As the oncology medication market becomes notably more competitive, manufacturers are increasing contracting efforts to build collaborative engagements with commercial health plans. HIRC's report, Commercial Health Plans: Manufacturer Account Engagement and Contracting for Oncology Medications, examines the contracting environment and payer evaluations of 22 firms active in oncology. The report addresses the following:

• Which manufacturers are most often nominated as plans' overall "Partner of Choice" in oncology? Which have the most effective oncology key account managers?
• How do firms benchmark in contracting, pipeline presentations, and support of oncology-related initiatives?
• How do payers perceive the current contracting environment for both oral and IV oncology medications across 13 hematologic and solid tumor types?
• Which manufacturer offerings are most compelling to commercial health plan decision-makers to support their oncology-related needs?

Key Finding: Manufacturers are engaging commercial health plans with a variety of account support and contracting offerings to ensure market access to their oncology portfolios; risk-based contracting remains rare, but interest continues to grow.

Novartis Oncology Receives the Most Oncology "Partner of Choice" Nominations. For the third year in a row, Novartis Oncology is most frequently nominated as commercial health plans' oncology partner of choice, followed by Genentech and J&J HCS. Factors driving partner of choice nominations include quality of account management support personnel and/or relationship and oncology product portfolio.

The full report includes the complete listing of partner of choice nominations and a detailed analysis of the factors driving panelists' selections.

Amgen Leads in Commercial Health Plan Ratings of Pipeline & Pre-Launch Communication. Panelists were asked to consider and rate 22 oncology medication manufacturers on their pipeline and pre-launch communication. About 40% of respondents rate Amgen as having high and/or very high quality of pipeline/pre-launch communication of oncology products, followed by Novartis Oncology (38%), Johnson & Johnson HCS (36%), Merck (34%), and Pfizer Oncology (32%).

Risk/Outcomes-based Contracting for Oncology Medications Remains Low. Respondents were asked to share the status of risk-sharing contracts within their organization for oncology medications. The majority of respondents (64%) do not have risk/outcomes-based contracts in-place for oncology medications; however, plans are slowly starting to experiment with these contract types. Both the percentage of respondents with risk/outcomes-based contracts in-place (8%) as well as the percentage of respondents with discussions underway (28%) increased year-over-year.

Research Methodology and Report Availability. In May, HIRC surveyed 53 pharmacy and medical directors from national, regional, and BCBS plans representing 84 million commercial lives. Online surveys and follow-up telephone interviews were used to gather information. The complete report, Commercial Health Plans: Manufacturer Account Engagement and Contracting for Oncology Medications, is available now to HIRC’s Managed Oncology subscribers at www.hirc.com.