:

  • NAVLIN by EVERSANA: The industry’s most comprehensive platform, delivers real-time access to global price and access data across 100+ countries and 50+ HTA bodies.  
  • Lyfegen’s Public Drug Agreements Library: A repository of over 7,000 public access agreements, recognized as the world’s most complete repository, delivering real-world strategies for smarter decision-making.

Together, these tools deliver a 360-degree view of pricing trends and access frameworks, enhanced by AI-driven capabilities. This integration helps users:

  • Efficiently link Public Drug Agreements and Price & Access Data in one environment.  
  • Discover agreements tailored to specific market needs.
  • Streamline decision-making using predictive analytics.
  • Quickly adapt to changing market trends and regulations.

Driving Smarter and Fairer Decisions  

Together, Lyfegen and EVERSANA will empower market access teams to make smarter, faster, and more equitable decisions. By combining AI-driven insights with robust data, payers and pharmaceutical companies can reduce inefficiencies and ensure patients receive timely access to life-saving therapies.
 

“Together with Lyfegen we can harness the power of AI to address one of the biggest challenges in healthcare—helping patients get timely access to life-saving medicines,” said Jim Lang, CEO, EVERSANA. “By uniting our expertise and our global pricing innovations, we have the opportunity to deliver a solution that simplifies decision-making and improves access in healthcare systems worldwide.”

A Vision for the Future of Drug Access

The healthcare industry is rapidly adopting AI to drive efficiency and innovation. This partnership positions Lyfegen and EVERSANA at the forefront of this transformation, enabling stakeholders to overcome affordability and access challenges.

“Our mission at Lyfegen has always been to create a more sustainable and equitable healthcare environment,” said Girisha Fernando, CEO of Lyfegen. “Through this partnership with EVERSANA, we are taking a giant step toward that future. By integrating EVERSANA’s price and access data into our combined offerings, we’re not just solving today’s challenges—we’re building a foundation for a smarter, more efficient drug access and pricing landscape.”

About Lyfegen

Lyfegen is an independent provider of rebate management software designed for the healthcare industry. With the world’s largest repository of drug access agreements and a powerful pricing simulator, Lyfegen helps payers and pharma implement and optimize rebates, reduce administrative effort, and understand financial impacts. Founded in 2018, Lyfegen is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. Learn more at Lyfegen.com or connect with us on LinkedIn.  

About EVERSANA

EVERSANA® is a leading independent provider of global services to the life sciences industry. The company’s integrated solutions are rooted in the patient experience and span all stages of the product life cycle to deliver long-term, sustainable value for patients, prescribers, channel partners and payers. The company serves more than 650 organizations, including innovative start-ups and established pharmaceutical companies, to advance life sciences solutions for a healthier world. To learn more about EVERSANA, visit eversana.com or connect through LinkedIn and X. 

Media Contacts

For Lyfegen

marketing@lyfegen.com  

For EVERSANA

Matt Braun

Vice President, Corporate Communications

matt.braun@eversana.com  

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Lyfegen Secures additional CHF 5 Million in Series A Funding to Scale Its Drug Rebate Management Platform Globally

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Lyfegen Secures additional CHF 5 Million in Series A Funding to Scale Its Drug Rebate Management Platform Globally

Basel, Switzerland / Boston, USA – December 11, 2024

Lyfegen, a global leader in drug rebate management technology, today announced the successful close of its additional CHF 5 million Series A funding round. The round was led by TX Ventures, a leading European fintech investor, with additional participation from aMoon, a global health-tech venture capital firm, and other institutional investors. This funding represents a significant milestone for Lyfegen, enabling the company to accelerate its global expansion and innovation efforts, with a focus on extending its reach beyond Europe into new markets worldwide.

Addressing Rising Drug Costs with Intelligent Drug Pricing and Rebate Solutions

The healthcare industry faces increasing challenges with rising drug costs and the complexity of managing growing volumes of rebate agreements. For payers and pharmaceutical companies, manual processes often lead to inefficiencies, compliance risks, and operational delays. Lyfegen is transforming this process with its fully automated platform that ensures secure, real-time tracking, compliance, and operational efficiency at scale.

Today, 50+ leading healthcare organizations across 8 geographical markets rely on Lyfegen’s solutions to streamline 4'000+ rebate agreements while tracking over $1 billion in pharmaceutical revenue and managing over $0.5 billion in rebates annually. These solutions enable healthcare organizations to improve pricing strategies, accelerate access to modern treatments, and better manage rebate complexities.

Learn more about Retrospective Payment System

Scaling Globally with a Leading Rebate Management Platform

Already used by healthcare payers and pharmaceutical companies in Europe, North America, and the Middle East, Lyfegen’s rebate management platform is poised for broader global deployment. By automating rebate management, the platform enables healthcare organizations to simplify complex agreements, save time, reduce errors, and enhance financial performance.

“The market for innovative and personalized treatments is expanding rapidly, but with that comes increasingly complex and costly pricing models,” says Girisha Fernando, CEO of Lyfegen. “Lyfegen’s automated solution simplifies this complexity, helping payers and pharmaceutical companies unlock the full potential of rebates while improving patient access to modern treatments. With this funding and our new partners, we’re ideally positioned to accelerate our growth and make a meaningful impact globally.”

Jens Schleuniger, Partner at TX Ventures, adds: “Lyfegen is at the forefront of innovation, offering payers and pharmaceutical companies a powerful solution to address the rising complexities of pharma rebates. We’re proud to lead this funding round and support Lyfegen’s mission to bring greater efficiency and cost savings to healthcare systems worldwide.”


About Lyfegen

Lyfegen is an independent provider of rebate management software designed for the healthcare industry. Lyfegen solutions are used by health insurances, governments, hospital payers, and pharmaceutical companies around the globe to dramatically reduce the administrative burden of managing complex drug pricing agreements and to optimize rebates and get better value from those agreements. Lyfegen maintains the world’s largest digital repository of innovative drug pricing models and public agreements and offers access to a robust drug pricing simulator designed to dynamically simulate complex drug pricing scenarios to understand the full financial impact. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, the company was founded in 2018 and has a market presence in Europe, North America, and the Middle East. Learn more at Lyfegen.com.

About TX Ventures

TX Ventures is one of Europe’s emerging leaders in early-stage fintech investing. The venture capital fund invests predominantly in B2B Fintech across Europe - preferably in seed to series A stage. 


For more information about Lyfegen’s solutions or to schedule an interview, please contact:
marketing@lyfegen.com 

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A New Era in Canadian Healthcare: Lyfegen's CEO Discusses Groundbreaking Collaboration

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A New Era in Canadian Healthcare: Lyfegen's CEO Discusses Groundbreaking Collaboration

In an industry often characterized by incremental changes, Girisha Fernando, the CEO and founder of Lyfegen, is making leaps. We sat down with Fernando to discuss the recent landmark partnership between Lyfegen and Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services—a collaboration that heralds a significant shift in the Canadian healthcare landscape.

 

Your partnership with Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services is quite a milestone. Can you share with us what this means for the current state of rebate management in Newfoundland?

Girisha Fernando (GF): Absolutely. This partnership is a transformative step for rebate management in Newfoundland. The current system, largely manual and complex, is ripe for innovation. With our digital platform, we're bringing a level of automation and accuracy that was previously unattainable. This means more efficient processing, less room for error, and a better allocation of resources, which is critical in healthcare.

That’s quite an advancement. And how does this impact the management of drug products, especially in areas like oncology?

GF: It’s a game-changer, especially for critical areas like oncology. Newfoundland and Labrador, as the first in Canada to use our platform, sets a precedent. The region, through the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance, has been managing complex product listing agreements for drugs, including those for oncology. These agreements are vital for making treatments affordable. Our platform simplifies this, managing the various terms of these agreements efficiently, which is crucial for timely and affordable access to treatments.

It seems like a significant step forward for healthcare management. How does this align with the broader goals of Lyfegen?

GF: This partnership aligns perfectly with our goal to make healthcare more accessible and efficient. Automating the rebate process in Newfoundland and Labrador, especially for critical treatments in oncology, directly contributes to the sustainability and accessibility of healthcare treatments.

Looking to the future, what does this partnership mean for Lyfegen and healthcare systems globally?

GF: This is just the beginning. We're looking to extend our platform to healthcare systems around the world. Our aim is to make this technology a standard in healthcare management, fostering more efficient, sustainable, and equitable healthcare systems globally.

Read more about the partnership in the official press release.

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Swiss health insurance Sympany implements Lyfegen Platform to efficiently execute complex value & data-driven agreements for high-priced medication.

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Swiss health insurance Sympany implements Lyfegen Platform to efficiently execute complex value & data-driven agreements for high-priced medication.

 

Basel, Switzerland, October 27, 2021

Lyfegen announces that Swiss health insurance Sympany is using the Lyfegen Platform to implement & execute complex drug pricing models. Sympany applies the Lyfegen Platform to execute and efficiently manage all value and data-driven pricing models. Sympany gains efficiency and transparency in managing pricing models with the Lyfegen Platform. It offers many pricing models, including pay-for-performance, combination therapy and indication-based models.

 

The Lyfegen Software Platform digitalises all pricing models and automates the management and execution of these agreements between health insurances and pharmaceutical companies. This is done using real-world data and machine learning enabled algorithms. With the Lyfegen Platform, Sympany is also creating the basis for sustainably handling the increasing number of value-based healthcare agreements for drugs and personalized Cell and Gene therapies. These new pricing models allow health insurances to better manage their financial risk by only paying for drugs and therapies that benefit patients.

 

"The Lyfegen Platform helps Sympany execute complex pricing models efficiently, securely and transparently. We are pleased to extend our pioneering role in the health insurance industry by working with Lyfegen. This is another step for Sympany to provide our customers with the best possible access to therapies in a sustainable way," says Nico Camuto, Head of Benefits at Sympany, about the use of the Lyfegen Platform.

Girisha Fernando, CEO of Lyfegen, says: "We are very proud to support Sympany in strengthening its focus on value creation, efficiency and transparency amidst the growing complexity of pricing models. It is clear that the trend is increasingly towards complex pay-for-performance arrangements. Ultimately, our goal is to help patients receive their much-needed treatments while helping health insurances better manage risk and cost."

The Lyfegen Platform aims to help patients access innovative medicines and treatments by enabling innovative drug pricing agreements. The Platform collects and analyzes real-time pricing data, allowing health insurances and pharmaceutical companies to obtain relevant information on drug benefits and related financial planning.

 

About Sympany

Sympany is the refreshingly different insurance company that offers tailored protection and unbureaucratic assistance. Sympany is active in the health and accident insurance business for private individuals and companies, as well as in the property and liability insurance business, and is headquartered in Basel. The group of companies under the umbrella of Sympany Holding AG comprises the insurance companies Vivao Sympany AG, Moove Sympany AG, Kolping Krankenkasse AG, and Sympany Versicherungen AG, as well as the service company Sympany Services AG.

In 2020, profit amounted to CHF 68.8 million, of which Sympany allocated CHF 27.5 million to the surplus fund for the benefit of its policyholders. Total premium volume amounted to CHF 1,058 million. With 575 employees, the company serves around 257,100 private customers, of which around 204,500 are basic insurance policyholders under the KVG. In the corporate customer business, Sympany offers loss of earnings and accident insurance.

More about Sympany: https://www.sympany.ch

 

About Lyfegen

Lyfegen is an independent, global software analytics company providing a value and outcome-based agreement platform for Health Insurances, Pharma, MedTech & Hospitals around the globe. The secure Lyfegen Platform identifies and operationalizes value-based payment models cost-effectively and at scale using a variety of real-world data and machine learning. With Lyfegen’s patent-pending platform, Health Insurances & Hospitals can implement and scale value-based healthcare, improving access to treatments, patient health outcomes and affordability.

Lyfegen is based in the USA & Switzerland and has been founded by individuals with decades of experience in healthcare, pharma & technology to enable the shift away from volume-based and fee-for-service healthcare to value-based healthcare.

Contact Press: press@lyfegen.com

Contact Investors: investors@lyfegen.com

 

READ THE OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

BOOK A DEMO

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Lyfegen Launches the World's Largest Database of Value-Based Drug Agreements

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Lyfegen Launches the World's Largest Database of Value-Based Drug Agreements

New York, NY - March 29, 2023 - Lyfegen, a global healthtech SaaS company driving the world’s transition from volume to value-based healthcare for high-cost drugs, announced at the World EPA Congress the launch of its latest solution: the Model & Agreement Library. The purpose of the library is to help payers and pharma negotiate better drug prices while providing an in-depth view on current international drug pricing models and value-based agreements. The database library serves as the basis for successful drug pricing negotiations, resulting in accelerated access and drug prices better aligned to their value for the patient.

 

The shift towards value-based healthcare, rather than volume-based, has been steadily increasing over the years. This evolution has further reinforced Lyfegen's mission to remain at the forefront of analytics and digital automated solutions for the healthcare sector. Indoing so, Lyfegen’s solutions help to accelerate access and increase affordability of healthcare treatments.

 

“Because of rising healthcare costs and the increase of medical innovations, the thirst for knowledge and need for value-based healthcare capabilities has surged among healthcare payers, and pharma companies across the world”, said Girisha Fernando, CEO of Lyfegen. “That is why we are so excited about launching the world’s largest database of real-world value-based agreements. It gives payers, and pharma a unique insight into how to structure value-based agreements.”

The Lyfegen Model & Agreement Library was developed as an accelerated negotiation resource for both manufacturers and payers – allowing them to save on time, money; and for the first time – an opportunity to learn at their own pace without incurring large research projects or hiring expensive external experts. Users of the library are now enabled to make informed decisions in determining the most suitable drug pricing models and agreements for their products.

The database holds over 2'500+ public value-based agreements and 18+ drug pricing models – spanning across 550 drugs,35 disease areas and 150 pharma companies. Its search capabilities are spread across product, country, drug manufacturer and payer – with all the knowledge, insights, current pricing and reimbursement activities shown in near real-timeacross the industry.

“Just an academic taxonomy of models is intellectually exciting but it's not really helping your typical customer”, said Jens Grüger, Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG). “The Lyfegen Platform goes several steps further. Payers and pharma have a problem and they want a solution. The Lyfegen Model & Agreement Library is practical. It offers case examples.”

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The Model & Agreement Library lets the user see the specifics of agreements reached between manufacturers and payers, including which disease areas and drug/device innovations were targeted. This market-leading database allows for one-to-one comparisons of agreements while heightening increased leverage during the negotiations process.

“I like having a palette of contracts that fall under different domains, like disease state, the way the drug is administered, or available evidence. There are different ways to make a contract attractive to us, to pharma, and to our physicians”, said Chester Good, Senior Medical Director Center for Value Based Pharmacy Initiatives at UPMC Health Plan.

This resource represents a breakthrough in the healthcare industry that facilitates the sharing of knowledge – a strong point of discussion that is becoming increasingly more important. Lyfegen is currently providing a limited time opportunity for industry professionals who are interested to try out the Model & Agreement Library with a complimentary 7-day trial.

Learn more and start your free trial now

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Professor Jens Grüger, PhD, joins Lyfegen Advisory Board

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Professor Jens Grüger, PhD, joins Lyfegen Advisory Board

Lyfegen is proud to announce that Professor Jens Grueger, PhD, has joined the company´s Advisory Board. Jens is the former Head of Global Access at F. Hoffmann-La Roche and has led country, regional, and global health economics and outcomes research, pricing, and market access organizations for SmithKline Beecham, Novartis, Pfizer and Roche.

He is a healthtech pioneer, founding his first digital disease management start-up in 1997, has been a long-time scientific reviewer for Value in Health and is the President Elect at ISPOR, the leading professional society for health economics and outcomes research. Throughout his various roles he has been promoting value-based pricing models across healthcare systems. Jens holds a PhD in Mathematical Statistics from the Technical University of Dortmund and is Affiliate Professor at the CHOICE Institute at University of Washington School of Pharmacy in Seattle, USA.

With his vast experience and expertise in healthcare, Jens will support Lyfegen to achieve its mission of facilitating and accelerating value-based healthcare to improve the life of patients.

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Nico Mros named Lyfegen’s Chief Customer Experience Officer (CXO)

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Nico Mros named Lyfegen’s Chief Customer Experience Officer (CXO)

Lyfegen is excited to announce that co-founder Nico Mros is taking on a new role as Chief Customer Experience Officer (CXO). Until recently, Nico held the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Lyfegen. Nico gives first-hand insights on what this shift means for him and Lyfegen.



The choice to transition into this new and exciting role is a logical one as Lyfegen continues to evolve and center all decisions and platform optimizations around the customers and patients needs.

With more than 8 years of experience in healthcare, Nico is a value-based healthcare leader with a strong skill set in project and change management. He is and stays responsible for customer experience and success at Lyfegen and leads the digitization projects for value-based agreements and real-world data insights of Lyfegen’s platform. This change helps to advance Lyfegen’s mission which is to create the most disruptive health tech company by driving the world’s transition to value-based and data-driven healthcare.

What does Nico have to say about his new title and the reasons for the change? We asked our new CXO to share his thoughts with us:

“At Lyfegen, we lived customer centricity since the beginning. This change in title comes natural and underlines for everyone what our existing customers tell us regularly – they feel understood, motivated and purpose-driven when working with us.” Nico says. “As a Co-Founder of Lyfegen I gladly accept this new title, letting go of my previous title as COO which, I honestly never liked. The choice to change this title feels obvious and necessary at the same time. I would say – just right. “

Furthermore Nico sees three main reasons for the renaming of the position which are:

1. The happiness of the customers at Lyfegen is of utmost importance, it is even a key factor for success at Lyfegen. Hence, Lyfegen wants to establish a point of view that focuses unconditionally on customer happiness, allowing to establish trusted and long-lasting relationships with clear point of contacts.

2. Besides acting directly with the customers, a customer-first environment within Lyfegen is crucial. Embedding the customer perspective in every decision, beginning with product design and ending with company strategy, allows Lyfegen to be the customer-centered company we want to be.

3. Keep it simple and understandable. While a COO can have many focuses, the Customer Experience Officer has just ONE: the customer's best possible experience and success.


Further Nico adds: “It is my firm belief that helping customers to gain success and delivering superior experience in every point of contact can be a major competitive advantage, even a unique selling point. As CXO I can guarantee this kind of philosophy from the product to personal interactions. In combination with innovative technology, this is the key to sustainable success.”

Are you ready to become a happy customer?

 

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What does “Mindful Leadership” Mean for the CEO of a Health Tech Start-up – During a Pandemic Era?

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What does “Mindful Leadership” Mean for the CEO of a Health Tech Start-up – During a Pandemic Era?

Our CEO, Girisha Fernando, gives first-hand insights to what it means to be a “Mindful Leader” and how the COVID19 pandemic has impacted his leadership style.



Admit it, you clicked on this blogpost because the question itself raises endless questions. What is mindful leadership? Is it really possible to be a mindful leader in a high-paced (stressful and sleepless) startup environment? Now add the physiological stress of a pandemic to the equation.

Recently I came across one of the live lectures of Simon Sinek (if you don’t know him: google him), focusing on the topic of “mindful meditation for focused leadership”. I was pleasantly surprised to see that mindfulness and mindful leadership is gaining well-deserved attention in the workplace. Before I dive into how I live by this leadership style at Lyfegen, let’s quickly dive into what it means:

What is Mindful Leadership (without writing a Wikipedia essay)?

Mindful leadership is leading while being aware in the present, focusing (in our case) on the road to success rather than success itself, all while interacting humbly within the team and with customers.

When confronted with challenges, a mindful leader will focus on action rather than control, remaining as agile and calm as possible. After all, you cannot always control the output but can influence how the team gets to it.

Example: It unexpectedly starts raining. A controlling leader will focus on the unforeseen rain and how the team failed to get sunshine (despite it not having necessarily been in their power), micromanaging every consequent step.

A mindful leader will stay calm, gearing up on raincoats & boots for his team, enabling and helping them to adapt their strategy in order to reach sunshine.

While this is a rather simplistic way of looking at mindful leadership, you get the overall idea and how this encourages a high confidence, creative, agile, and cooperative environment.

Mindful Leadership at Lyfegen

I am by no means an expert in mindful leadership and have made my share of mistakes. My Buddhist family background has taught me a lot about mindfulness, incorporating meditation into my daily routine.

However, one would think that practicing mindful leadership is harder in a high-paced start-up environment. I disagree: it is exactly in such an environment that, despite the 14+ hour workdays, one needs to stay present. Focus on the now and continuously fine-tune how to “reach the sunshine”, learning from mistakes on the way.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Switzerland hard in March, our team was faced with various challenges in terms of business and speed of implementation. However, team-work was not one of them and for that I greatly attribute this leadership style.

We took everyday as it came and continued, even digitally, to work together like an orchestra in perfect harmony. When comparing to the analogy above, COVID-19 was a true thunderstorm and at the same time, it gave light to a rainbow of opportunities.

My 5 key takeaways for becoming a more mindful leader:

- Focus on the now: optimize how your team works together. The goal will follow as a direct result.

- Focus on the essential: if everything is a priority then nothing is a priority. As a leader, make sure everyone is working towards the same milestones along the road rather than mainly focusing on the goal.

- Always remain humble: treat others the way you expect them to treat you (unfortunately a lot of people in other companies know this but don’t live by it).

- Never be afraid to fail. Let go of fear to unlock maximum potential.

- Always take a moment, as a leader, for self-reflection & calm. At Lyfegen, we have a little room in our office with some bean-bags where anyone can retreat and meditate during the day. If you don’t find me at my desk, this is where you’ll find me.

 

 

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Meet our new in-house detective: Hello to Alina Bratu!

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Meet our new in-house detective: Hello to Alina Bratu!

To build the best software ever, you also need the best team ever. We are meticulous in our selection and delighted to announce that we have found a gem for our junior quality engineer position: Alina Bratu has joined Lyfegen to improve the quality and user experience of our platform. We sat down with Alina to learn about her experience, her goals, and her aspirations.

 

Hello Alina, and welcome to Lyfegen! Please tell us a little about yourself: Where are you from, and what’s your educational and professional background?

Hi! I grew up in the city of Buzau in Romania and currently live in Bucharest. In college, I studied public administration and later decided to pursue a career in analytics. With the recommendation of friends, I decided to move towards software testing – which is the best decision I’ve made!

What excites you about being a junior quality engineer?

I like to view software testing as the work of a detective who follows clues that eventually help them to solve a case. It is a challenging and ever-changing line of work, and the best thing about it is that it truly impacts the delivery of quality products in a tech-driven world.

Why did you decide to join Lyfegen?

The company’s mission to make healthcare more accessible resonated with me, and I was really excited about the opportunity to work on a project that has the potential to impact the world. Working in a start-up environment with such a motivated and talented team is an amazing chance for me as a junior QA to develop my career while applying the knowledge I gained in the past year to something new and meaningful.

What do you want to learn or improve on this year?

My main goal this year is to learn more about the healthcare industry while also expanding my QA knowledge and expertise.

How will your know-how help to improve our customers’ experience of the Lyfegen platform?

As a QA engineer, I am responsible for tracking down any defects that might affect the users’ interaction with the platform. As I enjoy doing this ‘detective work’ and challenging the software in different ways, together with the developers, I can ensure that the user experience will be pleasant and the platform will look and act accordingly.

Let’s get personal: What are your favorite things to do in your free time?

In my free time, I enjoy reading fiction and self-development books and traveling as these activities help me to gain a new perspective and relax. When I’m not engaging in these hobbies, I enjoy cooking, watching movies, and playing board games with my friends.

Is there anything else you’re looking forward to outside of work this year?

I want to achieve balance and start enjoying and practicing my hobbies more. I am also planning to dust off my driving skills as I’ve postponed this for quite some time!

 

We are super happy to have you with us, Alina!

MEET THE LYFEGEN TEAM

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Lyfegen Supports the Sustainable Development Goal #3: Good Health & Well Being

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Lyfegen Supports the Sustainable Development Goal #3: Good Health & Well Being

Nico Mros, Lyfegen’s COO, explains why Lyfegen is a firm believer in the UN Sustainable Development Goals and how the company works towards Goal # 3: Good Health & Well Being.

Chances are that since the pandemic hit, you have at least heard of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. But what do these mean and how does a company like Lyfegen incorporate these in their business?

The Basics

The 17 goals were set in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly with the intention of reaching these by 2030. The interlinked goals are a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we face, including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice.” Each of the 17 goals outlines even more specific targets, which are constantly monitored and discussed between countries.

Lyfegen & Sustainable Development Goal #3: Good Health & Well being

Ensuring healthy lives for all and promoting well being is an essential goal, even more so since the pandemic affected millions worldwide. That said, this goal aims at improving the health of millions of people, increasing their life expectancy and reducing child and maternal mortality. In addition, it addresses persistent and emerging health issues, focusing on providing more efficient funding of health systems. This in turn, enabling millions of people worldwide to have more widespread access to the medication they need.

Specifically, Sustainable Development Goal #3 outlines the following target:

“3.8 Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.”

Sounds familiar? Lyfegen’s mission is to help patients to access innovative therapies by driving value-based healthcare. In other words: Doing what’s right for patients!

The pay-for-performance model, which Lyfegen enables through their value-based contracting platform, allows for more people worldwide to have access to innovative and often expensive medication. This directly addressing the UN’s goal to “provide more efficient funding of health systems” and have more “widespread access to medication”.

With some of the leading manufacturers, payers, and care providers already using Lyfegen’s solutions, a clear step towards supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals is taken. We are proud to be a part of this journey towards a better future!

DISCOVER LYFEVALUE

 

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Hopp Schwiiz: Switzerland leading Innovation in Europe

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Hopp Schwiiz: Switzerland leading Innovation in Europe

In light of Swiss National Day on August 1st, Lyfegen’s CFO Michel Mohler gives his take on the recently released European Innovation Scoreboard & the role of the Swiss HealthTech industry.



A month ago, the European commission released the European Innovation Scoreboard, which provides a comparative analysis of innovation indicators between EU/European countries and regional neighbors. Based on scores for 27 separate indicators, the countries fall into four performance groups: Innovation Leaders, Strong Innovators, Moderate Innovators, and Modest Innovators.

Switzerland is the overall Innovation Leader in Europe, outperforming all EU Member States, as shown in the figure below.

Are we surprised? Since 2012, Switzerland’s performance relative to the EU countries has improved by 22.6% points. This being the second year where the Switzerland’s innovation score even surpassed the United States.

Source: European Innovation Scoreboard 2020



While most know Switzerland for its banks and timely precision, this little country has positioned itself globally as an innovation leader, scoring particularly high due to certain innovation dimensions. For the purpose of simplicity, we will focus on the three dimensions scoring the highest in relation to the EU.

1) “Human resources”: Switzerland scored particularly high when analyzing the quality of talent: this mainly being compromised of new doctorate graduates, population with a tertiary education and lifelong learning.

2) “Attractive research systems”: An attractive research ecosystem, leading in international scientific publications, most cited publication, and foreign doctorate students.

3) “Firm investments”: Overall company innovation and R&D expenditure.

Keeping in mind that the European Innovation Scoreboard is not specifically oriented towards indicators within the healthcare industry, it is unquestionable that the above mentioned dimensions are strongly influenced by the country’s leading position in Healthcare. Life Sciences being a pillar of the above seen growth, strongly dependent on skilled workforce and continuous innovation.

Lyfegen’s headquarters being in Basel, Switzerland, is not coincidental and allows us to be on the forefront of healthcare innovation, contributing actively.

The innovative Swiss ecosystem partnered with Lyfegen’s solutions and patent-pending technology are doubtlessly a winning combination for saving patient lives and driving Swiss innovation forward!

Read the Full report



Sources:https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_20_1150

 

 

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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Innovation Center Revamps Value-Based Payment Models

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is revamping value-based payment models, which it pursues at its so-called...

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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Innovation Center Revamps Value-Based Payment Models

Innovation Center is Shifting Focus from Medicare to Medicaid

 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is revamping value-based payment models, which it pursues at its so-called “Innovation Center” or Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI). The CMMI implements alternative payment models in the government programs Medicare and Medicaid for the purpose of cost containment and improvement in quality of care.

Since its founding in 2010, CMMI has launched more than 50 alternative payment models. An oft-cited success story is the Medicare Part D (outpatient drugs) Senior Savings Model, which the Innovation Center set in motion to test the impact of offering Medicare beneficiaries prescription drug plan options that include comprehensive coverage of all insulin products – including medical devices - with considerably lower out-of-pocket costs. Thanks to a robust public-private partnership between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and entities with whom it contracts - Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D plans, as well as pharmaceutical companies - this model has achieved the goals laid out by the Innovation Center, which include cost savings, improved quality of care, and more equitable outcomes.

The CMMI payment models – sometimes called demonstration projects - are viewed as ways to bypass statutory or legislative obstacles, for the purpose of experimenting with new approaches to reimbursement. Though often piecemeal in nature, demonstration projects can be a fallback option if legislative efforts fail, as they appear to have done with the Build Back Better Act which is currently on ice.

For example, CMMI payment models are incorporating bundled payments for treatment episodes, to reduce Medicare Part B (physician-administered) drug spending through more prescribing of biosimilars and generics and a streamlining of healthcare services.

The CMMI is now shifting some of its focus of alternative payment models from Medicare to Medicaid. Continued Medicaid expansion appears to the impetus behind efforts by policymakers to prioritize equity and reduce inequality in health outcomes. Total Medicaid enrollment has grown to 86 million, an increase of 20% since February 2020.

In October of last year, the policy and programs group director at CMMI, Ellen Lukens, said that “models have been predominantly Medicare-oriented, and have disproportionately served white beneficiaries.” By contrast, relatively few models have centered around Medicaid beneficiaries, many of whom are minorities. That is about to change.

The CMS administrator, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, has laid out a vision for the next decade, one in which CMMI will drive “meaningful change” towards an “equitable” and “value-based system of healthcare.”

To carry out the mission of improving equity, policymakers will explicitly address barriers to participation in CMMI payment models by healthcare providers that serve a high proportion of minority populations. Policymakers also want to entice more underserved patients to register to participate in pilot programs.

The CMMI has undertaken a major review of the Center’s existing payment models to determine what works and what doesn’t. The review calls on the Innovation Center to explore new forms of value-based models in Medicare and especially Medicaid. Here, payment would be tied not only to improved patient outcomes and decreased overall healthcare spending, but also reductions in health disparities and increased patient affordability (lower out-of-pocket costs). Partnering with Lyfegen may be the solution for manufacturers and payers alike, as Lyfegen's value-based payment solution is already widely being used by payers and pharma manufacturers in Europe.

As the Innovation Center embarks on a quest to improve the Medicaid program, using alternative payment models, it may need to consider adjusting its criteria of what counts as a successful model. The equity parts may be easier to measure than certain other objectives. For example, lowering federal expenditures appears to be the overriding goal of the CMMI models, and therefore cost savings to the government their standard measure of success. But, depending on the disease area in question, sometimes cost savings might not be easily achievable, even if the model is very much worth it and may save beneficiaries out-of-pocket expenses. In certain disease areas, improved health outcomes might be a better objective, along with a cost-effective use of additional resources.

About the author

Cohen is a health economist with more than 25 years of experience analyzing, publishing, and presenting on drug and diagnostic pricing and reimbursement, as well as healthcare policy reform initiatives. For 21 years, Cohen was an academic at Tufts University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Amsterdam. Currently, and for the past five years, Cohen is an independent healthcare analyst and consultant on a variety of research, teaching, speaking, editing, and writing projects.

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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is revamping value-based payment models, which it pursues at its so-called...

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The uphill battle for value-based drug pricing agreements may be coming to an end

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The uphill battle for value-based drug pricing agreements may be coming to an end

The high-costs of newer drug treatments make the adoption of non-traditional, value-based drug purchasing arrangements a necessity for healthcare payers and administrators trying to manage their budgets, provide patients with quicker access to the most effective treatments, and reduce wasteful spending on treatments that don’t work. Recent regulatory changes and advanced AI contracting software options are making value-based drug pricing arrangements easier.

 

Even before the onset of the pandemic, annual budgets for public and private healthcare insurers were strained by the high and increasing costs of prescription drugs. Meanwhile, pharmaceutical manufacturers are bringing new and even more expensive drug treatments to market each year. According to Bloomberg, the median list price for a year’s supply of a new drug introduced to the U.S. market in 2021 was $180,007.

Thanks to COVID-19 vaccines and COVID-related treatments, pharmaceutical sales reached record levels in 2021. Sales in North America account for close to half of the total $7.3 billion global market revenue for that year. And since prescription drug prices are higher in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world, the increasing costs of drugs are a top concern for policy makers, healthcare payers, and consumers.

New, more expensive drug therapies are in development

A growing niche and focus for pharmaceutical companies is high-cost cell and gene therapy products. Market analysis by Grand View Research forecasts the global cell and gene therapy clinical trials market to reach a compound annual growth rate of close to 15% and an estimated market revenue of USD 24.5 billion by 2030.

While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved only a limited number of cell and gene therapies so far, expedited approvals of new drugs and favorable designations of new therapies as orphan drug or breakthrough therapies support increasing consumption of these new drug therapies in the U.S. market. The FDA predicts that by 2025, it will approve up to 20 cell and gene therapy products a year.

Healthcare payers and consumers feel the pain of higher drug prices

Even though payers are getting rebates and not paying drug manufacturers’ full list prices, they still have cause for concern as drug prices increase annually. Payers need to protect their annual budgets from outsized expenditures, especially for specialty drugs.

Both payers and patients suffer the effects of high and increasing drug prices. A study of 14.4 million pharmacy claims made from 2010 to 2016 revealed the median healthcare insurer payments for specialty medications rose by 116%; the median patient out-of-pocket costs increased by 85%. Drug list prices during the same 7-year period more than doubled, rising faster than inflation.

Drug manufacturers recognize the need for non-traditional, value-based payment arrangements

A new cell or gene therapy’s price tag may generate as much attention as the drug’s ability to treat disease. For example, one of the most expensive drug therapies in the world is Zolgensma, approved by the FDA in 2019. Novartis Gene Therapies (formerly AveXis) developed the drug to be a cure for around 500 infants born each year in the U.S. with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). A full course of treatment is priced at $2.125 million.

Soon after Zolgensma received FDA approval, some of the top U.S. insurers quickly set up tight restrictions limiting coverage of the treatment. To help payers manage the impact of the cost and ensure patient access to Zolgensma, Novartis offers insurers the option of either a 5-year, pay-over-time contract or an outcome-based agreement.

The list price of Zyntelgo, the latest gene therapy to be approved by the FDA, surpassed Zolgensma as the world’s most expensive one-time drug therapy. Zyntelgo was developed by bluebird bio as a single-use treatment for an inherited blood disorder, beta thalassemia. According to bluebird, Zyntelgo’s price of $2.8 million is a good value when compared to the estimated $6.4 million worth of lifetime care costs for a patient living with beta thalassemia.

Estimates suggest that only around 850 patients in the U.S. will meet the criteria for treatment with Zyntelgo, and not all of those who are eligible will want the drug. Predictions of Zyntelgo’s annual sales revenue range from $64 million to $200 million.

The majority of patients eligible for Zyntelgo are covered by commercial health insurance, with most of the rest using Medicaid. Bluebird is offering payers a sizeable refund if the treatment underperforms or fails. If patients still need blood transfusions within two years after receiving Zyntelgo, bluebird will refund the payer up to 80% of the treatment’s costs.

Payers recognize the benefits of using value-based drug pricing agreements

Outcome-based agreements help payers address any uncertainty about the effectiveness of a new treatment, gain insight into a drug’s value to patient health outcomes, and reduce the risk of overpaying for a low-value treatment. The real-world evidence collected while managing value-based drug arrangements helps manufacturers justify their list price and reinforces refunds and rebates to the payer if the treatment doesn’t deliver results as expected. So why has there not been greater use of value-based drug agreements?

Regulatory barriers to value-based drug purchasing arrangements eliminated

This year, U.S. legislators have addressed most of the legislative hurdles that, in the past, hindered value-based drug purchasing arrangements. Policymakers updated two pieces of legislation to support increased adoption of value-based drug pricing agreements.

The Medicaid Best Price rule was changed in July, allowing pharmaceutical manufacturers taking part in Medicaid to report multiple best prices. This was followed by the passage of the the Inflation Reduction Act in August, which allows Medicare to negotiate directly with drug manufacturers over the prices of some of the most expensive drugs covered by the Medicare program.

Overcoming technological challenges to implementing value-based drug agreements

Another significant obstacle to increased adoption of value-based drug pricing arrangements has been the difficulty in operationalizing complex, data-driven, outcome-based contracts. These non-traditional agreements require a powerful, interoperable contracting software platform with extensive data collection and analysis capabilities to make real-world evidence both accessible and insightful.

To take on an outcome-based contract, an organization has two options. The first is to develop the IT framework in-house and devote management resources to monitor compliance and data security. This option is expensive, time-consuming, and beyond the current capabilities of many organizations.

The second option is to outsource the administrative burden of an outcome-based contract. In recent years, third-party vendors have developed comprehensive contracting software to bridge the gap and help manufacturers, payers, and providers transition from fee-for-service into value-based agreements.

 

The Lyfegen Solution

Lyfegen is an independent, global analytics company that offers a software-as-a-service platform for healthcare insurances, pharma, and medtech companies wanting to participate in value-based drug pricing agreements without making large investments in software upgrades. With extensive industry expertise and a vast library of resources, we can assess your current capabilities and advise and guide you through pre-implementation. Deployment of our customizable and scalable contracting platform is quick and integrates seamlessly into your existing workflow without compromising data security or compliance.

Lyfegen’s software platform includes three-fold functionality to implement value-based, data-driven agreements with greater efficiency and transparency: data ingestion, agreement execution, and insights generation. The Lyfegen Platform collects real-world data and uses intelligent algorithms to provide valuable information about drug performance and cost.

By enabling the shift away from volume-based and fee-for-service healthcare to value-based healthcare, Lyfegen increases access to healthcare treatments and their affordability.

To learn more about our services and the Lyfegen Platform, book a demo.

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The Effect of Value-Based Drug Pricing on Patient Health Outcomes: More of what’s needed—Efficacy, Access, and Affordability

Under value-based drug pricing, the cost of a prescription medication reflects the value of the health benefit patients receive from the...

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The Effect of Value-Based Drug Pricing on Patient Health Outcomes: More of what’s needed—Efficacy, Access, and Affordability

 

Under value-based drug pricing, the cost of a prescription medication reflects the value of the health benefit patients receive from the drug. Patients gain better access to effective, high-priced prescription medications, while health insurers manage financial risk and reduce healthcare costs.

 

U.S. consumers are paying more for prescription drugs

Patients in the U.S. pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. How much higher? Here’s an example:

According to a 2020 study by RAND Health Care, the manufacturer’s average price per standard unit of insulin in the U.S. is $98.70 compared to an average price of $8.81 in other industrialized countries.

Another 2020 study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) shows that, even after discounts and rebates, American consumers and health insurers pay more than double for most prescription drugs when compared to patients and insurers in other industrialized countries. Estimates included in a recent report from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) to the White House reveal patients who use prescription medications spend an average of $1,567 per person on prescription drugs each year.

High drug costs affect patient health outcomes

Patients may forgo treatment when high drug prices make healthcare too expensive. A recent poll of 1,526 adults conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) revealed about 3 out of 10 survey respondents had not taken their medications as prescribed over the last 12 months because of the cost.

Twenty-five percent of those surveyed reported taking four or more prescription drugs—members of this group were more likely to report difficulty affording their prescriptions. Instead of taking their medications as prescribed, the KFF survey found patients who had trouble paying for their medications often did one or more of the following:

  • • Didn’t fill the prescription
  • • Skipped doses or cut pills in half
  • • Substituted with an over-the-counter medication

 

Value-based drug pricing improves health outcomes

Value-based pricing relates the cost of a drug to the clinical benefit patients receive from the drug. When executed correctly, value-based healthcare (VBHC) contracts give patients greater access to effective treatments to improve their health outcomes while insurers pay drug prices that are in line with the value of the health benefit the drug offers.

Determining which drugs produce the greatest positive impact on health outcomes relies on the enormous task of collecting and analyzing patient-level healthcare data. One of the important ways VBHC contributes to better patient outcomes is by providing reliable, actionable, real-world data about healthcare costs.

When real-world data about a high-priced drug shows limited health benefits—or the same benefit as a similar, lower-priced drug—insurers can restrict access to the high-priced drug by requiring strict prior authorizations or increasing patient cost-sharing. When real-world data show a drug is effective, safe, and cost-effective relative to other treatments on the market, both healthcare providers and insurers work to facilitate access to that drug for patients who need it.

 

The Lyfegen Platform supports the transition to value-based healthcare

Lyfegen has developed a software platform that helps health insurance companies, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and medical device manufacturers manage value-based drug pricing contracts with greater efficiency and transparency. The Lyfegen platform uses machine learning to collect and analyze patient-level drug cost data to execute complex pay-for-performance agreements.

If your organization is considering the transformation from fee-for-service to value-based healthcare, Lyfegen can help. Contact us to learn more and to arrange a free demonstration of our platform.

 

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Under value-based drug pricing, the cost of a prescription medication reflects the value of the health benefit patients receive from the...

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Our new Customer Success Hero: Welcome to the Lyfegen team, Simon Amstutz!

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Our new Customer Success Hero: Welcome to the Lyfegen team, Simon Amstutz!

The Lyfegen Team is proud to announce that as of this month, Simon has taken on the new role of “Customer Success Hero” at Lyfegen!



Simon joined Lyfegen 6 months ago as a working student and very quickly, full of motivation and enthusiasm, took on important responsibilities. Supporting Nico in the management of Lyfegen’s customer relations, which include some of the largest pharma companies worldwide, Simon will be accompanying the customers during the entire journey starting with supporting the customer’s in identifying suitable models up to the continuous support of Lyfegen's solutions. By gaining a comprehensive understanding of Lyfegen's customers' needs, he will also be working together with the technical development team to further enhance Lyfegen's solutions.

We are proud to have him as part of the team and sat down with him to give you a little more insight behind the bike-riding, FIFA-loving, “Customer Success Hero”!





Hi Simon, so tell us: why are you leaving large corporates like Roche and UBS to join the start-up Lyfegen?

After working at these two large corporates for several years I felt like I needed to see something completely different outside the corporate world. I was getting too much into a routine and wanted to take on a new challenge. I always had this entrepreneurial spirit in me and when I got the chance to start at Lyfegen, I didn’t have to think twice. Lyfegen offers me the perfect environment and has a great purpose.

You are working already since January 2020 at Lyfegen; what fascinates you the most?

I am really fascinated by the huge enthusiasm and passion of the whole team! Everyone here is very dedicated to leading Lyfegen to success and to driving value-based healthcare forward. I am also fascinated with how many new things I learn every single day and I am very delighted about how much responsibility I could already take over in this short time.

How do you experience the collaboration with the team?

The team has a great spirit and I felt very welcome and involved from the first second. The communication within the team is very transparent and open-minded. Issues can be addressed openly and critique is always given in a constructive way.

Healthcare is changing to value- and data driven models. How do you experience this change with our customers?

Our customers are all very interested in value- and data driven healthcare, but these models are often a new experience for them. With our technical solutions and our know-how, we support our clients to make the transition to value-based healthcare happen. We are now at a stage where we are pioneers and proactively shape the future environment for such models together with our clients.

What are your personal next goals with Lyfegen?

My personal goal is to further grow with the company. Growing not only personally by gaining more experience and continuously taking over more and more responsibility, but also to help Lyfegen achieve its next milestones. I am looking forward to be part of this journey.

We currently have two open positions - What are your recommendation for other talents that are applying at Lyfegen?

If you are applying at Lyfegen I recommend you to be aware of what it means to work in a start-up. You need to be ready to step outside your comfort-zone, be willing to actively drive things forward and take ownership. If this is what you are looking for, then Lyfegen is the perfect fit for you. Lyfegen offers you the perfect environment to further develop yourself and to work on exciting projects that have a real impact and a great purpose, helping patients to access innovative therapies.

Enough about work! What passions do you have outside of Lyfegen?

I love bike racing and being in nature! I can often be found on weekends biking my way up hills and testing my limits! It’s a great way to disconnect and focus on nature. But I’m not always in nature – I must admit, I do love playing video games too, especially FIFA (and am the proud winner of our last Lyfegen FIFA tournament – yes, the team got together for a 8 hour challenge one weekend!). Work hard, play hard!



We are proud to have the Lyfegen team continue to grow with such fantastic team-members!



MEET THE LYFEGEN TEAM

 

 

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