Market Access in 2026: Predictions on Policies, Contracting and AI
To better understand what 2026 might bring, we asked three MMIT market access experts to share their perspectives on upcoming market shifts. Read the first of this two-part series for key insights into the year ahead. 1. What’s the biggest challenge for manufacturers launching new products this year? Steve Callahan, Senior Director, Advisory & Insights: […]
Copay Accumulators and Maximizers, Part 2: Implications for Pharma
Copay accumulator and maximizer programs are now firmly embedded in the commercial market, and their influence on patient access and manufacturer strategy is becoming impossible to overlook. In the first installment of our two-part series on copay accumulators and maximizers, we shared recent Indices research on how payers are deploying and measuring these programs. In […]
Inside the Payer Playbook: Copay Accumulators and Maximizers, Part 1
As payers continue to refine their cost-containment strategies, copay accumulator and copay maximizer programs have quietly become standard tools in their playbook. As of March 2025, 21 states have enacted laws banning payer/PBM use of copay accumulator programs for state-regulated health plans, including the individual, fully insured large-group, and small-group markets. Yet despite this legislation, […]
Faster Insights or Faster Fail? How to Avoid the Misuse of Real-World Data with AI
As artificial intelligence (AI) transforms how life sciences organizations access and analyze real-world data (RWD), one challenge looms large: ensuring that these powerful tools are used appropriately. RWD can illuminate patient outcomes, accelerate research, and guide better decision-making—but only when it’s handled ethically, transparently, and within the boundaries of contractual and regulatory use. Here are some ways to […]
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?
This article was originally published in BioPharma Dive. 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 […]
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. […]