Emerging Treatments Offer New Hope for Alcohol Use Disorder
The mental health treatment landscape is evolving rapidly, driven by new and innovative therapies. Recent approvals like KarXT (from Karuna Therapeutics, now part of Bristol Myers Squibb) for schizophrenia, as well as many promising pipeline drugs, such as MindMed’s MM-120 for generalized anxiety disorder, highlight this momentum. Amid this progress, alcohol use disorder (AUD) remains […]
Competitive ATTR Dynamics: Key Takeaways for Rare-Disease Commercialization
Transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR) has rapidly shifted from a rarely recognized, fatal condition into one of the most closely watched rare-disease markets in biopharma. With multiple therapeutic entrants, distinct scientific platforms, and increasingly sophisticated payer strategies, ATTR now serves as a template for how innovation, diagnosis expansion, pricing, and access come together to shape a complex […]
The R&D Implications of Market Access Complexity
Our latest research at Norstella strongly suggests that a highly dynamic market access situation in the U.S. is feeding back into upstream decisions around R&D strategy. We explored this topic in detail in a recent white paper, Working Backwards: Patient Access Strategy Is Now Guiding R&D. This article briefly summarizes the first half of the […]
Tracking the Real-World Impact of Payer Policies on Patient Outcomes
In today’s complex pharmaceutical landscape, a brand’s market access can no longer be judged solely by its coverage. Pharma leaders are under growing pressure not just to identify access barriers, but to prove their impact. They want the ability to link payer policy decisions to patient outcomes, as their payer strategies and competitive positioning depend […]
Pharma’s Real-World Data Dilemma: Strategic Asset or Wasted Resource?
Every day, patients are experiencing the life-changing impact of real-world data (RWD), and life sciences companies are feeling the business impact, too. RWD is no doubt helping pharma companies better understand the patient journey and get life-saving therapies to market faster, according to Norstella’s recent survey of 200 life science executives. Over the next one […]
The Cost of Reform: What Payers Expect from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
In July 2025, the 2025 Federal Budget Reconciliation bill, known colloquially as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and officially as H.R.1, was signed into law. This act introduced major, immediate reforms to Medicaid, adding new administrative requirements and eligibility conditions (including work requirements) for patients seeking to enroll in or maintain Medicaid coverage. […]
Antibiotic Resistance and New UTI Treatments: What Payers Need to See
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) rank as the most common bacterial infection for women worldwide. Between 50-60% of adult women experience at least one UTI in their lifetime, and approximately 25% of them suffer recurring infections, defined as two or more episodes within six months. As the prevalence of recurring infection increases with age, older women […]
Cracking the Code of BIN/PCN/Group Data for Faster Benefit Verification
As patient access grows more complex, manufacturers need tools that reduce friction throughout the care journey. One valuable but frequently overlooked dataset is known as BIN/PCN/Group (BPG) data, which refers to a trio of identifiers used in pharmacy claims processing. Unlocking the power of BPG data can transform claims bridging and streamline early benefit verification, […]
New Treatments, Diagnostic Tests and Access Barriers in NSCLC
The oncology market is growing rapidly, driven by advancements in diagnostic technology, new biomarker testing, and a wealth of targeted therapies. The non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) space is especially crowded, which should be good news for the 226,000 patients diagnosed with this disease each year. Despite the new developments in NSCLC treatment, however, many […]
A New Era in HAE: How Market Entrants Are Reshaping Rare Disease Treatment
As medicine evolves, even smaller therapeutic areas are impacted by scientific breakthroughs and novel technologies, leading to an eruption of new therapies. Hereditary angioedema (HAE), a rare genetic disorder affecting 1 in 50,000 people worldwide, is the latest indication to reap the benefits of several new market entrants. Due to a deficiency of the C1 […]