Perspectives by the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics

Rob Abbott, CEO of ISPOR, joins Perspectives to talk about why health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) has become more relevant for biotech founders, executives, and investors. The conversation challenges the common perception that HEOR is primarily a post-approval exercise used to support pricing and reimbursement. Instead, Rob discusses how evidence generation, economic modeling, and value strategy can shape clinical development, inform investment decisions, and strengthen the commercial potential of new therapies. The episode concludes with a discussion of ISPOR's Healthcare Investment Summit that will be held in September 2026 and will convene investors, drug developers, and value strategists to translate HEOR into early-stage investment decisions and drug development.
Topics discussed include:
Two HEOR activities biotech companies should do before Phase III
Four questions investors can ask management teams to gauge commercial opportunity
Novel applications of HEOR and their usefulness for biotech executives and investors
ISPOR's Healthcare Investment Summit and what biotech leaders and investors might get out of attending
Show links:  https://www.ispor.org/conferences-education/conferences/upcoming-conferences/ispor-healthcare-investment-summit-2026

Ron Lanton, the Founder and President of Lanton Strategies International, joins Perspectives by the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics to discuss the use of trade mechanisms to address pharmaceutical pricing. Ron provides insight into the growing intersection of pharmaceutical pricing and international trade policy, why recent developments could be significant, and what it could mean for biopharmaceutical companies, investors, and patients.
Topics discussed include:
U.S. Trade Representative’s recent Section 301 investigation into Germany’s drug pricing and reimbursement practices
U.S.-U.K. drug pricing arrangement
Use of trade mechanisms to address pharmaceutical pricing
Implications for biotech investors and executives

Dr. Tomas Philipson, former Acting Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers and Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago, joins Perspectives by the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics to discuss a new insurance model he developed that insures biotech investments against clinical trial failure. He explains how this insurance could reshape the way risk is managed in life sciences innovation and could expand access to capital for biotech. The second half of the episode turns to drug pricing policy where Philipson shares his perspectives on current and proposed reforms.
Topics discussed include:
A new insurance model for clinical trial failure
The role of AI in underwriting these insurance policies
Perspectives on the Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare drug price negotiations, and Most Favored Nation pricing
A NATO-style approach to global drug spending
Episode Links:
https://www.mciuw.com/service/clinical-trial-funding-insurance/
 

In this episode of Perspectives by the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, host Mel Whittington sits down with renowned health economist Dr. Peter Neumann following the annual meeting of the Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health (CEVR) at Tufts Medical Center. Drawing from conversations that took place at the meeting, Mel and Peter explore some of the questions that are shaping how innovation is valued globally.
The discussion covers:
Whether cost-effectiveness analysis captures all the factors that are considered when pricing a drug  
How payers use outcomes assessments to shape, and sometimes restrict, coverage decisions
What Medicare drug price negotiations and MFN proposals reveal about “value-based pricing”
The distinction between price and value and whether current frameworks adequately reward innovation
The growing debate around centralized health technology assessment in the U.S.
Why the field may be moving toward narrower definitions of value over time
This episode offers a window into the economic debates influencing how medicines are evaluated, reimbursed, and ultimately brought to patients. 
CEVR webpage : https://cevr.tuftsmedicalcenter.org/
US vs. MFN CEA thresholds paper: https://academic.oup.com/healthaffairsscholar/article/4/4/qxag081/8586328
Cost-effective price vs. Medicare negotiated price paper:  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40939703/

In this episode of Perspectives by the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, Melanie Whittington breaks down a fundamental—and increasingly consequential—question in health economics: what counts as value in cost-effectiveness analysis?
For biotech leaders and investors, Mel cautions that this isn’t just an academic debate. The frameworks adopted by HTA bodies influence pricing, access, and ultimately, how innovation is rewarded.

Melanie Whittington, PhD, Head of the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, talks with Peter Kolchinsky, PhD, Founder and Managing Partner of RA Capital Management, to discuss if the U.S. market-based approach to pricing novel prescription medicines could result in paying more than they are worth and if companies and company builders should use health economic modeling to support their value propositions.

Melanie Whittington, PhD, Head of the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, interviews James Chambers, PhD, MPharm, Professor of Medicine in the Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health at Tufts Medical Center, to dig into specialty drug coverage and what it might look like in 2026.

Melanie Whittington, PhD, Head of the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, talks with John M. O'Brien, PharmD, MPH, President and CEO of the National Pharmaceutical Council & Former Trump Drug Pricing Advisor, to tackle some big questions like if it is possible to reward innovation without busting budgets and how to get to a sustainable, innovation-friendly, patient-centered drug pricing system. Additional resources:
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IRA Impact on Pharmaceutical Investment: Insights From Investor Interviews (Health Affairs Scholar)
https://academic.oup.com/healthaffairsscholar/article/3/9/qxaf156/8223954
How Time Is Accounted For When Modeling Pharmaceutical Impacts: Investment vs Assessment Perspectives (Health Affairs Scholar)
https://academic.oup.com/healthaffairsscholar/article/3/9/qxaf169/8244606
The IRA and Drug Development: Potential Early Signals of Impact on Post-Approval Clinical Trials (Therapeutic Innovation & Regulatory Science)
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43441-025-00774-2
Subsequent Indications in Oncology Drugs: Pathways, Timelines, and the Inflation Reduction Act (Therapeutic Innovation & Regulatory Science)
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43441-024-00706-6
Unintended Consequences of the Inflation Reduction Act: Clinical Development Toward Subsequent Indications (American Journal of Managed Care)
https://www.ajmc.com/view/unintended-consequences-of-the-inflation-reduction-act-clinical-development-toward-subsequent-indications
The Impact of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Drug Price Negotiation Program on Incentives for Clinical Development of New Drugs (Value in Health)
https://www.valueinhealthjournal.com/article/S1098-3015(25)02527-6/fulltext?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS1098301525025276%3Fshowall%3Dtrue
Follow John O’Brien on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjmob/

Melanie Whittington, Head of the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, talks with Vivek Subbiah, MD, David Hong, MD, and Steve Potts, PhD, MBA to discuss if pan-tumor approval strategies offer a path forward for broader, faster adoption across larger patient populations. Given the slow adoption curves typical of new therapeutics and the potential for government price negotiation as early as nine years after market entry, the experts hash out if pan-tumor approval is a potential development and commercialization pathway to ramp up clinical adoption and sales early on. They discuss the challenges, data requirements, and opportunities of this relatively new development path. Dr. Hong is the Deputy Chair of the Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Steve Potts is the CEO and Co-Founder of a Stealth Cancer Biotech. Dr. Subbiah is the Chief of Early Phase Drug Development at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute. All bring firsthand experience – wins and battle scars - with pan-tumor approvals.

Diane Vieira, Head of Marketing & Communications at Leerink Partners, interviews Melanie Whittington, PhD, Head of the Leerink Center of Pharmacoeconomics (CPE), to discuss the one-year anniversary of CPE and everything they thought they knew but actually didn’t.