Vizient, Inc. recently hosted its inaugural Insight: Cell, Gene, and Specialty Pharmacy Symposium in Atlanta, bringing together key players in healthcare to discuss the opportunities and challenges in the rapidly growing market of high-cost, ultra-specialty pharmaceuticals. The three-day event attracted leading healthcare providers, payers, manufacturers, and stakeholders.
The symposium addressed the significant promise of advanced therapies, with 22 ultra-specialty treatments already approved in the U.S., priced from $450,000 to $4.25 million for a single dose. Forecasts suggest this market could reach $25 billion by 2026.
“These innovations and their transformative potential offer tremendous hope not only for the rare diseases to which they are targeted today, but for broader patient populations as the innovations continue to expand,” said keynote speaker Madeleine McDowell, MD, senior principal at Vizient. “These advancements may ultimately allow us to innovate ourselves out of some of the current public health crises that have been so enduring and so problematic.”
Discussions at the meeting focused on operational and financial hurdles, including managing financial impact, storage logistics, qualification processes for treatment centers, and ensuring equitable patient access.
“Our traditional supply chain, patient care and coverage models have failed to keep pace with the clinical advancement of these medications,” said Steven Lucio, PharmD, senior principal at Vizient. “That has to change if providers and their patients are to realize the full benefit of the enormous investments being made in these areas of disease management.”
Vizient aims to foster rapid innovation in the supply chain, patient management, and coverage processes through events like these and its advanced therapy solutions.
